The ability for you and
your association to experience future success takes
some keen awareness of
the world around you.
The educational needs of a new member who has been in the field for two
years may be substantially different than
those of a senior executive who has been
in the industry for 20 years and a member for 17. Additionally, both may have
very different needs than the middle management professional who has been in
the field for 10 years and a member for
five.
Understanding how to plan your portfolio and — most importantly — where
to allocate your time and financial investment requires knowing what your membership is telling you. If someone were
to ask if you wanted to place 80 percent
of your financial investment in programs
that will appeal to 20 percent of your
audience, would you say yes? Of course
not. Yet this is often what associations
do because they don’t have a strong
enough sense of their member demographics and the needs specific to subsets of
their membership.
By gaining a better understanding of
member demographics and needs, you’ll
gain a good sense of who has been a
good customer of your programs, what
type of member makes up the majority
of your membership and who is typically
the most active participant in your association’s programs.
The ability for you and your association to experience future success takes
some keen awareness of the world
around you and its changes, predicted
movements and shifts. Any potential
shift — whether perceived as positive or
negative — provides education possibilities for your membership. The key is
tying the change to your industry.
4.
Take stock in the world around you.
Our industries all are influenced by
many factors and variables in the world
around us. Consider the following predicted trends and the impact they will
have on your members:
• A potential market increase in energy prices
• Retirees in the U.S. returning to work
in record numbers
• A major retraining of many workers
entering new jobs and industries
• The growing “green movement.”
What do these major trends mean
for your members, their businesses
and your association? By tracking new
innovations, trend shifts, buying power
and more, you will help your members
— and your association — stay ahead of
the curve.
And Finally …
In Jeremy Gutsche’s book Exploiting
Chaos … 150 Ways to Spark Innovation
During Times of Change, he notes that
culture is more important than strategy.
Gutsche, of Trendhunter.com, suggests
that “culture underlies your organization’s
ability to adapt, and times of change
magnify this importance.” Gutsche also
writes that uncertainty and resistance are
paralyzing to innovation.
With that in mind, is your association
nimble enough to emerge from this recession in tact? Does your culture allow for
innovation and change, and has that
migrated to better and more customer-focused educational programs? Have you
been listening to your members instead
of keeping your head down while you
develop programs? If you are answering
“yes” to these questions, then you will
see light at the end of the tunnel — and
it won’t be an oncoming train.
Debra Bachman-Zabloudil, FACHE, CAE, is
president of The Learning Studio Inc. She may be
reached at debra@learningstudio.biz.
