Emma Inman - Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Centre

I have the pleasure of introducing Emma Inman. She's the Marketing Coordinator/VIC Manager at the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce.

What impact has Covid-19 had on your day to day operation at the Chamber?

The biggest impact we’ve seen from COVID-19 was being forced to close the doors of both the Visitor Centres and the Chamber of commerce to the public. This was a tough transition for us since a major part of both the Chamber and the Visitor Information Centre is connecting with people. We were unable to offer visitor services for the first few months of our summer season, but it did allow us to really take the time to come up with systems to keep our volunteers and visitors safe. Without opening our Visitor Centres to the public we had to very quickly learn how to offer remote services and self-serve resources.

What positive or heart-warming things have you seen or experienced during this past few months? Watching the community come together has been very touching. We have also noticed a trend of locals turning to the Visitor Centres to discover new activities within Cranbrook. It has been a great opportunity to learn history and well kept secrets of hiking trails, or mountain berry patches from people who have lived here for years, or sometimes generations.

What have you been doing through all of this to create some joy or find some enjoyment where you live? It was important to our team to keep spirits high – for ourselves and the community. We saw the Elizabeth Lake Visitor Information Centre as an opportunity to welcome visitors to the city, even if we couldn’t do it in person. We created a mural of hearts in the front windows, which we hoped would draw both locals and visitors into the park. On the Chamber of Commerce side, we shifted the focus of our marketing to highlight our members and how they have, and continue to, give back to the community. The reaction to this has been incredible, and it is something we hope to continue regularly into the future.

Is there anything specific you would like share, or wish people were aware of? We are finally launching our Business Excellence Awards celebration! This is a project we have worked diligently on over the last five months. Now more than ever it is important to recognize and honour the people, businesses, and organizations in our community that make this community great. We will be announcing more information starting September 1st.