Internet chamber draws interest

FORT COLLINS — If the charter meeting of the Internet Chamber of Commerce Northern Colorado Chapter was any indication, the organization will be very popular among computer-minded business people throughout the region.More than 100 people attended the gathering held Feb. 2 in the main gallery at One West Art Center, and 96 memberships were collected, said Matt Tracer, co-principal of the chamber.
Tracer and partner Ron Ullrich are coordinating the chamber, which is the first subchapter of the Denver Internet Chamber of Commerce, now 280 members strong.
Ullrich said it was with some trepidation that they brought the region˜s Internet community together.
"They are competitors, after all," he said, "but the focus was alliance building. This is a collaborative effort to explore all the opportunities of working together."
Ullrich said the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce is particularly supportive of the ICC˜s spirit of cooperation. Mike Hauser, president of the Fort Collins chamber, spoke at the meeting, as did Fort Collins mayor Ann Azari.
People in the Internet community have different skills than the typical business person, Ullrich said, so other chambers of commerce in the region view them as a supportive, not competitive, presence.
The primary reason for introducing an Internet chamber in Northern Colorado is to further the marketing of commerce on the Internet, Tracer said. The chamber will focus on two aspects of that burgeoning industry: back-end development and user education.
With a substantial number of charter members, Northern Colorado ICC plans to host regular gatherings where members will have an opportunity to hear guest speakers, learn from each other and network with industry experts and novices alike.
Chamber meetings will be open and free to the public until May, when the chamber will start charging dues. The next meeting will be held in mid-March
The chamber will also serve as an information clearinghouse and advocate for members, Tracer said.
"We˜re following the same format as the Denver-based chamber, and people who join our chamber will be a member of both," Ullrich said. "We hope to involve governmental and education organizations as well as businesses and serve as an advocate for members."
Tracer and Ullrich are co-owners of Ultra Learning Group, a human-relations and technical-training company. They hope their involvement in the chamber will help their business.
"We˜ be in control of the coffers, but the chamber is a nonprofit organization, and I don˜t see how we could make money off it," Ullrich said. "The advantage is the networking benefit. Right now, people in the industry are really pumped about what˜s happening and what the Internet can do."