Association Insight International & European Association Insights Winter 2015 | Page 11

Article | Association Insights The reactions of the Congress is being amongst a group of talented people all of whom are striving to make their organisation the best it can be. “All give freely of their experiences and demonstrate and into a learning space they share with folk from a rich mix of roles across professional bodies and membership organisations. This is one of the brilliant aspects of Congress, freeing up CEOs from the day job of representing the profession or interests of their constituencies to focus on the strategic issues we face ourselves as organisations in our own right.” Lee Davies Andy Burman, Chief Executive of the British Dietetic Association brought along several of his own staff and about current thinking across all of the functional areas of associations. “We all took away ideas about governance, education, membership and education. However we also learned that in some areas of our business we are delivering best practice and this, in itself, is valuable to learn. It can sometimes be a lonely life as both a CEO and in an association, so to meet with others and benchmark yourself is a very positive thing.” Congress at a distance. Andrew Corbett, Membership Services Director at UK IT Association & Skillfair attended the Congress remotely at short notice and said: “The remote facility worked very well indeed and I found the whole atmosphere to be very informative. I could not point to any one thing in particular but the ability to pick up the mood of the speakers and delegates and compare them to our own world-view was very good indeed.” The running order First day of congress The Congress kicked off with a welcome and Chair’s introduction from Norman Rose, President of the Institute of Association Management. needed to reconnect with members. The decision was taken to embrace digital and freemium models and great online content to attract the next generation of potential members. David Kelly and Ben Saunders from the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology followed with a presentation on their research to establish what IMarEst members want, understand their needs and create an organisation that provides added value Conference and Events – Harnessing the full revenue potential. This stream focused on driving more revenue from events through programme development, event sponsorship and marketing. Vickie Moss from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals discussed how to revive events using ‘cute marketing’. This involves identifying the audience by segmenting and targeting the membership database. Vickie recommended creating ‘characters’ that represent member stereotypes, such as those who just want to keep up with developments in the payroll industry and those who are looking to advance their careers through enhanced skills and knowledge. Knowing the characters in this way enables the Institute to engage with members and use their career journeys to enhance the success of events. Methods of communication need to match members’ preferences. Younger members may prefer to be contacted by text rather than email and are happy to use apps. However, printed marketing material could still have its place too. Growth and development Developing new markets and retaining members locally was one of the challenges discussed in this stream. Will Beattie, International Head of Business Development, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, talked about the CIPS global membership strategy and