CBM-0517-FINAL
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CHAMBER VIEW<br />
Advocating for our Business<br />
Community<br />
A strong, vibrant region begins with the quality of its<br />
jobs. At the Sacramento Metro Chamber, we work daily<br />
to create an environment that supports job creators.<br />
Whether by helping businesses through the services<br />
offered at our Small Business Development Center or<br />
fighting for policies and regulations that promote job<br />
creation, the Metro Chamber is constantly advocating<br />
on behalf of the business community to create a<br />
prosperous Capital Region.<br />
Now more than ever, the business community needs<br />
representation, especially at the state and federal levels.<br />
Too often, decision makers are quick to pass laws while<br />
failing to understand the unintended consequences<br />
and red tape that can shackle business owners and<br />
entrepreneurs and stifle growth. The costs of these<br />
laws can be high and often results in less hours for<br />
employees, the loss of jobs, or worse, the failure of<br />
the business itself. Instead of introducing bills placing<br />
additional restraints on business, we encourage our<br />
elected representatives to stay focused on supporting<br />
our growing economy and the long-term development<br />
of our region. Through ongoing dialogue with our<br />
elected leaders, and continued advocacy for our<br />
members, we can create an opportunity economy,<br />
laser focused on quality jobs and a thriving business<br />
community full of opportunity.<br />
The Metro Chamber prioritizes advocacy and<br />
incorporates it into everything we do. Through our<br />
engagement with our elected leaders at all levels of<br />
government, we make certain that the concerns of<br />
businesses are presented and discussed. In many<br />
cases, we have been successful in stopping harmful<br />
legislation, and in others, we have helped minimize its<br />
negative impacts. It’s true that in California, business<br />
does not often win, but there is power in numbers,<br />
and together, we can have a greater impact, influence<br />
outcomes and create wins for business.<br />
Change takes time, and most businesses are unable<br />
to dedicate the time and resources needed to fight<br />
bad legislation or educate their local public officials. By<br />
belonging to the Metro Chamber, you are ensured that<br />
your business has a constant advocate looking out for<br />
you, making sure your voice is heard, and supporting<br />
your needs, so you can grow your business in our<br />
Capital Region.<br />
Robert Dugan<br />
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT<br />
PUBLIC POLICY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEN<br />
METRO CHAMBER<br />
Join Us (916) 552-6800<br />
www.metrochamber.org<br />
• DISCOURSE<br />
and it actually can be kind of fun to engage people. We’ve<br />
looked for those kinds of opportunities here on occasion, but<br />
I haven’t found a lot that seem like just the perfect fit, so we<br />
still have some experimenting to do.<br />
How about partnerships with social media entities like Facebook<br />
and YouTube?<br />
Both entities are well aware that their customers spend a lot<br />
of time on their sites reading news. I think both are in many<br />
ways as dependent on the news media as the news media is<br />
on their distribution platform. Are they going to have a model<br />
that makes economic sense for journalists? That remains to be<br />
seen. But they have strong reasons to want journalists on their<br />
site. A lot of Twitter followers are there because they get news<br />
faster. Reporters at the scene can tweet out in a shorter amount<br />
of time than it takes to actually file a post to their own site. So<br />
they need us and we need that distribution platform. I hope this<br />
leads us to something that makes financial sense.<br />
What about the use of virtual reality, augmented reality<br />
and mixed reality platforms like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear<br />
VR and Google Cardboard?<br />
Well, being clear that virtual reality doesn’t mean made up,<br />
think about what it would feel like for a member of your audience<br />
to be able to feel like they stepped into a war scene or<br />
a flood. What would it be like if you were stuck on a roof with<br />
somebody who was stuck in a flood? There are opportunities<br />
for news media to bring experiences home to people in a way<br />
even television can’t do — because in TV you’re shooting an<br />
image off in the distance, you’re not in the middle of it. I think<br />
[virtual reality] is really powerful … We’re just starting to<br />
experiment with it.<br />
Some newspapers offer podcasts. Is this something the Bee<br />
might do?<br />
We have gotten heavily into video, so over the last three years<br />
you might have asked, ‘How are you going to do this with a<br />
room full of word people?’ Because that was the challenge.<br />
But we do a lot of raw video and it’s really added value to<br />
our work. With podcasts, we have purposefully gone a little<br />
bit slower than other markets because we are doing a video<br />
push. … McClatchy did just hire someone to start developing<br />
a podcasting program throughout the company, and<br />
there are a handful of reporters here who are very eager to<br />
start podcasting.<br />
I am constantly annoyed with how poorly most newspaper<br />
websites operate. They load slowly, are clunky to maneuver<br />
around in and are loaded with annoying pop-up ads. Why<br />
is there not more emphasis on positive user experience for<br />
newspaper sites?<br />
30 comstocksmag.com | May 2017
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