Contact: Oscar Garcia, President & CEO
ogarcia@chambermv.org
(650) 968-8378

LEARN FROM THE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES WHO INVENTED SOCIAL MEDIA
The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View announces a Social Media Conference unlike others.

Mountain View, CA March 23, 2012—On Tuesday, May 1st the Chamber [...]]]> For Immediate Release

http://www.chambermv.org/socialmediaconference2012/
http://chambermv.org/

Contact: Oscar Garcia, President & CEO
ogarcia@chambermv.org
(650) 968-8378

LEARN FROM THE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES WHO INVENTED SOCIAL MEDIA
The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View announces a Social Media Conference unlike others.

Mountain View, CA March 23, 2012—On Tuesday, May 1^st the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View will present Social Media Conference Silicon Valley 2012. The speakers at this event will be from Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, YouTube, GoPago and others.

This event was designed to help business owners take advantage of the ever-changing nature of social media as a marketing tool. The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, located in the epicenter of Silicon Valley, is in the perfect position to bring together the companies that created social networking.

Oscar Garcia, Chamber CEO, says that “Social media is difficult, time consuming, scary, overwhelming and confusing, unless it’s understood. Some businesses believe that spending time on social media websites is risky. It’s not! When properly used, social media can increase customer loyalty, and increase sales. There are many “experts” or “evangelists” out there, but the best people to learn from are the ones that actually invented social media. Our conference is designed for businesses. Attendees will learn practical skills to effectively use social media as a powerful business tool.”

This event will have the most innovative industry leaders available to teach small to medium sized businesses how to effectively engage and interact with customers, and manage their online reputation. Business owners will learn how to determine which social networking platforms are most effective for their products or services, how to understand metrics and increase brand loyalty.

The role of the Chamber in a community is to promote business. We know that some local business owners have been focused on everyday customer transactions and traditional marketing techniques and now they feel they’ve been left behind in the social media world. Now is the right time and social media isn’t something businesses should ignore.  “We’re fortunate enough to have these companies right in our backyard. They’re the true experts in the industry. Would you rather learn how to play basket ball from Michael Jordan or from your high school basket ball coach?” asks Oscar Garcia.

The event will be at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Registration: 7:00am – 8:00am
Conference: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Networking Reception: 5:00pm – 7:30pm
http://www.chambermv.org/socialmediaconference2012/

About the Chamber

The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View is a non-profit business organization working for the mutual benefit of its members and the community by enhancing an environment in which business can succeed.

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The ATHENA Award will be presented to Laura Macias and the Young Professional ATHENA Award will be presented [...]]]> Mountain View, CA February 24, 2012 — On Tuesday, March 20th the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View will present two prestigious ATHENA Awards. The luncheon will be at Michael’s at Shoreline in Mountain View at 11:30 am.

The ATHENA Award will be presented to Laura Macias and the Young Professional ATHENA Award will be presented to Carolyn Hopkins-Vasquez. These women embody the highest levels of professional excellence in their fields, have devoted time and energy towards improving the quality of life for others in the community, and both actively assist women in realizing their leadership potential. We are honored to have them in our community.

Laura Macias is currently serving her second term on the Mountain View City Council. She served as mayor from 2007 to 2008. She is a consultant for Graduate School Admissions at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. She has lived in Silicon Valley for almost 20 years, holding positions in management, marketing & solutions, as a consultant and in government/community affairs at esteemed high-tech companies. She has served on numerous local boards and committees, including Environmental Planning for City of Mountain View Parks & Recreation. She is a founding member of Mountain View Trees and Mesa de la Comunidad.

Carloyn Hopkins-Vasquez is the Director of Marketing at Tied House Café and Brewery. She is a founding member of the Chamber’s Yipee Committee. She served as chair for Yipee and she is currently on the board at the Chamber of Commerce. She is involved in Community Services Agency’s Holiday Sharing Program, Relay for Life and she has been Co-Chair of the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival for the past three years.

The first ATHENA Award was presented in 1982. ATHENA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. There are over 300 active award programs and more than 5000 awards have been presented to ATHENA Recipients in the United States and around the world.

The awards will be formally presented at the luncheon on March 20th, 2012 at 11:30 at Michaels at Shoreline. Please visit the Chamber of Commerce website www.chambermv.org to register for the event.

Through this program, we hope to build awareness of and honor the valuable contributions being made by women in our business and professional community. We are looking forward to a successful celebration this year and we welcome your participation.

About the Chamber
The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View is a non-profit business organization working for the mutual benefit of its members and the community by enhancing an environment in which business can succeed.

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MOUNTAIN VIEW ART & WINE FESTIVAL—HONORING 40 YEARS OF TRADITION,
EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY

August 23, 2011—Mountain View, CA The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Art & Wine Festival this year on Sept [...]]]> For Immediate Release Contact: Oscar Garcia, President & CEO
(650) 968-8378
ogarcia@chambermv.org

MOUNTAIN VIEW ART & WINE FESTIVAL—HONORING 40 YEARS OF TRADITION,
EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY

August 23, 2011—Mountain View, CA The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Art & Wine Festival this year on Sept 10 & 11, 2011, from 10am to 6pm. There will be a special 10-year remembrance ceremony at the festival to honor the heroes from 9/11.

