Association Insight International & European Association Insights Spring 2015 | Page 16

Association Insights | Article

On the Spot with a CEO
Running an international association is a 24-hour job. Gerald Dick,
Executive Director of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums,
provides an insight into the interesting and varied work at WAZA that
involves servicing members from all over the world.
Q. What does your job at WAZA involve?
A. I oversee all the major activities of the association. And
given we are a small executive office, the job is a mixture
of strategic planning, implementation and development
of projects, human resource issues, marketing and
communication and increasing and servicing our
membership.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. The work with our members, who are all dedicated
zoos and aquariums who work for conservation and
education, is great fun and rewarding; the mix of
responsibilities makes life colourful and the job very
interesting.
Q. What are the most important qualities of a CEO?
A. In my case flexibility is important, being able to handle
a network of members carefully, but at the same time
leading and moving the association forward, taking on
new challenges and leading a small team for the benefit
of the association.

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Q. H
 ow has the CEO role changed in recent years?
A. Modern technology means I can be online for nearly 24
hours. We have members all over the world, so there is
always something going on somewhere. Social media
is something we have been engaging with since 2012.
Through a big project called ‘Biodiversity is us’, we
are providing a membership service which combines
strengthening our community with outreach to people
in order to take action for the natural world. Through
this big global project we are now on Facebook, Twitter,
Tumblr and Instagram. This has helped the association,
the members and our cause - conservation.
Q. How do you ensure your organisation continues to
deliver value to members and engage with them?
A. Personal contact and a supportive Council and
membership are crucial. Being present at many regional
and national meetings helps keep contact with existing
members and also opens the door for new ones. Active
sharing of news and interesting developments on a
regular basis is much appreciated by members as is
as our annual conference where all members have the
opportunity to exchange views.

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