A CEO Roundtable Discussion, sponsored by the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce, was held at Best Western, 32nd and Limit, on Friday morning, attracting about 20 people.

Randy Kirby
Randy Kirby
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Brad Neperud, store manager for the Sedalia Lowe's, facilitated the breakfast meeting. He noted how the idea for a CEO exchange of ideas came about.

"Originally I approached Angie (Thompson) about two years ago, wondering if the Chamber had any benefits ... where Chamber members were engaging with each other on a smaller basis, to where they can get to know each other better and learn about each others' business, Neperud said. "They may have challenges on a daily basis, so interaction with each other goes a long way."

The group heard two presentations Friday -- one from Karl Kramer, McCarthy Auto Group (and past president of the Chamber), and one from Danielle Johnston, owner of Twister Sports.

For his part, Kramer focused mainly on utilizing social media for some of a company's advertising, adding that consistent branding is an important and ongoing part of advertising. "If someone doesn't know who you are," he said, "they can't search for you."

For example, a recent Facebook ad by McCarthy was boosted regionally for $100 and generated a 35,000 reach, with 500 shares, 400 likes and 127 new likes.

And You Tube is another online avenue to utilize, Kramer noted. "It's the second largest search engine behind Google," he said, adding that "we spend a lot of money every month to steward our message. It's a very targeted approach to online advertising."

Johnston came loaded with a Powerpoint presentation that featured seven tips to get the most out of your 24 hours:

1. Find your most productive time of day, your "zone of genius"
2. Eliminate time vampires, or things that suck away a lot of time from your day's production
3. Take time to make a to-do list, using the app "Wonder List" on your smart phone
4. Systemize your business and your life
5. Make multi-tasking effective
6. Recognize your down time
7. Track your time to see how much free time you actually have throughout the day to get things done

Johnston employs 36 people and serves 700 young athletes in two twister Sports locations (Sedalia and Warrensburg).

Townsquare General Manager Julie Hoffert attended the meeting and said it was a great learning experience for her. "There was a lot of information (available) and a lot of businesses (here) I didn't know about," she commented.

Rep. Denny Hoskins also attended the CEO Roundtable and is a team leader for the 10-member "Green Team," representing various backgrounds and companies in the Sedalia area.

"Usually, we meet monthly and we have the opportunity to share ideas as well as share challenges within our own business and look for ideas on how solve to those challenges," Hoskins said. Challenges could include problems with insurance, HR, marketing, accounting, etc., he pointed out.

More Chamber members at future meetings (and their guests) are more than welcome, Rep. Hoskins noted.

Angie Howard, communications coordinator for Center for Human Services, has attended 4 or 5 smaller roundtable meetings over the past year. She said it was nice how much other Chamber members are learning from each other and how it's improving the Chamber.

"Hearing some areas of expertise from Karl and Danielle is always inspirational and refreshing and learn from what they do well," Howard said, adding that she plans to come to future roundtable meetings.

In fact, there were four round tables in the meeting, surrounded by business owners, executive directors and CEOs of area corporations attending the two-hour meeting.

Randy Kirby
Randy Kirby
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Randy Kirby
Randy Kirby
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