Around the Chamber - October, 2023

AROUND THE CHAMBER October, 2023

In This Issue 3 - CHAMBER BRIEFS 5 - DIRECTORS CUT 11 - BEHIND THE SCENES (Dickie Austin) 23 - MEMBER SPOTLITE (Opera Co. of Middlebury) 28 - Best Practices (Explaining SEO & SEM)

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Around the Chamber

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ACCOC publishes Around the Chamber monthly and it reaches thousands of business, non profit leaders and their employees in Addison County and beyond. Around the Chamber boasts an average 49% open rate with an average read time of 8:30 Members are encouraged to supply their announcements and events by emailing phil@addisioncounty.com. For ad availability and rate card email phil@addisoncounty.com.

Addison County Chamber of Commerce. 2023, All Rights Reserved

CHAMBER BRIEFS Thousands Attend 2023 Bristol Harvest Festival!

An estimated 2,300 people attended the 24th Annual Bristol Harvest Festival on Saturday, September 23rd!

Sponsored by the Chamber and Bristol Parks and Recreation the event featured over 70 vendors, live music and a WVTK broadcast from the Bristol Green. Families were able to enjoy horse and wagon rides, pony rides and more!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Non Profit of the Year

Business of the Year

Julie Basol, Vergennes Partnership Buster Brush Citizen of the Year

Sarah Audet, Hedgehog & Fox Collaborative Young Professional of the Year

2023 Hall of Fame Inductees

Sue Ritter Middlebury College

Angelo Lynn The Addison Independent

Bette & Pete Horton

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s e n e c S e h t Behind with in Dickie Aust

Each month, "Behind the Scenes" features an interview with a leader in our community designed to provide readers a glimpse into his/her interests and passions inside and outside of the workplace This month, "Behind the Scenes" sat down with Dickie Austin of the Black Sheep Bistro and Park Squeeze in Vergennes Where did you grow up?

I grew up right here in Vergennes Where did you go to school?

Vergennes Union High School

First ever job?

Dishwasher at TOGOS (where Rockers is currently on Main Street in Vergennes) Who was your greatest inspiration growing up?

I certainly haven't finished "growing up" yet but, I would say, my friend and mentor Michel Mahe Favorite Vacation Spot?

I'm not great at taking them... someplace quiet?

Dickie Austin Favorite type of music?

Hard to pick one! Punk Rock, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Alt-Country, Miley Cyrus Typical work week?

Off Sunday, Short Monday, In early and out late the other days.

Biggest Career Challenge?

The passing of our owner/my mentor Michel and COVID19 Pandemic are probably tied

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AP

2 R IL

4TH

FOR INFO ON ADVERTISING AT THE VISITOR CENTER

GO HERE

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF OPERA: OPERA COMPANY OF MIDDLEBURY ANNOUNCES MERGER WITH YOUTH OPERA COMPANY The Opera Company of Middlebury (OCM) is proud to announce the merger of the pioneering teen performance program, the Youth Opera Company of Vermont (YOC), with the OCM Education and Outreach division, led by Founder, Executive Director, and soprano Sarah Cullins and Music Director Mary Jane Austin. Going forward, the program will now be known as the Youth Opera Company of OCM. YOC’s integration further elevates OCM’s 20 year-history as a leader among Vermont arts organizations and opera companies world-wide in offering comprehensive and multi-faceted opportunities for education, participation, professional training, and community engagement.

The cast of Youth Opera’s current production, "From Spain With Love,” includes students from Burlington High School, Rice Memorial High School, Harwood Union High School, Montpelier High School U32 High School, The Pacem School and Norwich University.

Opera Company of Middlebury’s expanded educational and outreach programs now comprise: • Opera Under 26: a free ticket program for audience members under age 26 to have access to and be inspired by world class professional opera productions.

• Young Artists Program: a 3.5-week training program for masters’ degree level, preprofessional singers during OCM’s spring mainstage production.

• Youth Opera Company of OCM: an array of opportunities for singers in grades 8 and higher, such as afterschool opera scenes workshop programs, audition techniques masterclasses, summer opera camp, and the Project Serenade summer concert series at long-term care residences and community venues.

