Chamber Breakfast Series re-convenes online
Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce is bringing back online its Breakfast Speaker Series online, FWKCC president/CEO Julie Blaylock has announced.
This series, “Outlook on East Tennessee,” will be online from 8 to 9 a.m., tomorrow, Friday, May 29, via Zoom.
Moderated by Hallerin Hilton Hill, talk show host with WOKI-FM-NewsTalk 98.7, the panel for this event consists of U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R--2nd District), Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), state Sen. Dr. Richard Briggs (R-District 7, which includes Farragut) and state Rep. Jason Zachary (R-District 14).
“The premise behind (the theme) is that the pandemic in the last several months now has just created so much uncertainty about the future,” Blaylock said. “We’re happy to see businesses getting back to work. We’re happy to see businesses starting to experience some sense of recovery; but there are still a lot of questions that are up in the air for all of us, as citizens, as businesses, as Tennesseans.”
As such, “We wanted to provide a forum where our businesses and guests can get an update from their elected officials who are representing them here in East Tennessee,” she added. “We also wanted to provide a forum where they can ask questions.”
The series is “going to be a webinar (format) in the sense that the only people you see on the screen will be the panelists and the moderator,” Blaylock said.
“Unlike a regular Zoom meeting, most of which have become accustomed to, (people logging into the series) will be able to see and hear everything, but attendees’ video and audio will not be activated,” she added.
While a question-and-answer segment will be offered at the end, there will be an iChat option.
“Attendees can put their questions into the iChat,” Blaylock said, noting the questions being asked during the series came from local businesses.
“The questions we’re going to ask the panelists, we really wanted those to come from our businesses,” she added.
“It’s really not a whole lot different from how we did our in-person Breakfast Speaker Series. Obviously, we’re cutting out the 30-minute breakfast and networking portion that occurs beforehand.
“We spend roughly 45 minutes with the panel, asking those questions that we’ve come up with beforehand, then we will open up the last 10 or 15 minutes for Q and A.”
There is no charge for Chamber members to attend the event, presented by First Utility District, Knox County Government and Town of Farragut. However, there is a $10 charge for non-members and $5 for students not affiliated with FWKCC. farragutpress also is a sponsor of the series.
For more information, visit farragutchamber.com or email suzanne@farragutchamber.com
