Rethinking How Associations Work
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Before You Modernize a Product, Ask Whether It Still Works

The question is not whether a product can be improved, but whether modernization or redesign is the right response. Before we launch a new association product, we usually ask it to prove itself. What purpose will it serve? Who is the audience? How does it support the strategic plan? What

By Barry Schieferstein, CAE 25 Aug 2026
Disconnected geometric components converging into a coherent organizational system.

The Purpose Is Not Outdated. The Operating Model May Be.

Associations still serve important purposes. The question is whether the operating models we inherited remain the best way to fulfill them today.

By Barry Schieferstein, CAE 11 Aug 2026

Welcome to Rethinking How Associations Work

Associations continue to serve important purposes. They help people share knowledge, build relationships, solve common problems, establish standards, and advance professions, industries, and causes. The question I want to explore here is whether the models we inherited remain the best ways to fulfill those purposes today. Over time, associations built

By Barry Schieferstein, CAE 05 Aug 2026

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A practical look at how associations work: what is still working, what needs updating, and how organizations can begin redesigning themselves for today.

Rethinking How Associations Work
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