I recently attended the 101st Annual Meeting for the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce. I know, sounds boring. They may call it a meeting, but it’s really more of a massive dinner, party, and award show with nearly 700 attendees from throughout the local business community. Heck, to some maybe that even still sounds boring. I went because I was recently recruited to join the Chamber’s Board of Directors. I’ll be honest: In the past there were times I had been skeptical of the Chamber. I knew they produced a few important events and programs, but I never really got the whole picture. However, over the last couple of years I’ve started to get a better sense of what they do and why, and now that I’ve had the chance to look under the hood a bit more, I have to admit: the Eau Claire Chamber is a finely-tuned engine not only for promoting businesses, but for serving our community on a whole host of levels. It’s an impressive operation that’s recognized as such around the nation. But what struck me most at the annual meeting was the sheer number of people in this community who are working together, all pulling in the same direction, toward the same goals. Thankfully for a lot of people, the Chamber serves as a significant, uniting organization for community-minded volunteers, leaders, and change-makers. And the value of that in a community cannot be overstated. So here’s to another 100 years of impact ...