The Chamber of Commerce

Hi all,
Okay I am coming clean...I am reading Twilight. The book is creating alot of buzz among the ladies in the office so I asked if I can borrow it.
I am about 25% finished and I have to be honest with you...it is not very good. It is definitely a book for teen-agers. I am not saying it isn't a page turner, because it is, but it is not very intellectually stimulating. And I need this after what I just went through.

I was up very late last night watching my beloved Gators lose to Kentucky at Kentucky by three points. The Wildcat player threw up a prayer at last second. What a heart breaker. I couldn't get to sleep until 12:30 and then I woke up at 5:30 and was still thinking about it. I need a sports therapist....bad.

8 days until my birthday.

I watched Schindler's List again on Monday. This movie is epic. It is so good and I remembered why it is in my Top Five of all times.
Also my kids got a hold of my Netflix account and I watched Underdog and Akeela and the Bee this weekend.
Both very good (in a 8 year old kind of way).

Have I told you how smart my five year old is? Noah who we call "Bam Bam" because he never stops. But he suprises us all the time with his wit.
He is a huge Handy Manny fan. In this cartoon there is a guy named Mr. LowPart.
He parts his hair and combs it over to the side...very straight.
I got out of the shower yesterday and combed my hair over to the side...very straight.
I asked him if I looked like Mr. LowPart. He said, "No, Mr. LowPart has a round head."
So I said, "So you think I have a square head or something?"
He said, "No, it is more like a rectangle."
Now is this common for a 5 year old to recognize facial shapes.
I mean the first time I recognized that all people don't have round faces was in dental school.
(Okay, so I am not that smart).
The kid is a genius, what can I say and no I am not bias.

This year was my resolution was to get more involved in the community.
I am not at the point in my practice that I need this but I wanted to get back into it.
One reason is because the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I can see the writing on the wall. Maybe the economy is going to get worse and I don't want this economy to ruin my practice. I mean the train is coming so I can either get on it or let it run me over.
I have to be visible. I have great internal marketing at my office and it is not systems, people just talk about us.
But I want to help my practice as much as I can.
And the second reason is that I think I should. I like using the businesses in my community.
I like volunteering at events. I like getting involved.

(I feel like I have already told you this story but I am almost 40 now so I am starting to forget things)
So I went to the Chamber lunch last month for the first time in about 6 years.
Lunch starts at 11:30. For me this means 30 minutes of BS time and then lunch.
So I blocked off my schedule at 11:45. I got there at 11:55. After I parked and went inside I was greeted by a woman that was not relaxed. I mean more frantic. She was running and doing something else but as she was walking fast by me she said, "Don't you know that this starts at 11:30?"
Then she returns from a errand and says that she gave my seat away because I was late.
WHAT?!!!
I guess this was her way of welcoming me back to the Chamber.
I ended it up finding ONE seat in the very front but to say the least this was not a good experience. I almost felt like they didn't want me there.

I went again today. I got there early. And there was mingling time.
You know I am sitting there thinking how much I hate doing this. I hate feeling uncomfortable in a room where I don't know anyone. I guess if I go more I will meet more people but for now...it sucks.
Today though, I called a couple of my patients and asked if they were going so I wouldn't feel like an idiot standing on the wall.
I knew a bunch of people there but I still felt like I didn't belong.
I also feel like I am pimping myself. I mean I am fine with writing about myself and talking one on one to friends about me but I am so uncomfortable telling people about me.
Is this weird?
I don't know what it is? I also fear putting my card in the fish bowl and being selected to speak about my office. I would be mortified.
I can speak on dentistry all day long. I can speak on my family all day long, but ask me to talk about myself for 2 minutes and I am a babbling idiot.
I mean what would I say if I had to get up there to talk about my practice.
I am the kind of guy who wants my actions to tell people about my practice. I want others to talk about my practice. I want people to hear others talk about my practice....not me.
Then I look around and it is a room full of pimps (I am sorry this sounds like a vulgar word but it seems to fit).
The room is full of squirrels just trying to get a nut.
And it is not that they are pathetic or anything because they are not, but it is what it is.
It is just a bunch of people trying to be seen. It is just a bunch of people trying to jump on that train before it runs them over.

And quite frankly I don't know if it works.
Do people really meet people in this environment and then start using their services? Maybe.
Do people sit next to me at lunch and then make an appointment? I don't think so.
But I have to look at the big picture.
Now they have met me. Then they might drive by my office. Then they meet someone that knows me. Then something happens to their dentist. Then they call me.
So maybe it is not just lunch.
Maybe it is the first thing in a string of events that leads them to your door.

I don't know?
Do you guys do it?
Do you think it works?
Well for me, I will let you know in a year of two if it works.

Have a great Wednesday,
john