ShownGuess who got to go to another Duneland Chamber of Commerce Sunrise Seminar? We did! Guess who was the guest speaker? Our fearless leader, Chris Mahlmann!
Check out the photos from the Sunrise Seminar!
It was the second Sunrise Seminar of 2015 for the Chamber, and Ideas in Motion Media was the February sponsor. We were the sponsor of the February 2014 meeting, too. Read the article to see how that event went!
"The Sunrise Seminars are a great networking spot," Jenny Craig-Brown, Executive Team Leader for Ideas in Motion said. "They are no pressure, fun, comfortable, and allow you to meet great people. It is always exciting when Chris is a part of the Seminars. I always love his messages and it is truly an honor for us to be able to teach more people about what we do - positive news!"
Ashley Hawkins, Membership Coordinator for the Duneland Chamber, has worked with us in multiple facets and she is all about our mission and the positive news that we share. She believes in the value of what the Duneland Chamber does and the importance of these seminars.
“I think that these seminars offer extra value to our Chamber members,” Hawkins said. “They leave with knowledge. They get the networking aspect and they get to leave with what they learned from the presentation. [Ideas in Motion] has always worked well in the Chamber world so I’ve been happy to work with you guys.”
The morning began with a delicious breakfast that fueled everyone up for some fun and casual networking. Riley’s Railhouse was the setting. A fire burned in the hearth and snow surrounded the bed and breakfast on this cold, bright morning making the atmosphere was cozy and warm.
“I love being a member of the Duneland Chamber. I like their events and these Seminars. They are informative and engaging and a great networking opportunity,” Darlene Cohn, owner of D. Cohn Communications said. “Plus, I love listening to Chris speak. He’s so engaging and he always has fascinating new ideas.”
Maura Durham, Executive Director for the Duneland Chamber quieted everyone down after some good old fashioned networking took place. She asked that everyone introduce themselves and each person stood, said their name and business that he or she represented, and then it was finally time for our CEO to speak.
Mahlmann started out with a bit of history. He met a Valpo girl and followed her to Northwest Indiana. Once here, he discovered that the area had a lot of great things to offer, and that no one was shouting out those great things. So he had an idea and ran with it to spread only positive, local news about Valpo. Portage followed, then La Porte County, Lake County, and South Bend is his next goal.
“I saw that all of these people with good news and no one was hearing about it,” Mahlmann said. “So we started with this crazy concept. Three people along with myself above my garage. That was almost six years ago… We now have about 35 people on our staff. That goofy notion that you can only focus on good news that most people didn’t think made a lot of sense, was the only thing that made sense to us.”
Mahlmann went on to pose the question: how does what we do at Ideas in Motion Media apply to what businesses do? Our positive only concept can change the way businesses and organizations communicate. We aren’t traditional media as we leave the bad stuff out. But not only that, we also get more immersed in whatever story we share. We share news from those who don’t have the budget to share it; we get very involved with the schools in the region and give students a with our student writers; our collection of photos is second to none in the region with nearly half a million pictures of sporting events, fundraisers, galas, races, local business events and more; and we are connected with many local businesses – big and small – and those who represent them.
“My goal is for you to get something out of the way we think more than necessarily how we do things,” Mahlmann said. “All that we do and all that transpires is because we went out to people and asked them to help us share our stuff. A lot of people, which I see here in this room, said yes. People who own businesses, people in not-for-profits and churches, teachers… You all had stuff you wanted to share. And six years later we just surpassed 50,000 articles published on our websites.”
We publish roughly 450 articles per week, and the numbers are steadily growing. In the beginning people wondered if we were going to have enough content to publish. We obviously do.
One of the ideas that Mahlmann presented to the group was thinking beyond positive news content to what sort of impact someone could have with it.
Mahlmann said, “Think of us a bridge to your business. You may sell insurance or you may be selling your limo services or real estate, but people are buying you, they are buying your story... The power is not in the story itself, the power is in the way you tell it. One of the benefits of online communication is that it gives people a voice who wouldn't otherwise have one. It's the democratization of communication.”
The second idea centered on what would happen if you gave people with an idea a chance. Our Life in the Spotlight series was started by two Portage High School students who had a good idea. Mahlmann backed them, and five years later it is the most popular series that we offer. It spotlights individuals in the community who have done and are continuing to do good things. Hundreds of amazing people get the recognition that they deserve, and the communities they live in get to celebrate their lives with the help of this series. And it all started with an idea that came from the minds of two high school kids.
"This isn't a cool company because we do something, it's a cool company because we gave other people the opportunity to do something," Mahlmann said.
After the presentation, everyone was free to go out into the world and use their newfound perspectives that they learned from Mahlmann’s presentation.
“I loved Chris’s take on this seminar. I was really excited to hear what he was going to do differently this time around and I’m glad he focused on the idea behind how your communication is presented rather than the tactical information,” Durham said. “It actually makes me want to do things a little differently on social media.”
Who would have dreamed that one idea could have spread and changed the way so many people think? If you don't know about us, then get to know us. We're good people and we want to share your good news.