As competition grows, associations need more than successful individual products. They need relationships that give people a reason to keep coming back. What would happen if a well-funded competitor decided to enter one of your association's most important business lines? Would your customers remain loyal, or would
For decades, associations have developed and distributed much of their intellectual property through books, journals, technical publications, research reports, and other finished products. We bring subject-matter experts together, develop and validate content, organize it into a publication, and distribute or sell the finished product. When the information needs updating,
As we redesigned ASNT’s annual conference, changes to the awards banquet drew some of the strongest reactions. It was a longstanding tradition, and past leaders worried that moving away from it would diminish the awards and the people receiving them. We took that concern seriously. Recognition matters, and a
A few weeks ago, while thinking about membership, I started writing about my relationship with Rock City Church in Columbus. Without thinking about it, I began with the words, “I belong to Rock City.” Then I caught myself. Rock City does not have membership in the way I have always
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
Associations still serve important purposes. The question is whether the operating models we inherited remain the best way to fulfill them today.
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