Paul Szmal: F-L-X Morning continues, it is 8.15, cloudy skies and 55, and joining us for a Friday visit is Amy Fuller from the Cuyahoga County Chamber of Commerce, Amy, good morning, how are you this morning?
Amy Fuller: Good, how are you?
Paul Szmal: I am doing well, it's Friday.
Amy Fuller: Yes, of a holiday weekend.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely, I think everybody is looking forward to having a three day weekend.
You've been busy here of late with a lot of stuff going on, let's talk about some of it, starting off with our member of the month for August who is celebrating a special anniversary.
Amy Fuller: Yes, our friends at Highland Park Golf Course are celebrating a hundred years. They opened in 1925, they had a big celebration last weekend that was open to the public, it was Friday, Saturday, Sunday, they had fireworks one evening, they had live music, but in fun fact, when we went to give them this award, one of the gentlemen on their board said that when Highland opened in 1925, it was only a nine hole golf course.
Paul Szmal: Oh, I didn't know that.
Amy Fuller: Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of people talk about Highland as being one of their favorite spots in the Finger Lakes to play.
Paul Szmal: Oh yeah, the course is beautiful, the clubhouse is beautiful, and congratulations to them for a hundred years here thriving.
Amy Fuller: Yes, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: Let's move on and talk about the Leadership Cayuga classes because there are still a few slots left open here before everything gets rolling.
Amy Fuller: Yes, so Leadership Cayuga for this year, it starts September 18th, and she has a couple spots still open, it's not too late. And this, you know, this program is wonderful if you're new to the area, if you've taken on a different position and need to get yourself out into the community because you learn so much about Cayuga County. People, you know, think Cayuga County is just Auburn and, you know, from the north to the south, there are some wonderful businesses and things to do up near Fairhaven down past, you know, through Moravia. So you know, if you're interested, contact Jessica Wrench and she'll talk to you about, you know, how the class works and everything and you can be part of the class.
It starts September 18th, it goes to May, they meet one Thursday a month for the entire day. You get that schedule at the orientation on September 18th so that you can plan, you know, and it's the workday, it's 8 to 5, so, you know, you do board governance. You learn so much, you learn so much that, you know, if you're just out of college starting a job or, like I said, new to the community, it's a must. You need to be part of this. And you know, it's not just the education that you're getting, it's also the networking opportunities of meeting people who are in similar situations to what you are.
Paul Szmal: Correct, absolutely, absolutely. And you know, as the leadership, Cuyahoga, you know, if you're in the class, you're welcome to come to our monthly, you know, networking events and such and start that, you know, start that process.
We're talking with Amy Fuller from the Cuyahoga County Chamber of Commerce here on FLX Morning. Next Business After 5 is coming up here a little towards the end of September, so we're a little less than a month away.
Amy Fuller: Right, and our, you know, Unity House of Cuyahoga County, they're on Genesee Street in the old West Middle School building there. There's a very big banquet room in the back there where they're going to have their Business After 5. And it's always great, you know, we support them fully as we do all our nonprofits, but, you know, it's always great to go to one of these because you learn a little bit about the business or organization that maybe you didn't, and you get to meet people that maybe just joined the chamber that came because they wanted to check it out. So again, you know, we, the process, it only works if you do it, you know. So if you go to the networking events, introduce yourself to a couple people, they remember the face-to-face conversation rather than the email that you sent. So I always use that as my, you know, pull to get people to come to it.
But it, you know, our networking events used to average 20 to 30. We had one at AT Wally's last week. We had 58 people, you know, it's like, yeah, the average this year is, you know, on the low side 40, when we were at the Yacht Club in June, we had 92, you know. So people want to get out and talk to other people, you know, and see what's going on. So it's a great opportunity. As you said, it's on September 24th, registration will open on next Tuesday after Labor Day, and it's from 5 to 630. They'll have some refreshments and, you know, they'll give some tours if people want. You know, if you went to West Middle School, maybe you can find your old locker, you know, see if it's still working. But, you know, so if you're interested in going to that, please register. We try to give the host a good count so they have enough refreshments to go around. But always a good time at those events.
Paul Szmal: I don't even remember my old high school locker combination, so I'd be hopelessly lost on that one.
Amy Fuller: I don't remember my locker number either.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, true. Very true. Very true.
And, you know, you made an excellent point there, Amy, is that, you know, email exchanges are the norm nowadays. And there's a lot of what I call non-personal communication that happens in the business world. But nothing beats FaceTime.
Amy Fuller: No, absolutely. I'm 100% with you there. If people call me and they have questions, whether they want to join the chamber or they're a current member, and they say, you know, I forgot how to do this. And I said, you know what, let's set up a time where you come in, we'll have a 10 to 15 minute conversation, and it'll make sense to you versus three days worth of emails.
