On July 8th starting at 5:00 pm, the Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a meeting to provide information and help for the claims process created by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The meeting will be held in the Lido Room at the Pink Shell Beach Resort located at 275 Estero Boulevard.

We have invited legal and insurance experts to share with us their experience and up-to-date knowledge of the oil spill crisis including:
1) Facts and figures on economic impact
2) What this means for our community
3) What qualifies as a legitimate claim
4) What is required for “proof of loss”
5) How the compensation process works

NOTE: THIS MEETING IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY AND IS GEARED TOWARD THE CLAIMS PROCESS AND NOT LITIGATION. This meeting will feature a presentation from the Law firm of Searcy, Denny, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley who is a nationally recognized law firm out of West Palm Beach, Florida. The firm was recommended by the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Law firm of Knott, Consour, Ebellini, Sweat, et al with George Knott being directly involved in helping Chamber members through this important process. This West Palm Beach firm has earned the right to be listed on a “Superior Law Firm” list due to their efforts helping people, communities, and governments deal with major companies.

If you have any questions, or if you wish to attend, please contact the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce at 454-7500

Here is the update for the situation regarding the oil spill in the gulf.

Your chamber has been keeping in touch with local officials and agencies to understand what needs to be communicated to our membership in order to position your business interests.

First, in case you have missed what is known, there is approximately 210,000 gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico each day from the damaged rig. The affected area will soon reach to Pensacola, Florida.

WHERE WE ARE CONCERNED: What if the affected waters reach the gulfstream? If this circumstance should occur, then the gulfstream will very likely accelerate the affected waters with oil all the way to the Keys. Under this scenario, the prevailing winds from the southwest will move the affected area can potentially (in some form) to our shoreline. The result could be either “tarballs” or oil.

NOTE: I am NOT trying to scare anyone as no one knows if the oil will reach waters in the gulfstream yet or not.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: If anyone can prove that business is being lost either now or as this calamity unfolds, you need to carefully document what has been lost. For example, if a hotel has cancellations then they should document precisely the key information. I would recommend (by common sense and not per any government agency) you document the date a reservation was made, proof of any payment, ask for and write down the reason(s) given for the cancellation, how many nights were cancelled, the rate quoted and accepted, the date of cancellation and any refunds.

WHAT IS NEXT: Wednesday is likely to be an important day. The reports due out should give a higher probability of what to expect from this disaster. The likelihood(s) of what areas will become affected will be better known on Wednesday (of course the caveat of “no guarantees” was given).

FINALLY: I have requested a meeting as soon as early next week to be led by the Emergency Operations Center, with other agencies involved with this matter, to have a face-to-face meeting with our business owners on what is happening as well as what everyone should prepare to do. I was asked to hold off until the Wednesday reports.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me, John Albion, at the Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. The phone number is: 454-7500.

Come join GSW Consulting Group and The Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce as we explore the different components of using Social Media in Business.

January 6, 2010 at 8:30 am  ”The Business of Social Media”

An overview of what, where, and how social media is working for businesses today

January 12, 2010 at 8:30 am “Business Blogging and Article Writing”

This work shop will cover how blogging and article writing can increase your SEO, supplement and    improve current marketing efforts.  Beginner to Intermediate class w/ Manual.

January 14, 2010 at 8:30 am “Building Your Business on Facebook”

This workshop will take a step by step approach on how to establish your business presence on facebook. Beginner to intermediate class w/ Manual

January 19, 2010 8:30 am “Link Up on Linkedin and beyond”

In this workshop we will show you how to build on established business connections and create new business building relationships by sharing your expertise on more the 30 business networks. Beginner to intermediate w/ Manual

January 21, 2010 8:30 am ‘Twitter Your Way to More Business”

In this workshop we will instruct you in the art of doing business in 140 characters or less. Information is the currency of Today’s business world. Beginner to intermediate w/ Manual

January 26, 2010 at 8:30 “The Video Revolution”

In this class we discuss the way that short, simple, and well targeted video can increase your business bottom line. Beginner to intermediate w/ Manual

January 28, 2010 at 8:30 am “Making it All Work For Your Business”

You have learned the basics. Now it is time to put together your plan for using Social Media to market your business. This wrap up workshop will help you “Bring it all Together”  to ensure that your presence in the online community is efficient and effective.

All the classes are held at Diamond Head Beach Resort located at 2000 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach.  Classes cost $30.00 per member or $40.00 per non-member. One class is free if you sign up for all the classes.

Contact  The Great Fort Myers Beach Chamber at 239-454-7500 for more information or to make your reservation today!

Our website developer, Brian Yerkes of Brian Joseph Studios was our guest speaker at the luncheon today held at Matanzas Inn Restaurant on Fort Myers Beach.

Brian spoke about the achievements of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce website since its launch one year ago, and he also spoke about the future plans for the website and online marketing of the Chamber.

Below you can view the intro video that Brian Joseph Studios and Brian Yerkes produced

If you have not already done so, we need all members that would like an online member account to send their desired email address and password to logins [ at ] brianjosephstudios [ dot ] com (we have typed it this way so that spam bots do cannot read the email address). Please include the following in your email:

Your email address:
Password:
Company Name:

Thank you! If you have any questions, please contact us here or call us at (239) 454-7500