Over the past 40 years, the Mountain View Art & Wine festival evolved from a small street faire, just a few blocks long, to one of the country’s largest art festivals. Each year the community looks forward to many traditional aspects of the festival, including live bands, a wide variety of wine and beer, an outstanding selection of food vendors, and over 600 artists featuring fine arts, handmade jewelry and accessories, one-of-a-kind clothing, and more. This year the festival will be using innovative new technology from several Silicon Valley start-ups to make the weekend activities more enjoyable and increase festival-goers satisfaction.

The Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce partnerships with Pago Mobile and GoVoluntr. The Mountain View Arts and Wine Festival will be the first event in the country to use Pago’s smartphone technology to enhance the experience of festival-goers. By using the Pago Mobile app on their smartphones, customers will be able to browse the wine and food selections, pay for their alcoholic beverages, and view
a map of the festival and locate restrooms, information booths, and emergency services. Attendees can control their entire festival experience easily through their smartphone interfaces and the Pago Mobile app. “Mountain View is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and is a town full of forward-thinkers who are quick to adopt new technology,” said Leo Rocco, Pago’s Founder and CEO. “Pago is helping local residents celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mountain View Arts and Wine Festival, while also enabling Mountain View consumers and businesses to take a progressive step toward the future of commerce.”

Beer and wine tickets will be available for presale through the Pago app starting August 25th with special incentives to be announced. Customers will be able to purchase their drink tickets ahead of time or on-the-spot. Without having to wait in long ticket lines, attendees will have more time to celebrate the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival’s 40th anniversary. The Pago Mobile app is free and it conveniently allows customers to browse, order, pay, and skip the line for a variety of local goods and services in the Mountain View area and beyond.

The festival will also be using GoVoluntr, an online social platform that connects volunteer opportunities at non-profit organizations with people in the community who want to do something good. GoVoluntr will help the Chamber of Commerce recruit the 500 community volunteers that it takes to make this incredible event happen. GoVoluntr allows volunteers to not only track their volunteer hours easily, but the more time they volunteer, the more points they earn which can be redeemed for prizes. They can also connect their GoVoluntr profile with other online social profiles and share worthy causes with their friends. Volunteering is even more fun when your friends join in. “GoVoluntr is super excited to help source Do Gooders for the 40th Annual Mountain View Art and Wine Festival. It’s a win for Art and Wine, a win for GoVoluntr, and a win for the community!” – Young Han, Co Founder of GoVoluntr. The GoVoluntr website also has numerous other Do Gooder opportunities available.

Oscar Garcia, President and CEO of the Chamber, says that the community of “Mountain View evolved from a small stage-coach stop to being the epicenter of Silicon Valley innovation. This year we will proudly celebrate our 40th Anniversary of the Art & Wine Festival by capturing our colorful and diverse history, while embracing and highlighting our region’s technology. We are excited to be partnering with Chamber members, Pago and GoVoluntr to bring mobile payment options to festival attendees and help recruit the hundreds of volunteers that help run the festival.”

For information, please visit:
http://www.miramarevents.com/mountainview/
http://getpago.com/

http://www.govoluntr.com/

About the Chamber
The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View is a non-profit business organization working for the mutual benefit of its members and the community by enhancing an environment in which business can succeed.
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The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View is happy to introduce our new Membership Resource Manager, Manuel Martinez. “Mannie” started August 1st and seems to be fitting in quite well. He’s already familiar with Mountain View since he spent part of his childhood here and his grandmother still lives in Mountain View. He has [...]]]>

The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View is happy to introduce our new Membership Resource Manager, Manuel Martinez. “Mannie” started August 1st and seems to be fitting in quite well. He’s already familiar with Mountain View since he spent part of his childhood here and his grandmother still lives in Mountain View. He has many fond memories of our city, including one special 4th of July many years ago when he was allowed to sit on top of the carport of the apartment complex where his family lived and watch the Blue Angels fly overhead.

Mannie has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University and hopes to eventually get his master’s in Public and Nonprofit Administration. He has a sales management background from AT&T Mobility and Nordstrom and was involved in the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco. He lives in Santa Clara right now, but will probably end up relocating to Mountain View. He is a self-taught photographer and enjoys bird watching. If you ask him who his favorite author is he’ll tell you all about Victor Villaseñor’s biography Rain of Gold that tells the story of two families that escaped the Mexican Revolution.

Mannie will be at all of our upcoming events, including the Art & Wine Festival, the Volunteer Appreciation party after the festival, and monthly mixers, Yipee activities, ribbon cuttings, and the Morning Buzz Breakfasts. He’s anxious to get to know the members and learn about their businesses. And one more detail you should know about Mannie, he loves to do research. He knew all about the Chamber, the staff, and the many benefits of Chamber membership when he came in for his interviews. He spent a great deal of time learning about the Chamber and studying our website before any of us met him. He’s going to be a wonderful addition to the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce and we’re happy to have him join our team. Feel free to stop by the office to meet him in person or email him at mannie@chambermv.org.