The Hypocrisy of the Sarasota, FL Chamber of Commerce

Following is a letter that a friend of mine sent to the Sarasota, Florida Chamber of Commerce (and by the way, his decorative glass items are gorgeous):


Dear Sarasota Chamber,

I have been a Chamber member for almost a year and I am not planning to renew my membership. The reason is that I no longer believe that the Chamber's mission is to promote Sarasota and its businesses and not just to keep my dollars flowing to the Chamber itself. The one idea I felt important enough to suggest which I sent via email months ago, did not even warrant an auto-responder saying thanks or no thanks or even kiss my ass. Way to show support of Members and Sarasota businesses! Sadly the same can be said about a couple of commissioners.

On the morning of September 22, I got to talk to a very nice lady who was calling Chamber members to let them know that their Chamber once again wants more money. This time, to place an ad on the ad display racks in the Chamber lobby. In chatting with the lady, I found out that she was calling from Charlotte and she told me that a lot of Floridians have settled there recently. As my current business is not succeeding here in Sarasota, perhaps I could land a position with the Sarasota Chamber while living in Charlotte. Charlotte would be great, and I would not even mind phone work. Though, I am guessing that phone work, according to the Chamber website, is not "work compatible with our community standards." Otherwise, why would the Chamber have outsourced it to Charlotte when many Sarasotans are eagerly looking for work?

Also please let me know when the display racks and display rack management contracts are coming up for renewal as I would be in Charlotte already and thus could bid on them.

Sincerely,
Vincent

Vincent Dessberg
BellaGlass.com