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Preparing Members For Change

April 30, 2012

Most people, members and organizations are resistant to change. It’s up to us as association professionals to come up with a plan to make sure members are not only capable of dealing with an upcoming change, but that they buy into it and see the value it will bring to them as a whole.

My association, the Association of Water Technologies (AWT), has been working on restructuring their membership categories for over 3 years now. This may seem like a long time, but it has been intentional. When we first identified that the categories might need to be changed we had just completed a bylaws revision. At first, I think there was some frustration from volunteer leaders that we hadn’t recognized this need in time to have it incorporated in those bylaws. But, the timing actually worked to our advantage.

Once we identified that a change probably needed to be made, we developed a timeline to gather information and from there, if necessary, educate the members about the proposed change.

We started by conducting multiple survey’s online and in person. We asked questions about AWT’s vision, mission and member needs. From there, we did a lot of research into membership models, membership categories and dues structures. The Board and Membership Committee had many discussions about their goals and the mission of AWT. Finally, a draft membership restructure was developed. All of this took about a year and a half.

This past year and a half has been spent gathering more information and educating the members about the proposed change. We continue to conduct focus groups, in-person meetings, phone meetings and surveys about the topic. So far, we have received positive feedback on the proposed changes. We think this is due to the fact that we truly sought member input and spent time explaining why the changes were even being considered.

We’re currently in the process of revising the bylaws and expect to have a vote June. Since everything we’ve heard to date has been relatively positive or neutral, we expect the changes to be approved.

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Posted in Management, Membership, Strategy | Leave a Comment »

Managing Volunteer Expectations

March 27, 2012

As association professionals, we have all dealt with the issue of volunteers coming up with too many great ideas. The challenge arises when you have to balance these good ideas and the energy surrounding them with the association resources and budget.

My association, the Association of Water Technologies (AWT), has a very active committee structure. My members enjoy giving back to AWT and come up with some great projects and ideas for AWT to pursue.

Sometimes, though, volunteer expectations and the reality of the budget, time constraints, priorities of the Board or Association resources, don’t mesh. A committee might have a great idea that does not fit with the strategic goals they and the Board set. Or, it may simply not fit into the budget.

We want to encourage creativity from our volunteers. We want to keep them engaged and don’t want to stifle energy. At the same time, we have to keep the vision, mission and goals of the association in mind and also balance the resources. And often, the volunteers are only focused on their committee or project and are not aware of the larger picture or budget.

As staff, we have to manage the volunteers’ expectations. If a Committee is asking for, or asking to do, something that I know will not work or is not a priority of the Board, I explain that to them. But if it is just a matter of misplaced priorities or a lack of resources, instead of outright saying no, I first ask some questions to help them prioritize their idea within the framework of the current projects they are working on. If they still feel their new idea is something we should pursue, I give them some options – either alternatives to their idea, a timeline for when we might look into their idea again, or the opportunity to bring the idea to the Board.

This approach allows staff and the Board to be responsible with the association’s resources and budget. And, it lessens volunteer frustration, while also giving them control over their projects.

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Posted in Boards, Leadership, Management | Leave a Comment »

Conference 2.0: A Case History

January 31, 2012

In 2011 the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) took a big leap, for them, with a new social media offering.  We have a very active listserv – a benefit members value greatly – that has been in place for years.  And, our LinkedIn Group, which was started in 2009, continues to grow with the number of members and the quality of discussions.  The Board made a conscious decision not to have a Facebook presence and instead focus on other ways to engage our members, so, at our 2011 Annual Convention, we launched Conference 2.0.

Conference 2.0 (offered through Omnipress) is an online social networking community built around an event.  It’s where speakers, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors were able to engage with one another before, during and after the Convention.  They could tag one another as colleagues, find people with similar interests, set up appointments, select which sessions to attend, have conversations, and even download presentations.

The results were promising and we’re hoping to build on this in 2012.  We had a very successful usage rate (37%), especially for the first time using the technology, and members continue to use the site today.  For next year, we’re making plans to further improve on our success with greater usage and more engagement.  And, if it’s successful, we even hope to develop it into a persistent social community where members can connect not just around an event, but around shared interests or volunteer opportunities.  As association professionals it is our job to provide more opportunities for member satisfaction and engagement.

