Blog
Engaging Today’s Members
In one of the breakout rooms in yesterday’s monthly Prometheus Consortium First Tuesday Zoom, we focused on member engagement. Some of the usual topics came up – member-centric (versus association-centric) engagement, the unassailable math of…
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The “Family Friendly” Trap
In my nearly 30 years in the association industry, I’ve repeatedly watched talented friends of both genders (but more often women) get stuck in their careers because a workplace is “family friendly.” The current organization…
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Dream Big
In 2011, an Ignite presentation inspired me to write: Everything in our environment is whispering: “Protect your ass. Guard your turf. Trust no one. Rock no boats. Prepare for the worst.” In other words: “Think…
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Creating Balance
Summer’s drawing to a close, which means we’re all getting back into the swing of a busier season, with the EVEN busier holiday season and year-end just around the corner, which has me thinking about…
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Associations, Apprenticeships, and the “Toolbelt Generation”
Recently, I’ve noticed renewed attention to the role of non-collegiate post-secondary training in helping people find lucrative, productive, fulfilling work. The Washington Post has reported on the need for “millions” of apprentices in careers that don’t…
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Associations, Chapters, and Climate Change
My co-author Shelly Cumbie Alcorn and I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Mariner Management’s Peggy Hoffman to discuss The Time Is Now: Association Resilience and Adaptation and the Anthropocene Climate Disruption, our…
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What Do You Believe In?
I’m pretty much just re-upping this post, because it’s a good one. Back in 2011, Bisnow published an article that included this quote: When you ask most people about their jobs, they tell you what…
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Filling Your Well of Ideas
With a significant portion of the association community (although not me) in Cleveland this week for ASAE24, I’ve been thinking about ideas and how we all go about getting them. One of the challenges of…
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Who’s Allowed to Have an Idea?
I’ve been thinking about innovation a lot recently, in part because of a big client project that just wrapped up and in part because the tenth anniversary of Innovate the Lean Way: Applying Lean Startup Methodology…
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Pay It Forward
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my 27 years in association management is: When somebody hits you up with a request for a favor in a professional context, ALWAYS try to help…
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