“If you’ve seen one chamber (of commerce), you’ve seen one chamber (of commerce)” is a popular saying among members of chambers of commerce. The saying means that each chamber of commerce can be very different, providing different services to its community.
 
“If you’ve seen one chamber you’ve seen one chamber” has been cited in print since at least 2006 and is of unknown authorship.
 
   
Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives
What is a Chamber
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If You’ve Seen One…
The term “chamber of commerce” is one of the oldest and most well-recognized brands in the world, but there is significant public misunderstanding of its meaning. There is an old adage in the chamber world: “If you’ve seen one chamber, you’ve seen one.” Others who find themselves frustrated with a desire to apply universal truths to chamber of commerce models point to the Chinese parable of the seven blind men touching different parts of an elephant and coming away describing it differently (“It’s a snake . . . no it’s a tree . . . no it’s a brush on a rope . . .”). In all cases, the whole of a chamber of commerce is greater than the sum of its parts, programs, people and participants.
 
Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review
Commerce groups find roads for survival
By Jennifer Reeger
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006
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More than 70 chambers of commerce operate in 10 counties of Southwestern Pennsylvania, said Barbara McNees, president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
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“There’s a saying in the chamber of commerce business, ‘If you’ve seen one chamber you’ve seen one chamber,’” McNees said. “There is a uniqueness to everybody’s operations.”
 
Grand Valley Advance (Jenison, MI)
Walker resident establishes chamber of commerce
by Drew Storey
Monday April 14, 2008, 12:37 PM
The City of Walker is in a unique position in that it is still growing and is still working on realizing its full potential.
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Jeanne Englehart, president of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, said that every chamber is different. “They say if you’ve seen one chamber, you’ve seen one chamber,” she said.
 
Shorewood (IL) Patch
What the heck is a Chamber of Commerce?
By Shorewood Chamber Of Commerce
Updated June 30, 2013 at 10:19 am
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The saying goes that, “if you’ve seen one Chamber of Commerce, you’ve seen one Chamber of Commerce.” While many communities throughout America, and even around the world, have a Chamber of Commerce, each one is unique in both the services that they offer and the businesses they represent.
 
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Membership180
October 31, 2013 ·
“If you’ve seen one Chamber, you’ve seen ONE Chamber.” We’ve heard it many times. However, we are very much the same at the fundamental level; a truth that became clear as we started down the road to learning about a Chamber in South Asia. The key…....defining what makes you unique within the framework that IS Chamber.
   
The Northwestern (Oshkosh, WI)
Defining the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce
John Casper 5:01 p.m. CDT August 30, 2014
The term “chamber of commerce” is one of the oldest and most well-recognized brands in the world, but there is significant public misunderstanding of its meaning. There is an old adage in the chamber world: “If you’ve seen one chamber, you’ve seen one.” Misconceptions abound regarding many brands, products and organizations. When it comes to the term “chamber of commerce,” misperception and erroneous assumptions are even more likely, even though almost everyone has heard of the term. The lack of understanding is in large part self-inflicted because chambers across the country focus on different things and actually operate in different ways.