Posted in Marketing and Commmunications, Meetings | 4 Comments »

Leadership Development

December 29, 2011

In a few weeks I’ll go with my Board President and President-Elect to the ASAE CEO Symposium.  It’s a great way for us to start our leadership year together.  It gives us a chance, during the two-day seminar, to focus on how we hope to work with one another as a team and with the rest of the Board.  And, everyone benefits from attending – I refresh on best practices; my volunteers learn more about their role; and together, my leaders and I develop greater trust and a truer partnership.

I’ve been very lucky in that my Board sees the value in this program and commits the funds for three of us to attend this, or a similar program, each year.  What I value most is the time outside of the Boardroom or at an Association of Water Technologies (AWT) meeting, where I can bring up sometimes difficult conversations, be it a leadership issue or industry challenge.  Each year is different because at least one of the players change.  But it is exciting to watch a President-Elect the first year and then see the changes that happen the next year when that person is now President.  They tend to be more confident and more strategic-minded.

This is just one way to develop leaders.  Some other things my Board and I are doing are conducting an expanded and enhanced leadership program for all Committee Chairs, Subcommittee Chairs and Related Trade Organization Liaisons.  It’s a meeting of over 30 people where we get to talk about our priorities for the year ahead.  It also gives us time to do some training and development with these key people within AWT.

Something else we enhanced this past year was our New Board Member orientation.  And before we rolled out the new program to the actual new Board Members, we did the entire session with the Board, so they received a great refresher on their duties and responsibilities.

It’s important to remember that for many volunteer leaders this is a new role for them.  They may not be familiar with association practices and may not have the leadership skills required of their position.   As association professionals, it’s our job to give them as much help as we can in making them a success.

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Posted in Boards, Leadership, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Coming To Terms With Social Media

December 9, 2009

If I’m honest, I’m not particularly comfortable with social media. Blogging is new, and at this point, rather forced. (But, I am a fantastic lurker! I love reading what other people have to say on blogs and listservs.) I signed up for LinkedIn and Facebook, but mostly because I felt like I had to. I’m still struggling to understand how this all fits. Before Facebook, I didn’t know what my friends’ status was (and I still don’t since I haven’t logged on for 3 weeks) and that was OK. When I first started using Facebook, I was completely overwhelmed. Was I suddenly expected to know all the details of my friends’ lives? Because it felt like information overload, I stopped using it. Now, when I log on once a month, I have 50 requests and posts and messages. So, I gave up. But after I got over the guilt of not using Facebook, I realized that I’m not missing out! I still know what I have to know about the lives of my friends and family. Most people don’t talk about any serious problems or internal struggles they’re having on Facebook – they pick up the phone and connect with someone. So, I’ve decided that it’s OK for me to use social media on my terms (I’m different and that’s OK). I don’t have to go on to Facebook everyday. I don’t need to respond to blogs. Social media is a tool like everything else (Jamie had a great blog post about that recently). It’s not something that should control me, but rather should be something that enhances my knowledge and relationships. Finding that balance of how to use these tools is different for everyone and people should not expect to use – or have others use – them all in the same way.

All that said, I do recognize the value of social media and have had to figure out how it will work as a tool for my association (the Association of Water Technologies, AWT). To make sure we didn’t miss the boat completely, I signed up AWT for all the biggies – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Groups– if for no other reason than to claim the name. We also started an internal wiki for volunteers to collaborate on projects. Of the major social media tools, we’re only using LinkedIn, right now. But, I am trying to sell my Board on the idea of an interactive conference platform that allows attendees to connect – it’s kind of like Facebook, but designed for the conference. We’re also finding that our standard means of reaching our members – email – is becoming a little stale and we’re seeing a decrease in open and click-through rates. Social media tools, such as Twitter, might be a great way to re-engage the membership, so that is something we’re looking into as well.

So, I’m making my foray into social media grumbling slightly (to myself; I try to be enthusiastic to my Board), but knowing that it is a great way to help people connect and enhance their association experience.

Posted in Marketing and Commmunications | Leave a Comment »

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