It’s inevitable. One Board term ends, another begins, and you’re left wondering if the newbies can fill the shoes of their predecessors. Luckily, an association management company (AMC) provides the history, consistency and the resources your Board needs to excel in leading the association. Here are five things the association managers at CMA do to ensure stability and a smooth Board transition:

1. Hold an in-person meeting. Face-to-face interaction is so important to build a relationship and a feeling of stability. We introduce incoming Board members to the core team, Board of Directors and make them aware of the association’s vision, three-year strategic plan and the 12 month tactical plan.
2. Arm them with the tools they need. Our team will often email a packet of duties, bylaws, job descriptions, a Board calendar and key contacts to new Board members to give them the essential information to start participating and functioning as a leader of the organization.
3. “Boot Camp” webinars. Through the convenience of a webinar, our team is able to walk the newest Board members through any online workgroups the association might have in their Members Only section, as well as committee roles, association resources and how to exchange information with other members.
4. Individual assistance. Association management companies also provide one-on-one attention and assistance through phone calls to specifically answer any questions a new Board member might not feel comfortable asking the group about their committees or jurisdiction.
5. Introduce them to the rest of the Board. It sounds simple but the rest of the Board may not know anything about the new member’s experience, background and area of specialty. On the first Board call, the association manager will often provide an introduction and walk them through the meeting.

Overall, our association managers maintain an “open door policy” with new Board members (as well as existing Board members) so that they feel they have a resource to rely on if they have questions or issues. AMCs help prevent miscommunications through centralized operations, leading to a more united leadership structure.

How are you planning to welcome your new Board members?

Lynn McCullough
Director of Association Management
lmccullough@cmasolutions.com

The last speaker concludes their presentation and attendees wheel their luggage out the door off to planes, trains and automobiles to carry them back to their home bases. What happens next?

Many times, associations make the mistake of only focusing on the annual conference while providing few other benefits. If you find your members are only energized about fresh ideas and the future of your association’s industry during the conference, here are some suggestions for year-round activities to help your organization maintain the momentum after your major events.

1. Offer webinars. Webinars offer convenient educational opportunities for those who attended the conference and for those who could not. Check your speaker evaluation forms from the annual conference and ask the presenters with the highest ratings to conduct webinars to continue their discussions—no doubt your membership would love to hear more if the speaker was engaging and informative.
2. Create exclusive social networks. Many associations offer customized social networks, but LinkedIn also offers the opportunity for organizations to use an exclusive “members only” forum. Close your group off to only members by setting the “Request to Join” option on LinkedIn’s administrative panel to allow them to share post-conference ideas and take-aways in a more confidential setting. This will help increase the perception of the organization as having more value.
3. Fully utilize your newsletter or magazine. You can also use your speaker evaluations as a guide for what people would like to read more about in your written member communications. Also, use newsletters and magazines as vehicles for promoting year-round involvement by advertising new committee positions, promoting accreditation programs and other initiatives that provide opportunities for members to get involved in the association, such as contests and referral programs.

There are ways to make sure your membership stays energized and connected to the association and continues to value the opportunities to network and educate themselves all year round—not just face-to-face. Does your association have methods and vehicles in place for its membership to continue the conversation post-conference? Let us know how you prefer to connect.

Gabrielle Copperwheat
Senior Association Manager
gcopperwheat@cmasolutions.com

By Diane Galante Haggerty, Associate Director, Event Management

 It’s graduation season—can’t you just hear the school marching band playing “Pomp and Circumstance?”

While many of us have graduated long ago, anyone involved in an association is concerned with finding the right keynote speaker for their next conference. While we’re approaching the summer “quiet time” between the typical spring and fall conference/tradeshow seasons, there are some lessons we can all learn from observing stand-out celebrity graduation keynote speeches.

1. Maintain a balance between funny and serious. Keynote speeches of any kind are ultimately meant to entertain. If you are a Colbert Show fan, you already appreciate the daily commentary on society given by Colbert’s carefully crafted conservative caricature. The laughs are plenty upfront, as you might expect from a comedian. But seriously folks—Colbert offers poignant thoughts for the road ahead.

Key quote:  “If you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path, then decide now to choose the hard path that leads to the life and the world that you want.”

2. Stray out of your comfort zone. Last year’s keynote speaker at Sarah Lawrence was not a Sarah Lawrence alumnus, but a “master of cognitive flexibility,” sure to take these students straight out of academia and into the real world—Adam Savage from the Discovery Channel show, Mythbusters. Savage, an NYU drop-out, was an unlikely representative for the institution that turned out political figures like Rahm Emanuel and broadcast pioneers like Barbara Walters. But his entertaining scientific prowess and down-to-earth appeal won the students over.

Key quote: “Wanna know how to work hard? It’s not complicated. All you have to do is listen. Listen to what’s going on around you. Learn how the project you’re working on fits into the big picture. Learn how you fit in. Pay attention.”

