Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri - Sub Committees Descriptions

Awards Dinner Committee

Joy Ann Venverloh, Chair
Plan, coordinate & produce the Thursday evening Annual Small Business Week Awards Dinner.  This is the primary event of SB Week, and is somewhat complex.  Attendance will exceed 300 people, and selecting the proper venue is critical.

Busiest in the fall exploring locations and deciding which venue to use; then a spurt of activity in the weeks just before the event (and the day of) to coordinate it.

Calendar of Events Committee

Julie Lawrence-Chair
Coordinate the calendar of events for the entire Small Business Week, including production of the event brochure.

Busiest in November contacting previous event hosts to confirm participation.  Then busy again in January and February to gather complete event details from hosts (dates, times, & locations) and will work with our graphic vendor partner on brochure layout, print proofs and posting the brochure on the SBW web site.

Direct Email Committee

Louise Wiedermann, Chair
Plan, organize and coordinate direct emailing activities for promotion of the winners, event, and committee.

Direct Mail Committee

Judy Meador, Chair
Plan, organize and coordinate direct mailing activities for promotion of the event.

Exhibit Gala

Steve Callow, Chair
Produce the Exhibit Gala event by “selling” exhibit booth space to vendors who wish to exhibit their wares to small businesses.  This event takes place immediately before the Awards Dinner.

Little or no activity until late January, then an inactive spell in March & April (most of the work has been done) until the day of the event.

Information Hotline Committee

Todd Kamp, Chair
Manage in-bound call center activities for information and registration regarding the events.

Judging Committee

Aaron Mottern, Chair
Judge the nominations for various awards.  Choose winners in each category.

Committee devotes about a half-day to reviewing each application package, then meets for two hours to tabulate judges results.  Approximately one day per year of effort.

Lenders Recognition Lunch and Expo/Kick Off Event Committee

Chris Tidwell-Chair
Plan, coordinate & produce the SBA Lenders Awards luncheon which also functions as the Small Business Week kick-off event.

Busiest in the fall exploring locations and deciding which venue to use; then a spurt of activity just before the event (and the day of) to coordinate it.

Marketing/Public Relations Committee

Iris Salsman, Chair
Advise and council on all marketing efforts related to the event.  Produce brochure, with input from other sub-committees.  Create and manage PR and advertising campaigns to promote the event.

Primary activities are in the late winter and spring, planning then executing various PR & promotional activities.

Nominations Committee

Carl Trautmann, Chair
Identify candidates, seek nominations, coordinate submission of applications from nominees.

This committee does all its work from September through November.  Once nominations are submitted for judging, the Nominating Committee is done for the year, except for some communication and coordination with the nominees when the awards are announced in March/April.

Outreach Committee

Chair position open
Coordinate with other groups that cater to small businesses, such as chambers of commerce.

Program Committee

June Van Klaveren, Chair
Produce the program booklet for the Awards Dinner.  Content provided by Sponsorship, Nominations, Calendar of Events and other committees.  Compile, layout, edit, proof and print the program booklet.

Most of the work of this committee occurs during the spring, after all content has been finalized, and just before SB Week.

Recruitment/Welcoming Committee

Rochelle Freeman, Chair
Responsible for welcoming new committee members and helping them get oriented. Recruiting new members. Organizing welcoming activities during week of events.

Registration Committee

Carl Trautmann, Chair
Handle registrations and name tags for breakfast event, Exhibit Gala and Awards Dinner; coordinate with other event sponsors regarding registration.

Sponsorship Committee

Rich Hendel, Chair
Solicit sponsorships from corporations or non-profit entities that can benefit from association with the Small Business Week activities.

Contact potential sponsors, explain benefits of various levels, get commitments.  Heaviest committee activity is from October through February, with some admin work in March & April.

Web Site Committee

Aaron Mottern, Chair
Manage content, software, design and administration of the organization’s website.

Busiest during the first month or so each year to update the website annually, then during the last two months before Small Business Week, but some activity throughout the year for site maintenance & updates.

Video Committee

Khrys Vaughn, Chair
Produce a video of award winners that is exhibited during the Awards Dinner.  This is the highlight of the Awards program.

Committee has only planning activities until winners are announced in the Spring, than a flurry of activity to shoot & edit the video.