Local chambers unite for first meeting

By Mark Lungariello
September 21, 2007
THE TOWN REPORT

		On Sept. 17, the Eastchester-Tuckahoe Chamber of Commerce welcomed the Bronxville Chamber of Commerce for their first meeting of the business year at American Bistro in Crestwood. The two local chambers have gotten together for networking meetings several times in the past. There were dozens upon dozens of local businesses represented from all areas of the greater Town of Eastchester. Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin and members of the Bronxville Board of Trustees were on hand as well as Tuckahoe Trustee Ernie Zocchi (D) recently appointed as liaison to the Eastchester-Tuckahoe chamber. Eastchester-Tuckahoe's Kathy Muskat, serving her first meeting as chamber president, said it was great to get both entities together from time to time. "It's good for business," Muskat said. "It's nice to meet our neighbors." Though the joint meetings are informal gatherings with networking in mind, Muskat said she might be interested in brainstorming ideas with the neighboring chamber's leaders.
Mary Civiello gives tips on how to make effective presentations.
Over 60 people representing businesses in Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe were on hand for dinner at American Bistro.
Eastchester-Tuckahoe's chamber also has some big changes on the horizon. This December, the group will be celebrating their 60th anniversary. Muskat said local business owners will make sure the anniversary networking meeting will be open to members of the public to celebrate. The chamber is also working on a new website (address yet to be determined) that will list all chamber members and link to the businesses' websites. Every networking meeting features a special guest speaker and the first meeting of the year was no different. Addressing business owners this time was Mary Civiello, president of Bronxville's Civiello Communications Group, a communications consulting group. Civiello may be known to many as a former broadcast journalist on NBC. She left the broadcast world in 2000 and now coaches businesses both large and small on how to make quality presentations. "Everyone's singing the same song." Civiello said. "The question is who is singing it best." Civiello gave pointers on how business owners could get optimal results from presentations they had to make to employees or clients. She said in contemporary society, presentations are important as ever. The culture has a short attention span, she said. According to Civiello, a news sound byte is usually around five seconds. It is not only important to keep a concise and interesting style when presenting, she said, but many presenters must beat their own fear. "Everyone presents but studies show people fear public presenting more than death," Civiello said. "That means at a funeral, most people would rather be in the casket than having to give the eulogy."