www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, April 12, 2012 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Guest Column The voice of the community s chair of the Chamber's board of directors, the question that I am most often asked is: "I've heard of the Chamber but I'm not really sure what it does." The Oakville Chamber of Commerce (OCC) is the voice of the Oakville business community. We are a not-for-profit organization funded by membership revenue and led by a volunteer board of directors. Wendy Rinella Our mission is to foster a healthy, engaged and sustainable business environment and economy in Oakville. Supporting our membership is what we do. The Chamber offers its members the opportunity to `Be seen, Be heard, Benefit and Belong'. Be Seen: Promoting business-to-business commerce is one of the key advantages of Chamber membership. Every month the Chamber hosts Good Morning Oakville for our early birds to pitch their businesses to a sold-out audience. For our after-work crowd, each month a local member hosts Business After Hours to showcase their facility, products and services and facilitate member networking. Recent events at Cucci Restaurant, Sheridan Skills Training Centre and Puck's Pub drew hundreds of members. Be Heard: Getting the ear of politicians and advocating for changes are part of the Chamber's mandate. The Chamber is non-partisan and we encourage representatives from all levels of government to come to Oakville and engage our members. Recent highprofile events with Premier Dalton McGuinty, federal Environment Minister Peter Kent and Mayor Rob Burton allow Chamber members to raise issues with key decision-makers. I was able to ask the mayor directly about his plans for a light rail system. Benefit: Attending business seminars, listening to leaders and accessing corporate benefits through the Chamber allows our members to reduce their costs and gain business acumen. Annually BDC Small Business Week allows members to hear from entrepreneurs like Cora Tsouflidou of Cora Restaurants and attend seminars to develop critical business tools. Chamber members receive access to the largest employer health plan in Canada, fuel discounts, merchant discounts and member-to-member discounts. Recently the Chamber entered into an agreement with the DeGroote School of Business providing our members and their employees with $100 off any executive course registration. Belong: Belonging to the Chamber facilitates the role of the OCC in actively creating a place of belonging in the Oakville community. The Chamber has partnered with many organizations to improve the quality of life in Oakville. We brought Crime Stoppers to the town. The Chamber partners with Tim Hortons and the Kerr Village B.I.A. to bring the Annual Environmental Awareness Day; the Rotary Club of Oakville West to administer the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence -- the proceeds of which help fund Rotary Youth initiatives, and the Oakville Community Foundation to support Random Acts of Kindness. The Oakville Chamber of Commerce is the sixth largest in Ontario and the 18th largest in Canada. I am proud of our Chamber and its contributions to local businesses and the Oakville community. Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West David harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution Sarah McSweeney Circ. Manager Website oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of A Wendy Rinella, Oakville Chamber of Commerce chair Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award GRAHAM PAINE / oakville beaver / @halton_photog HOPE ON DISPLAY: The fifth annual Hope on Display took place last week at the YMCA of Oakville. The event featured the works of artists who have Parkinson's disease. Here, woodworking artist David Sandorson shows off some of his crafted guitars, mandolins and pens. When the workday is done maybe we should all stop working heryl Sandberg shocked the business world last week when the successful and savvy chief operating officer of Facebook admitted that for years she has (gasp) left work every day at 5:30 p.m. so that she could be home in time to (gasp) have dinner with her two children. What a crazy, crazy concept -- dinner at home with family. Naturally, critics were aghast. Imagine -- the audacity, the temerity, the gall, the selfishness -- placing the personal above the professional, not wholly selling one's soul to the corporation, and attempting in earnest to find (gasp) a balance in life. Relax all you workaholics, professional peons, corporate stooges, and sadsacks married to your jobs and devoid of a real life. While Ms. Sandberg is laudably unrepentant about leaving work "early," she readily admits that in her quest to find elusive balance in life, she has not been altogether successful: "There's really no such thing as work-life balance," she said. "There's work, and there's life, and there's no balance." To that end, she recalls pumping breast milk while on conference calls. And feeling the gnawing guilt that accompanies being a parent and hearing your offspring exhorting you, at some point S after the workday has allegedly ended: "Put down the cell phone and talk to me." Part of the problem, of course, is that we live in a work-obsessed society in which it's a badge of honor to be in the office at 5 a.m., and still there at 9 p.m. (Actually it's idiocy, but never mind.) Another part of the problem is ubiquitous technology that enables us to be Andy Juniper chained to our jobs long after we physically leave our desks. Look at me. People will say: "I'm not a workaholic, I'm at home relaxing on front of the TV. Yeah, with your computer on, and your cell phone at the ready, checking e-mails and sending texts." A few weekends ago, my wife and I had a rare free Sunday -- honestly, we see Bigfoot in our backyard more often than we see a Sunday sans social and/or family obligations. We went out for a leisurely brunch and, upon our return to the homestead, we stupidly stuck our noses into our laptops. Just for a minute. Just to look up something. Just to get one tiny task done. Four hours later, we shut-off those laptops and spent a moment contemplating all the fun things we could have done, and hating ourselves for having frittered away our rare free Sunday. I'm tired of technology. I'm tired of our dependence on this technology. And, of course, our addiction. Did you know that April is National Stress-Relief Awareness Month? Personally, I think we're all well aware of the stress in our lives. But we're unable or unwilling to do anything about it. It starts, I believe, at work. We need to follow Ms. Sandberg's example, and shut it down at 5:30 p.m.. Then we need to leave work and get a life. Remember that wonderful, unexpected after-scene in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, where Ferris stares into the camera and admonishes the audience: "You're still here? It's over. Go home... Go." Well, I think every business would do well to hire a Ferris Bueller look-a-like to come into the workplace at 5:30 p.m., stand before the employees and say: "You're still here? The workday's over. Go home. Go." Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter. com/thesportjesters.