By: Danny Diaz
On February 22, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Pillar Trustee Board hosted their inaugural Goals conference where business leaders, city officials, residents and stakeholders discussed challenges and opportunities facing Miami Beach. More than 150 guests attended the event and heard remarks from City of Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber , Leading Urbanist Richard Florida and Marketing Strategist Bruce Turkel.
“It was exciting to see the community, business leaders and stakeholders come together to discuss the future of Miami Beach,” said Event Chair Leila Chang (Florida Dental Benefits, Inc.). “Now the real work starts as we identify and start to work on activating these important goals.”
Attendees were able to attend breakout sessions organized by topics of interest identified by the Chamber and its membership. The breakout session areas of interest were:
- Quality of Life
- Doing Business on the Beach
- Tourism & Entertainment – Miami Beach, The Brand
- What it Takes to Sustain a Vibrant City
The purpose of each breakout session was to produce 3-5 major goals, which will be brought to the Chamber’s Board of Governors, and will be reviewed and an action plan will be created.O nce in the breakout rooms, attendees engaged in meaningful conversations led by subject-matter specialists and community leaders such as Jorge Gonzalez (Bal Harbour Village), Jordan Kramer (COMPASS), Madeleine Romanello (COMPASS), Jeevan Tillit (East of Collins), Joshua Gelfman (Terranova), Sheila Duffy Lehman (Tropic Survival Advertising & Marketing), Steve Haas (Centerplate), Nick D’Annunzio (Tara Ink), Maia Mediavilla (Atlantic Broadband), John Stuart (FIU), Jansen Pennock (Centric Consulting) and Wayne Pathman (Pathman Lewis LLC).
The event was programmed by the Pillar Trustees, which is co-chaired by Seth Feuer (COMPASS) and Aaron Tandy (Pathman Lewis). The board seeks to energize economic growth in Miami Beach, provide leadership for effective community involvement, aid in the advancement of education, support progressive government and initiate projects and ideas that benefit both businesses and residents.
Finally, the conference concluded with a report on the ideas and suggestions that each breakout room discussed. The event was sponsored by City National Bank, WeWork, Atlantic Broadband and COMPASS.