3. Reach for the stars.  It’s not every day a sitting president makes a keynote speech. President Obama’s historic speech at Morehouse College this year was the first time a sitting president has ever given the keynote at this institution. It evoked the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other inspirational figures to motivate the class of 2013.

Key quote: “In today’s hyper-competitive, hyper-connected world, with competitors from India and China and Brazil, many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did, all of them entering the global workforce alongside you—and remember, nobody is going to give you anything you have not earned.”

Have a keynote speaker success story? How about a horror story? We’d love to hear it! Share with us in the comment box below.

Many associations are struggling with how to provide member value, especially if your association appeals to a wide variety of generations at different stages in their careers.  The average association member is facing a number of challenges in today’s competitive job market. The struggling economy and high unemployment has left many searching for ways to stand out from the crowd.

Establishing an industry-wide accreditation or certification program can position the association as a leader and enhance overall member value. An accreditation program can help define your association in the marketplace while providing your membership with the tools to showcase their professional expertise to potential employers and customers.

The process for developing a successful program is labor-intensive, but the long term benefits are significant. Below are the steps CMA has used to develop these programs for clients:

1. Survey membership and prospects to determine their needs and interest.

2. Create an outline of the potential scope and content for the program.

3. Establish a governance structure to develop reliable credential criteria and assessments, eligibility parameters and testing procedures.

4. Create requirements for certification and re-certification. Consider association membership, participation in educational activities and committees as well as speaking at association events as potential criteria.

5. Develop a marketing strategy for the promotion of the program in the industry in order to drive participation and membership growth.

Are you struggling with providing member value? A certification program may be the answer to driving membership growth while creating non-dues revenue and strengthening your association’s mission and industry stature.

Lynn McCullough
Director, CMA Association Management
lmccullough@cmasolutions.com

Just what do PR professionals do when they say they specialize in “media relations?” What is “pitching?” Here is a breakdown of our exact process:

Step 1: Coordinate schedules. The PR professional will check with the association board to alert them that media relations (or “pitching”) has begun and ask about their availability for interviews in the near future.

Step 2: Research the media. Instead of just blindly calling up reporters to ask if theyreceived our press release, PR professionals do their homework. They check to see what the target reporter has covered lately to ensure a relevant match. Social media often plays a large role—a reporter’s Twitter feed provides a lot of insight and is now an alternative method of communicating an idea or news tip.

Step 3: Know the pitch. When following up with media, a PR professional can’t simply read a reporter the press release verbatim. Publicists often develop succinct scripts that explain the story idea in an impactful way to catch the reporter’s attention quickly.

Step 4: Pick up the phone. PR professionals target specific times of day depending on the type of media and the beat the reporters cover. Picking up the phone and having a conversation can show enthusiasm for the idea and allow a client’s company to stand out from competing ideas sitting in a reporter’s email inbox.

Step 5: Craft an email. Some reporters prefer only email communications or will ask a PR pro to send a pitch letter in writing before they agree to move forward. Here’s where a good writer can persuade a reporter why the story idea has merit and provide additional resources such as bios, links to videos and photo attachments.

Step 6: Develop talking points. Once a PR professional feels confident an interview will happen, he/she develops a one-page sheet of talking points, reiterating key messages or main ideas from the press release. These are provided to the client in preparation for an interview.

Step 7: Follow up. After a few days, a PR professional will call or email a reporter considered to be a “hot lead” and follow up on the first conversation. This follow-up is conducted with the goal of moving the process forward to set up an interview.

Step 8: Set up an interview. Once the reporter agrees to interview the company spokesperson, the PR professional coordinates the date, time and setting that works best for all involved. The PR pro may even attend the interview to support the client.

Step 9: Follow up again with photos or video footage. Once the interview is complete, the PR professional checks in one more time to see if additional resources such as photos, video footage (for TV segments) or any clarification is needed before finalizing the article or segment.

Step 10: Confirm the placement. In the final exchange between media and PR professional, a run date or air date is confirmed.

Ultimately, media relations is a game of persistence coupled with the need to be constantly informed and aware of client objectives and the media cycle. Under the umbrella of media relations, association boards are gaining an entire operation designed to generate positive press coverage.

Kaitlin Friedmann
PR Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Association websites are important tools, not only to introduce the association to potential members, but to provide existing members with resources they need. Our association managers recently shared their thoughts on the benefits of creating a Members Only website component to create an exclusive online resource and add value to association membership.

Keeping materials that are the most substantive and useful “behind the curtain” of the password-protected Members Only section is a great strategy for highlighting association member benefits—and encouraging non-members to join. The types of content that works best in this kind of section are:

• Online member communities—Idea forums that are often modeled after public social networks, but are created specifically for the association are a particular growing interest among members.
• Sharing original or exclusive resources—One association in the academic community uses its Members Only to post proprietary protocols among their trusted member base. They value what content is there and are more likely to stay connected to the association so as not to lose their exclusive access to it.
• Career centers—Through the portal, members can have access to job postings and other resources to help them on their career path, including mentor pair-ups.
• Industry news and updates—Members use the password-protected section to obtain calendars and news that pertain specifically to the association or the industry.
• Member directories—A valuable and useful component to any closed-off section of the website is the member directory. Many associations have made this searchable by name, company, specialty, location, etc.