• Dido and Aeneas Project: a matchless enrichment opportunity funded by a Vermont Arts Council artist-in-schools grant that brings OCM’s expertise into a different Vermont high school each year; OCM’s education director collaborates with the school’s choral director to engage all choral students to create and perform their own unique interpretation of Henry Purcell’s classic opera. The highly successful inaugural project at Burlington High School in January 2022, will be followed by the project’s second installment, at Colchester High School, in January 2024.

Support Your Community and Fellow Chamber Members!

Support Your Community and Fellow Chamber Members!

Best Practices "Best Practices" is our new recurring feature designed to give your organization helpful advice for maintaining efficient operations

Explaing SEO and SEM

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are two different aspects of digital marketing. As their names indicate, SEO and SEM refer to strategies that encourage search engines like Google and Bing to list your website at the top of their results page, increasing both your website traffic and brand awareness. While the two terms are related, and the best digital marketing strategies utilize them in conjunction with one another, there are key differences that set them apart.

What is SEO? SEO deals with the process by which search engines assess website content to determine its effectiveness at attracting traffic in order to create a ranked search engine results page (SERP). The goal of SEO strategies, then, is to increase your website’s organic ranking on the SERP. Typically, these algorithms look for quality content, user experience, and link patterns, and by building each of these elements into your website, you can improve your ranking on the SERP. SEO can be broken down into three different components: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. On-page SEO refers to optimization that takes place in the content of your website, including using specific keywords and high-quality titles. Off-page SEO refers to connections made to other sites within your website. Linking information to other pages and sites can help to improve your authority and reputation, which search engines tend to use as ranking factors. Lastly, technical SEO refers to optimization techniques on the back end of your website, and includes having fast page loading speeds, a user-friendly mobile interface, and strong site architecture to increase your ranking. All three SEO components are important, and in order to see results, all three should be utilized.

Best Practices "Best Practices" is our new recurring feature designed to give your organization helpful advice for maintaining efficient operations

Explaining SEO and SEM

What is SEM? SEM refers to the use of paid advertisements that typically appear at the top of the page to increase visibility. These ads are targeted towards specific audiences and are charged to the business by click. Businesses can bid on key words to be advertised under, and the highest bidder receives the most visible location on the SERP. What are the differences?

The two biggest differences between SEO and SEM are their cost and the time it takes to see results. SEM has a higher cost, but more immediate results. Within hours after launching an SEM campaign, website traffic can increase. SEO, however, has lower associated costs and much slower results. SEO technically has no paid components, although the research and website improvements do take time, and it typically takes between 6 months and 2 years to see significant rank improvements and traffic growth. SEM can be incredibly effective in the short-term, but can get expensive in the long-term, while SEO can make a long-lasting impact on your overall website and visibility.

Ultimately, most effective marketing strategies make use of a combination of the two, as they complement each other well. SEO can improve your website to make a better landing page for your SEM campaigns, and SEM campaigns can help new websites gain backlinks, improving their SEO. However, this is not to say that some business can’t only use SEO or SEM. Businesses with smaller marketing budgets may want to start off with SEO, while businesses who want fast results may want to start with SEM. However, once organizations can supplement their SEO strategies with SEM, they typically do.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Welcome New Members

Pro Mobile Automotive Ferrisburgh

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Thank you!

Each month in "Around the Chamber" we will recognize new and renewing members for their support in helping ACCOC enhance and improve the business and non-profit communities in Addison County.

HERE

HERE

Officers Robert Feuerstein, Kennedy Brothers (Chair) Megan Mandigo, Marble Trail Financial (Treasurer) Nancy Foster, Champlain Valley Properties (Secretary) Adam Rainville, Maple Landmark (Past Chair) Phil Summers, ACCOC (Executive Director) Directors Dickie Austin, Black Sheep Bistro Amy Carlin: Middlebury College Doug Dewitt, Bristol Financial Services Meaghan McLaughlin, National Bank of Middlebury Ned Horton, Otter Creek Bakery and Deli Marty Kulczyk, Robert Frost Mountain Cabins Bethany Dever, Dever Accounting Services Article IV, Section D Designate Directors Karen Duguay, Better Middlebury Partnership Renny Perry, Addison County Economic Development Corp.

Renny Perry, Vergennes Partnership Bill Sayre, Addison County Regional Planning Commission Alicia Standridge - Bristol Core