Hi everyone! New poster here. I recently relocated to Norman from Dallas and have enjoyed my time so far. I find Norman to be a great community. There is one thing I wanted to ask other forum members about because it has been the one negative thing I've experienced and it has to do with the Norman Chamber of Commerce. A couple months ago I went to the Chamber's offices to get some information about local businesses and had a terrible experience. There was no one at the front desk so I rang the bell. I could hear some girls talking in the offices in the back but they didn't seem to hear the bell so I rang it again. Finally a worker named Tessa Breeder (I believe that was her name) came to the front and asked how she could help me. When I explained I wanted some information about local businesses she seemed put off like I was interrupting her day. Worse-- I could smell alcohol on her breath and she seemed drunk (slurred speech, red eyes etc). This was at 4 pm! I got some of the information I needed but decided I would probably need to go back another time because she was so unhelpful.

A few days after that I was at a restaurant called Blu with my wife. There was a large group of young professionals in the restaurant for a networking event. They were very loud and most of them were very drunk. They were very rude to the wait staff. One man was so drunk he vomitted right there in the restaurant. The waitresses and other patrons were clearly annoyed. I asked who the group was and a bartender told me it was a Norman Chamber of Commerce group.

My question is is this normal for the Norman Chamber? I did a lot of business with the Chamber in Dallas but if this is what the Norman Chamber is like I'm not sure I want to do business with them. I've heard complaints from other people that they just spend all their money on parties. Does anyone have any insight on this?

Hi anonymous poster,

I am sorry you didn't contact our office directly to address your issue. Congrats on your recent relocation to Norman and thank you for sharing your problem that occurred a couple of months ago and for posting it two months later as a new member of okctalk. As President and CEO of the Chamber I look forward to hearing from you directly concerning this issue and to see how we can assist you in your needs. Please contact me directly at 405-321-7260.

I would certainly dispute most if not all of your points however I've found it generally not a worthy use of time to have a back and forth discussion with someone anonymously. I can say that there has never been a situation in which a member of my staff has been inebriated in our office. Nor is our budget spent predominately or even fractionally on parties.

Our Chamber strives to assist any individual to the best of our ability and to address concerns that are brought to us directly. While I may disagree, vehemently, with your comments I would greatly look forward to your contact so that we might rectify your assumptions to mutual satisfaction.

Sincerely,
John Woods
President/CEO
Norman Chamber of Commerce

Mr. Woods,

Thank you for responding to my post. I apologize if my information was incorrect. I'm currently recovering from surgery, but I will call you sometime next week to discuss the issue and work things out.

Sincerely,
Ed