Be sure to remind your members through various communications that this type of exclusive access is a privilege of being a member, as it will certainly make a difference in the way they access and feel about the information.

Stephanie Frost
Association Manager
sfrost@cmasolutions.com

1. Get organized. Some of our largest associations have renewal dates that vary from calendar to anniversary, with various periods of proration to manage as well. Was this a complicated process for our association coordinators? “Not if you maintain a very organized database!” said Nicole Lauzon, Association Coordinator. “We follow a meticulous schedule to keep track of key deadlines and ensure we are reminding association members at the right time.”

2. Utilize all forms of communication. We all recognize that associations have multi-generational membership bases who use different types of communication methods. Even with sophisticated web software that allows for members to update their membership status on their own, CMA Association Coordinator, Krista  Slowikowski says it’s not for everyone. “It’s great to have the self-update as an option, but I know that I will also have to pick up the phone and work with members one-on-one sometimes. We also correspond through email and have forms faxed to us. There are a variety of communications methods we employ.”

3. Remind members of the association’s value. It’s always a good idea to remind members about where their dues dollars go. “We often attach a sheet listing member benefits with the renewal forms to keep members aware of the association’s value,” said Lauzon. Keep in mind your long-term members may not be aware of new benefits, or some members’ professional roles might have recently changed, leading them to value another member benefit more than before.

4. Persistent, personal outreach. It’s important that all parties involved stay persistent in following up with members during the renewal process. A personal outreach from a Board or Committee member can also help the member feel valued.

While associations are always looking to grow, it’s important to maintain your existing membership and ensure they adhere to renewal deadlines. What are your challenges with dues renewal?

Kimme Carlos
Association Manager
kcarlos@cmasolutions.com

Reason #1: Sticking out like a sore thumb. PR and social media professionals might work hard to get your association noticed, but we also don’t want you to be noticed for all the wrong reasons. While social media management tools like Hootsuite might be used to schedule posts for convenience, social media managers must also pay attention to tone of tweets and other posts across all social networks and either suspend activity or post manually. For example, a post that says “Happy Friday everyone!” riddled with exclamation points and hashtags unrelated to the current event visually sticks out in a bad way. Only contribute to the conversation if you have resources for those in need or are expressing your support for those affected.

Reason #2: Show your solidarity. Social media connects the country and the world like no other communications tool. We all might not live in Boston but we have friends, family or simply might just like the town or empathize on some level with what the citizens are going through. Out of respect for the need for those people to use social media as an information stream, it’s the right thing to do to go silent with your self-promotional posts. Remember the “social” part of social media and relate on a more human level.

Reason #3: Err on the side of caution. Sometimes scheduled tweets might unintentionally offend social media followers in the early hours of a crisis such as the Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent manhunt. People have strong reactions to certain words that take on new meaning in the context of a crisis. On the off chance that something you have scheduled might offend, play it safe and suspend self-promotional activity.

The bottom line? The tragic and tense situation in Boston solidifies what good social media community managers already knew—your news can wait.

What do you think about social media communications during times of crisis?

Many associations select cities for a number of reasons—cost-effectiveness, convenience for travelers, co-location with another major tradeshow. For whatever reason you choose to host your Annual Conference in a certain city, it’s a wasted opportunityif you ignore the unique attractions it has to offer your attendees. Embrace the cultural, historical and overall experience your host city has to offer in the following ways.

1. Offer a networking event with a view. Whether you are in Washington or Warsaw, each city has a picturesque view of famous landmarks or other types of landscapes you should take advantage of. Check out restaurants with rooftop decks or balconies to inspire attendees to take photos with each other and share with their social networks.
2. Get into the spirit. Recently, a CMA client held an event in Washington, D.C. and creatively got attendees into the spirit of their surroundings by holding a spy themed event at the International Spy Museum. Channeling their inner James Bond (or their favorite fictitious Secret Service Agent), attendees assumed new identities and played games throughout a networking dinner that also served as important icebreakers for guests who did not already know each other.
3. Sample unique cuisines. Food connects people from around the world in incredible ways. Consider showcasing the city’s signature dish to add to the overall experience of the event. For instance, at the 20^th Anniversary ICMA EXPO, CMA created a feast of Southwestern fare in an old Western “ghost town” as an homage to the desert setting of Scottsdale, Arizona. Other association clients have worked with the host property to develop specific drinks to further connect the event to the location, such as coffee concoctions in Seattle and mojitos in Miami.

With company travel budgets still tight, it’s important to leave attendees feeling the conference was worth the trek. What are some creative ways you have seen a city represented in your travels?

Diane Webster-Sweeney
Association Manager/Meeting Planner
Dwebster@cmasolutions.com