Column: Get involved and do your bit

I've had a busy week putting together the Chamber of Commerce's submission on the Rotorua District Council Annual Plan. This was an interesting exercise and I will focus on our submission in next week's article.
But this week, I would like you to put some thought towards contributing to the very active role the chamber plays in our business community.
The chamber is a business support organisation, owned by the members it supports. The philosophy, values and strategic direction of the chamber is defined by a governing executive committee - our board of directors.
Our committee membership is a maximum of 14 - 13 elected or co-opted members and myself, the chief executive, as ex-officio.
Each year, with the exception of the immediate past president and myself, all executive members are required to stand for re-election. The current strength of the chamber is reflected in the fact that, for the past three years, up to 12 members have stood for election to the available eight positions.
Last year, the chamber moved to electronic voting through Elections NZ and increased the participation in the election from 5 per cent to more than 30 per cent of membership.
Every organisation continually needs the injection of fresh thinking to keep it vibrant. The chamber was fortunate with the calibre and business acumen of the new executive members last year.
The role of executive member is not onerous. Full executive meetings are held 10 of the 12 months of the year and are kept to two hours. There are three sub-committees: management and finance, member services and advocacy.
Each committee considers a combination of governance and operational matters at monthly meetings. Executive members also have the choice to become more actively involved in operational aspects, but this is not compulsory.
The management and finance committee focuses on strategic and financial review, human resources and personnel matters and organisational risk review.
Member services keep track of the multitude of products and services the chamber offers. It considers programme quality through a defined review process to ensure we continue to meet member needs. Two further sub-committees, Women in Business and the Multicultural Business Council, report to this committee.
The third committee considers the advocacy function of the chamber. Through the work of this committee, we ensure all submissions we present have the mandate of the membership. This group is also responsible for meetings with our stakeholder focus groups and with community leaders such as our mayor, and our local and regional councillors.
All three committees have the authority to invite other members to join as non-executive members. This is a great way to become involved without going to the extent of standing for the executive.
We believe two of our current executive members are considering standing down. We have an induction pack for executive board members so, if anyone is interested in standing and would like a copy, he or she can contact me at the chamber.
- Roger Gordon is chief executive of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce