Annual HBC Breakfast
7:30-9 a.m. Sept. 18
Harbert Center

Geraldo Rivera, host of Fox News' "Geraldo at Large" will be the guest speaker at the  Annual HBC Breakfast. Known for his investigative journalism, Rivera has received several awards, including the 2000 Robert F. Kennedy journalism award, the Scripps Howard Foundation national journalism award and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. He is a veteran foreign correspondent, having covered nearly every international conflict since 1973.

The Annual HBC Breakfast will be from 7:30-9 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Harbert Center. For more information, contact Ashley Grigg.

The bottom line of Birmingham businesses is about to turn green.

This month, the Chamber is initiating its Green Business Recognition Program to showcase the efforts of businesses in the Birmingham community that are committed and engaged in environmentally responsible operations and practices.

Be looking for your invitation by email with a brief introduction to the program along with a link to an application to become recognized as a Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce Green Business. Based on a points system, the application is broken down into six categories including waste prevention, recycling, purchasing, energy conservation, water conservation, as well as transportation.

To participate in the program, businesses must commit to several basic green business practices. The application specifies these practices and awards points for each item. Based on those practices, companies must earn a total of at least 15 or 20 points depending on their size. Approved applicants are awarded the official “Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce Green Business” seal, the Chamber’s logo rendered in green, and are able to promote their company’s commitment to improving the community. Recognition will also we awarded via the Chamber’s website and with chance to showcase their green efforts at the Chamber’s October Green Business After Hours Event.

In addition to this recognition, the program will serve to encourage green business practices throughout the business community and to acknowledge simple strategies that cost little time and money that are key to making green initiatives work for any business. One of the goals of the Chamber’s program is to get all members thinking about green policies, and taking a step in the right direction to help ensure the greater Birmingham region is an environmentally healthy and viable place.

Click here to see if your business could be a Chamber Green Business.

The nominations are IN. More than 220 Birmingham businesses are now being called the IN spots according to the IN guidebook on sale now at Alabama Booksmith and Books-A-Million. This hand-held guidebook lists the places to dine, entertain and shop as said by thousands of Birminghamians. The IN spots were announced at the IN Campaign Wrap-up party, sponsored by Davis Architects, on July 29 at the IN attraction Vulcan Park & Museum. Attendees were able to sample food and drinks from several IN spots including Urban Standard, Rojo, Sol Y Luna, Gian Marcos, The Olive Branch, J. Clyde, Superior Grill, Cosmo’s Pizza, Bottle Tree and Morgan Creek Winery. Other Birmingham vendors supporting the party included Birmingham Coca-Cola, Vitamin Water, Birmingham Budweiser and Catering by LaNetta. The night was complete when attendees took to the floor learning some dance moves from IN honoree Steppers and Walkers.

The IN Campaign was a four-month long image campaign created by the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau to get feedback from Birminghamians on their favorite places in town. The Chamber was a partner along with Operation New Birmingham and Metropolitan Development Board. Giant red boxes as well as 50 smaller boxes were scattered around the city to allow people to nominate and online, too.

Media Night
5:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 8
Vulcan Park and Museum
*Exclusive event for Chairman’s Circle, Board
of Directors and Board of Trustee members

The Chamber will be honoring Birmingham’s regional media professionals at the fourth annual Media Night 2008, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Vulcan Park & Museum. Media Night is a chance to network and mingle with journalists in a fun and relaxing environment that is “Off the Record.”

With presenting sponsor Charter Communications, the Chamber will recognize the finalists and announce the winners of the Rufus N. Rhodes Leadership in Media awards. This event is exclusive for members of the Chairman’s Circle, Board of Directors and Board of Trustee members. Invitations to this event are non-transferrable.

The Rufus N. Rhodes Leadership in Media awards recognizes work in journalism that has made an impact on the region or on a specific community. Many of the finalists were nominated by Chamber members.

There are three categories of finalists: individual, organization and posthumous. Finalists in the individual category are Matt Murphy, host of The Matt Murphy Radio Program that airs on WAPI 1070 AM, Rahkia Nance & Robert K. Gordon, metro reporters at The Birmingham News, Michael Tomberlin, business reporter at The Birmingham News and Sarah Verser, reporter and anchor at Fox 6. The finalists in the organization category are ABC 33/40, CBS 42 and FOX 6. Finalists in the posthumous category are Raymond Hurlbert, a leader in national public broadcasting, and Ingrid Kindred, longtime reporter at The Birmingham News.

The finalists were selected by a panel of judges who are former media professionals or who work with media professionals.

For more information contact Brannon Dawkins.

11:30 a.m. Oct. 28
The Club

The annual Governor’s Luncheon allows Chamber members the opportunity to have a private audience with the Governor and to hear his plans and initiatives that will directly affect Central Alabama in 2009. Space is limited for this popular event. Reserve your table or seat today! Contact Libba Miller for more information or to register.

Congressional Forum
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
The Club

The Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce will host the 2008 Congressional Forum sponsored by Verizon Wireless. This fall’s luncheon features Representative Spencer Bachus who will brief the Chamber on the very latest from Washington DC. Your participation is important to us and we hope that you will attend the 2008 Congressional Forum. Contact Libba Miller for more information or to register.

Magic City Classic Scholarship Breakfast
The Harbert Center
Oct. 24
Registration/Breakfast: 7:30-8 a.m.
Program: 8-9 a.m.

Celebrate business and scholarship with Alabama Power Company along with the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce African American Business Council during the Magic City Classic weekend. The Chamber shows annual support for the Classic by providing scholarships to students attending five HBCUs, including: Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Lawson State Community College, Miles College and Stillman College. Each student, one from each institution, will be presented with a check on the day of the scholarship breakfast. So far the Chamber has provided over $34, 000 in scholarships to HBCU’s.

The Magic City Classic is one of the largest, longest running sporting events in the Birmingham region. The game represents a great tradition as well as a $22 million economic boost for our region. Show your support for this tradition of excellence in collegiate athletics and academic success by supporting this event! Our featured speaker will be the Honorable Larry Langford, mayor of the city of Birmingham.

Tickets:

• $280 Corporate Table of Eight (Deadline for Corporate table reservation is Oct. 17)
• $20 General Admission
• $15 Chamber Members
• $15 Alumni/Students

For more information, call Niki Anthony at (205) 241-8112, or nanthony@birminghamchamber.com. To purchase tickets please contact Kellie Harper at (205) 241-8110 or kharper@birminghamchamber.com.

Download the Birmingham Screen Saver Installer (about 4 MB).

If you received an error message during install, you probably do not have sufficient rights to install applications on your computer. You may need to download this file, and manually install. Follow these instructions:

1. Installing the Flash Player
   Please run the mm_fl_sw_installer.exe to make sure you have the latest version of the Flash Player. If you are certain that you already have the Flash Player installed, you may skip this step.
2. Installing the Screen Saver
   Copy the birmingham.scr file into your Windows directory, usually located at c:\Windows\system32.
3. Activating the Screen Saver
   Open Control Panel, and choose Display, then choose Screen Saver tab on the top of the window. Go to the pull down menu to choose a new screen saver, and you should be able to see your new Birmingham Screen Saver there. Select it and hit apply to activate it. There are no configurable options on this screen saver other than those offered by Windows.

If that doesn't work, contact your system administrator and they should be able to install the screen saver for you. Tell them "I want my Birmingham slide show!"

If you have additional questions, contact us at pmattison@birminghamchamber.com.