Chair outlines Sept. 25 boot camp, ad plan and budget priorities for Miami Lakes business event

The Economic Development Committee chair told members the committee’s small-business boot camp will be held Friday, Sept. 25 at the Town Chamber and that the venue is already reserved. The committee also agreed a nomination and advertising timeline to promote the event and the linked Best of Miami Lakes program.

The Chair said the committee aims to start advertising by July 15, with an internal deadline to deliver headshots, logos and bios to Vanessa so marketing collateral can be assembled. “We want event ads to begin no later than July 15,” the Chair said, and asked members to supply missing assets so Vanessa has two weeks to build materials.

Committee members confirmed four speakers and continued looking for a fifth inspirational speaker. Confirmed presenters and proposed session focuses are Drew (AI 101), Roxanna (branding), Tiago (AI-powered marketing), and Roberto (scaling a business). The Chair said the committee will ask speakers for short talking points so marketing copy communicates what attendees will learn.

The group reviewed approved line items for the event budget: $750 for collateral, $1,000 allocated for a networking happy hour at Chella’s, $1,000 for social ads, $250 for incidentals and $100 for additional swag. The Chair noted the committee currently has 30 preassembled swag bags from last year and discussed ordering more; members ran cost estimates for ordering 50–70 additional bags to arrive near the anticipated attendance.

Not all members agreed on the promotional approach. One committee member said the planned ad spend risked poor return and questioned buying print ads in the Miami Laker instead of relying on social ads or other investments. “It’s too much money that we’re spending on this event,” the member said, adding concern that the local Laker “does not bring too much results.” The Chair defended the combined strategy, saying paid awareness would boost nominations and voting for Best of Miami Lakes and that the committee lacked control over town social channels.

To coordinate Best of Miami Lakes, members agreed on a nominations window and publication schedule meant to culminate at the boot camp: nominations to be accepted in August with finalists announced at the Sept. 25 event and a final winners announcement mid-October. The proposed advertising and publication dates discussed include July and August print issues and ads timed into September and an Oct. 16 wrap-up announcement.

Beyond the immediate event, the Chair proposed a longer-term idea to fund a full-time events coordinator shared across town committees to reduce volunteer burden and improve execution; members discussed pooling committee budgets to cover what they described as roughly the cost of a $60,000 annual salary.

The committee agreed the day-of agenda for the boot camp: 9:00 a.m. registration; 9:45 welcome; 10:00 a.m. Drew; 10:25 Roxanna; 10:50 Tiago; 11:15 Best of Miami Lakes announcement (break); 11:40 Bert; 12:05 Milo; 12:35 p.m. open Q&A; then the networking reception. The Chair said she will circulate the final agenda and asked members to deliver speaker titles, headshots and any outstanding materials ahead of the next meeting.

No formal motions or votes were recorded during this meeting; members reached informal agreement on the schedule and next steps and will present the proposed advertising and nominations schedule to the full committee for formal consideration.