Clarity is a cornerstone to working with associations. It is hard to function well without it. Being an Association Manager and working for an Association Management Company (AMC), I find myself using the word “clarity” constantly when working with Boards. During a recent Board meeting, we referred to clarity [...]
The pandemic has all Association Management Companies (AMC) working with their association clients to rethink how to get back to “normal” or define the “new normal” for their operations. Connecting In-Person vs Virtual Many associations have returned to in-person meetings and conferences while maintaining the virtual attendance option. Depending [...]
Each Board member brings to the Board a special set of skills and life experiences. Volunteering is the lifeblood of not-for-profit associations, and attracting qualified leaders often attracts people that may have conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest with the association they are involved with. So, how [...]
Not many people roll out of bed daily asking: “How can I think strategically today as a volunteer board member”? All volunteer board members come to the board table with a skill set and a level of knowledge that benefits the association/profession with which they are involved. They are [...]
As we start getting back to in-person board meetings, volunteer board members are craving a better understanding of their role as directors of an association. Zoom-based board meetings have taken away the personal interactions that happen around board tables and put board members into isolation which makes it harder [...]
I don’t fish as I have never had the patience to sit that long but I recently took part in an online training program that made me think of the following phrase: “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and [...]
Associations operate on trust between the CEO, Chair, and board members. In our new virtual world, we are losing that in-person connection opportunity. How can boards build trust the trust in each other that allows them to make decisions based on the expertise that each board member brings to [...]
What does it take to be a good board chair? What skill set do you need and who do you partner with to fulfill the Vision & Mission of your association? The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) provide training sessions [...]
Without seeing one another in-person, building connections is a difficult thing to do. How do you find the future leaders for your association while using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or GoToMeetings? The Past Art of Connecting The way we connect with each other has changed in 2020 and the opportunities [...]
Pandemic planning was NOT part of my vocabulary at the beginning of 2020. Earlier this year, an association we manage had recently welcomed a pandemic planner as a new member. Many association members didn’t understand the complexity and details of pandemic planning and how it could positively impact their [...]
