With the calendar down to just one page, now’s a good time to think of all the “year end” activities for your association. Here’s my list, I’ll leave it to the guy with the beard to check it twice. Continue reading »
Associations Year End Checklist
December, 2011
Help Your Board Avoid the Post-launch Blues
November, 2011
Recently the chairman of a newly launched association approached me, frustrated that his board was becoming ineffective. Where the same board had been highly focused moving toward launch, post-launch it suddenly seemed to lack engagement and focus.
There are a few reasons why this happened. First, it’s natural for any group to experience a let-down after a key goal or milestone has been achieved. Continue reading »
Association Meetings, Sweat The Details
October, 2011
It’s meeting season. Over the past three weeks, our clients have held nearly a dozen meetings and conferences of all types—with over 2500 total attendees.
We’ve had some great success with our meetings and events in recent weeks. As I think about why, it struck me that there are a few general rules that associations should keep in mind when holding events of any size Continue reading »
Appreciating (and learning from) Steve Jobs
October, 2011
It’s impossible for anyone who has witnessed the personal computer and personal technology age from its beginning to separate Steve Jobs from that incredible odyssey. From the start, he envisioned, created, and defined new platforms and categories of media experience.
Sometimes he was not the first to invent, as with the mouse, the MP3 Player, the smartphone and the slate computer. But when he turned his exceptional perceptions, sense of style and insistence on perfection Continue reading »
Starting a new industry association or consortium is a complex endeavor, especially in the critical first few months. If you are starting ‒ or planning on starting ‒ one of these types of organizations, this webinar replay will provide you with advice on how to get your group successfully off the ground and drive it forward. Continue reading »
Five Ways to Get More From Your Board Meeting
September, 2011
I go to over 200 Association Board meetings per year. Some are great. And some, well, a little less than great. As I think about what makes the great one’s work, a few simple rules come to mind Continue reading »
Is Your Association Website Pretty or Productive?
September, 2011
I bet I have a pretty good idea of how your association’s website is structured. The home page flashes an inspiring mission statement, myriad momentum-building news blurbs and the logos of your most prominent members and sponsors. Of course, visitors can drill down Continue reading »
Is Your Association on the Decline?
August, 2011
Declining membership. Unrealized goals. Meeting attendance down.
These are just a few of the symptoms of an association that is failing. As with any disease, you don’t treat the symptoms, you need to treat the root cause. In the case of a failed association, here are some of the things to watch for:
Lack of mission focus: A mission statement is more than some frilly words on a piece of paper on your conference room wall. Continue reading »
I figured this headline would draw some attention! Explosive membership growth – it’s the quest of nearly every association yet, unfortunately, the source of much frustration for most. A few years back I had the good fortune of serving as Managing Director for an association that went from 30 to 120 corporate members in less than four years. And these weren’t trivial memberships – they ranged in cost from $10,000 to $40,000. Continue reading »
The “4 Ps” of Starting a New Association
July, 2011
E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, first used the term “the 4 Ps” in 1960 to describe the four broad elements of the marketing mix – product, place, price and promotion. The concept helped simplify understanding of what had become an exceedingly complex business function.
Similarly, when starting a new association, it helps to distill the complexities of formation and launch into four simple categories or “Ps” to focus on the elements most critical for launch success.
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