Annual General Meeting (AGM) season is underway for associations with a fiscal year end of December 31. The purpose of these mandatory meetings is for the board of directors and management to share reports, financials and updates and to allow members of the association to ask questions and share [...]
Canadian associations are often bilingual, meaning they offer membership programs and services in both official languages: French and English. In this context, members, potential members and industry partners are expecting bilingual service. It is the role of the association and its board to set policies and expectations for French [...]
Every national association has different wants and needs from its conference host city. This blog is not meant to convince you to choose one city over another. Instead, I hope to break down the major decision factors when planning the geographic location of an association conference. For simplicity purposes, [...]
Finding sponsors for your association’s events is a major component of increasing non-dues revenue and generating a surplus. This article explores options of how to optimize your association’s sponsorship revenue. Reach out to Previous Sponsors First When you are looking for sponsors for your association’s next event, start with [...]
During the busy gala season, there seems to be a different gala dinner every night of the week. The events may vary in terms of the menu, the entertainment, the venue and the cause, yet there seems to be one major commonality: the attendees. When you attend these events [...]
In a past article I came to the defence of the stock photo for association design projects. In this article I’ll give you some more tools to help raise the level of your graphic design for association events. These can help you if you are a professional designer or [...]
Have you ever been part of a sports team and arrive to a game, only to find that many of your teammates didn't show up? For every sport, there are regulations in place that determine how many players are required for a game to start. The same goes for [...]
Managing a major national association event like a convention, symposium or annual conference can be a challenge for any event manager. Usually such events are the largest an association can offer to its members, and they provide opportunities for new business connections, professional development, networking and more. It takes [...]
All associations are required by law to hold an annual meeting of members, or Annual General Meeting (AGM) yearly. The AGM is to be held within six months of the association’s year end. The purpose of the AGM is for the membership to approve the financial statements of the [...]
Jennifer Schrafft is a Certified Professional Coach who does regular speaking engagements throughout the year. Recently, she participated as a speaker in two association conferences that I managed. I sat down with Jennifer to find out what makes a positive speaking engagement for her and how we can work [...]
