American Chamber of Commerce Executives Convention 2007 – August 2, 2007

The American Chamber of Commerce Executives Convention 2007 took place on August 2, 2007 at the Sacramento Downtown Convention Center in Sacramento, CA. This event was presented by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), a national association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. This convention included key-note speeches from Steve Forbes and Knight Kiplinger, informative break-out sessions, seminars, and exhibitors. The ACCE Convention 2007 was sponsored by the the following corporations: Bank of America, BusinessTalk 360, Market Street Services Inc., Microsoft Windows Vista, NationJob Inc., National Community Development Services Inc., Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc., Sprint, VillageProfile.com, and Wal-Mart. Exhibitors included: Accrisoft Corp., America in Bloom, API, Office Depot, BirdieBall, BlackBerry, Business Publications, Century Publishing, CertifiChecks Inc., Chamber Clicks, Chamber Publishing, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, United States Council for International Business, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.  

Nancy Hesser, Product Manager for Global Trade Programs of the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce was invited to participate as a speaker for a Break-Out Session. Hesser coordinated with the local U.S. Department of Commerce contact, Director George Tastard of the Sacramento Export Assistance Center, U.S. Commercial Service. Hesser and Tastard were the featured U.S. Commercial Service panelists and together they presented the topic of “Planning Successful Trade Missions.” Also on the panel was Abby Shapiro, Marketing Director of the United States Council for International Business.  

Shapiro moderated and provided the opening introductions. She also spoke about internationalizing Chambers of Commerce. Tastard introduced the U.S. Commercial Service and Hesser presented a PowerPoint presentation about “U.S. Department of Commerce – Certified Trade Missions.” Trade missions were presented as a new program opportunity for its chamber members. Hesser talked specifically about logistics surrounding and establishing a trade mission, while Tastard emphasized the revenue generating impact and pitfalls of implementing international trade mission programs in their communities. Hesser and Tastard also emphasized the advantages for chambers of commerce to target free trade agreement countries as excellent international business and trade mission opportunities.  

After the presentation, the twenty-four attendees asked questions and received hand-outs: a copy of the PowerPoint presentation as well as an overview of U.S.A. Free Trade Agreements. This event was practical and informative for the participants and an excellent networking and promotional event for the U.S. Commercial Service.