Erika Spence: Business in the Park

How to spend $86,400

At the end of the year we often reflect on the last 365 days and what we accomplished. I’m not talking about profit and loss, necessarily. Sometimes it’s more about how we spend our days. Jay Rupert in the Chamber’s membership services department is famous for telling stories. He recently added a new one to his repertoire. It goes something like this, with a few embellishments on my part:

I’m going to put $86,400 in a bank account with your name on it. You can spend it however you like. Buy a bigger house, a newer car, invest in a business, or donate it to charity. You get the idea. The catch is that you have to spend it all today. You cannot save any for tomorrow or spend it in advance. Tomorrow, I’ll give you another $86,400.

What would you do with this kind of money? Think about it carefully because you already have access to it. Each of us has 86,400 seconds to spend every day and at the end of the day they are gone. It’s our job to spend them wisely.

If you’re a Winter Park Chamber of Commerce member and haven’t attended a Member Orientation, or haven’t been in a while, be sure to join us in January. We will spend a solid hour getting to know each other and how the Chamber can help grow your business. And Jay will share his famous story, and some other nuggets of wisdom. Sessions are held the third Wednesday of every month at 8:15 a.m. and well worth the investment.

A few shameless plugs

So how does the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce measure the year? For starters, we added 162 new members in 2014, 17 of them as part of the Park Avenue Merchants Association, a sign that our downtown is indeed a vibrant place to be. Some of these new businesses have quickly become part of the fabric of our community, including Writers Block Bookstore, while others help others discover our vibrant food scene like Orlando Food Tours. Experience these and other new Park Avenue businesses at experienceparkavenue.com

Another way the Chamber measures the year is its events and programs. Our members, as well as residents and visitors alike, came out in force to support annual traditions like the Taste of Winter Park, Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, Harriett’s Park Avenue Fashion Week and the recent Ye Olde Hometown Christmas Parade, among others. We hosted several first-class political events due to the busy election season and also renewed the Feed the Need Winter Park campaign, which has collected over $92,000 to help fight hunger in the community. (There’s still time to give at feedtheneedwp.org)

I could fill a book with stats from 2014. The number of fans on the Chamber’s Facebook page reached 1,653 and our Twitter following (@WPChamberFL) grew to 5,049 as of press deadline (a shameless plug for our social media channels that offer news from the Chamber, its members and general business tips). The number of ribbon cuttings held at new businesses in 2014: 53. You can see their smiling faces at facebook.com/winterparkchamber

One last shameless plug

I think it’s worth mentioning one last time that the Chamber, the Park Avenue merchants and the Winter Park/Maitland Observer are asking for your help in determining the “best of” Winter Park. That’s right, this is your chance to vote for your favorite local businesses, including best outdoor dining, best fitness studio, best place to get married and others. Voting runs through Dec. 31, 2014 at wpmobserver.com. The winners will be announced at our Ovations Awards Ceremony & Business After Hours on Jan. 22.

Erika Spence is the senior director of marketing and communications at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.