Paul Szmal: Right. Right. You know, so I 100% agree with you. I much rather talk to someone face to face. I think it's just more productive.
Amy Fuller: Absolutely. Agree 100% on that.
Paul Szmal: Virtual auction is coming up the week of October 10th through the 17th. This is going to be a big one.
Amy Fuller: Yes. You know, we used to have this auction at our annual dinner. When COVID hit, we made it virtual and people loved it because instead of being three to four hours at a dinner, it's eight days of bidding and people really, they like the discretion of it. And it's just fun for us as the chamber hosting it to watch because people really get into it, especially the last day. But we're going to be looking for items for this. So we're going to, you know, if you want to donate or if you have an idea for an item that maybe we can look to get someone to get for us, but it's a lot of fun. It opens up at 8 a.m. on the 10th, which is a Friday. And like I said, eight days of bidding. It closes the Friday after our annual dinner at 12 noon and from 1130 to 12, oh my, someone wants something.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. I can imagine the last minute rush is pretty intense.
Amy Fuller: And the proceeds go to our programs like Leadership Cayuga. So, you know, help us support those programs and while you're doing it, get your Christmas shopping done.
Paul Szmal: All right. And when we get closer, can we get a little sneak preview of some of the items that are going to be up for bid?
Amy Fuller: Oh, yeah. We'll do some teasers. Absolutely.
Paul Szmal: Awesome.
And as you mentioned, laying towards the end of that online auction window is the annual dinner that's coming up on October 15th.
Amy Fuller: Yes, that's it. Emerson Park Pavilion. It starts at 530. And this year, for the first time, we're highlighting one of the leadership projects from the class that graduated in May. It's called Live It, Play It, Explore It. And it is great. You know, the four people in the class that did this project, I was at the presentations in May and the minute they finished, I ran back to Jessica and said, we got to use this for the annual dinner. She says, I agree. So this year, it's called Our Cayuga, Live It, Play It, Explore It. The registration will open sometime next week. And we have sponsor opportunities. It's a great evening. It starts out with a cocktail hour. Then we go into the ballroom where they have, we have a seated, you know, a plated dinner. And then we let the, you know, the project's only going to be about 10 or 15 minutes. And then we do some of our chamber business there as well. But it's always, it's my favorite. It's my favorite evening. It really is. And we usually get over 200 people at that event. And you know, the pavilion, Andrea, Mary, and those guys, they do a wonderful job. It's just a great, great event. It's our biggest event of the year. So if you're new to the chamber, or even if you're not a chamber member yet and you want to check it out, this would be the, you know, this would be the event to go to because a lot of our chamber members are there.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And again, this is a prime networking opportunity here as part of this annual dinner.
Amy Fuller: Absolutely. Like I said, we have our headline sponsor already, which is Wegmans. And then we have our event sponsor, which is Cougar Community College. And then we have a lot more sponsor opportunities. We have Finger Lakes Wine that's at the table. We get a sponsor for that. And it's just a great evening. And then if you're going to the dinner, we are going to have a couple of raffle items that evening that are for dinner attendees only. So we, you know, because the auction, as I said, used to be at the dinner. So people have asked me, it'd be fun to have just a couple of items. I said, you know what? You're right. We'll bring a couple items that are exclusive to that evening and see how it goes. Yeah. So, you know.
Paul Szmal: Okay. And the last thing we wanted to mention is that the 2026 member directory is starting to form up. And now is a great time to get yourself a membership so that you can be listed in said member directory.
Amy Fuller: Yes. All members that are, that join by the end of the year will be in the printed directory. It's only chamber member businesses and organizations. It's also a community guide. So if people are new to the community, it has all the information about NYSIG, the school districts. It has information about our historical cultural sites. But it's a great, it's, you know, we put it in Seneca County, Onondaga County, all through Cuyahoga County. We give them to all the realtors to give to people that are new to the community. So it's a great advertising opportunity, you know, with a phase out of phone books, people are always looking for something that they can, you know, it's small enough you can put it in your glove box, but you know, if you want to advertise in there and get the word out on your business, the advertising opportunities, we have full page, half page, quarter page, eighth page. So affordable pricing and it gets you in a book that's going to be dispersed all through, you know, central New York. So Christine's going to be putting that together. She's going to start connecting with people who advertised last year. But if you want, are interested and want to come in and talk about it, or if you want the information on what the ads cost, just give us a call. We can send it over to you.
Paul Szmal: All right. As always, Amy, I appreciate the, appreciate the information and good to talk to you. We'll check in with you next month.
Amy Fuller: Yeah, everybody have a happy Labor Day.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. It is 827 on FLX Morning.
