Top Picks for Membership Engagement Tips

Membership Engagement is a hot topic - and it isn't going away very soon...

In a recent infographic I published, based on survey results from the 2014 Pulse Report (our membership marketing & engagement study in Canada), we reported that 47.4% of respondents would increase budgets in membership engagement next year, if they had only one area that could be increased.

I think we know by now the concept of membership engagement; but association executives are struggling with how to engage members, and what they should track to determine if their efforts are successful.

Here are four blogs/articles that I have come across that offer tips, theories and suggestions that are well worth the read:

1. Engaging Next Generations (featured on the CSAE Ottawa-Gatineau blog):  the article reports on a lunch & learn session that was help for chapter members, and association executives in the Ottawa area.  It featured a panel of three association executives, who discussed the changed that they have made, whether they worked or not; in an effort to engage the next generation of member.
2. Weak Member Engagement?  Look at Your Staff (featured on AssociationsNow):  This article is a quick summary of another blog post, but the title caught my eye, as I was preparing for a presentation recently that spoke to engaged employees make engaged members.  
3. Engaging Members in an Era of Profound Change (featured on CSAE):  written by an association executive, this post talks about social change and how it impacts associations, along with some research and recommendations.
4. 10 Elements of a Winning Member Engagement Strategy (featured on Socious):  this particular post talks about why member engagement is so important, and the 10 elements they believe create an effective strategy, from goals to problems to staffing.

Need more ideas?  Keep an eye out for our member engagement posts, and mark your calendars - as we will be addressing these issues and more during our Engaging Associations Forum, taking place July 23-24, 2015!

We want to co-create with you! #Engageassn

The 2014 Engaging Associations Summit was such as success!  And, it was all due to co-creation.

When it came to planning the program, the summit was not created in a silo - we held focus groups with association executives to learn more about the topics they wanted to hear, the length and time frame of the event, and the format that they wanted for the sessions - and we delivered!

In 2015, we will continue to push the envelope.

What's new this year?  We have a new name (it will now be called the Engaging Associations Forum).  The dates have been set (July 23-24, 2015), and we are looking to you to co-create the content of the sessions.

We want to know what you would like to see - what would need to be on the roster of education to encourage you to register.  We have created a short (really, a short) survey that outlines the thoughts from the original 52 participant's thoughts on education for 2015.  We ask that you look at what they suggested, and let us know what you would like to learn more about.  If anything is missing, we ask that you let us know what that is.

Those who participate will be entered into a draw to win one complimentary pass to the Engaging Associations Forum for 2015.  Click here to take the survey.

And, if you would like to learn more about what happened at the inaugural event in 2014; you can! We recently launched our e-book that covers the thoughts from speakers and participants from 2014.  Download it now.

Heading to #PCMACIC this month?

This will be my first PCMA Conference ever - and not only am I excited to attend, but we will be speaking there too!

Join us in Montreal on Tuesday, November 25th, where Doreen Ashton Wagner (Chief Strategist, Greenfield Services), Rachel Stephan (President & Creative Strategist, sensov/ event marketing), and I will be proudly presenting a case study on event design.  On what?  The Engaging Associations Summit of course!

The session will talk about lessons learned from the inaugural event.  As a collaboration between a consortium of business event industry suppliers, this event pushed the envelope with many different techniques such as pre-event concierge services, innovative meeting design, participant-led "unconference" sessions, and even post-event accountability circles to help participants implement what they learned.

What worked?  What didn't?  Was it worth it?

Join us at #PCMACIC to find out!

In advance of the conference, if you want to download more information, we recently released our e-book summarizing the event.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Montreal!

A-HA! #Engageassn E-Book is Here!

We are pleased to officially launch our first e-book, and for something that we are extremely proud of.  The Engaging Associations Summit was an event co-created by Greenfield Services Inc., and a select group of partners.

A Moment of Possibilities for Canadian Associations

Ideas and possibilities were flying through the air when participants gathered at Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Nature last July for the 2014 Engaging Associations Summit.

Small wonder. The Summit program was co-created with association executives and other potential participants. The program was set up to ask provocative questions, foster deep thinking, and set the stage for constant participant interaction.

Participants responded with more than 100 handwritten “ah-ha” cards that captured the blazing new insights that came to them during two days of intensive discussion, networking, and learning.

Our e-book covers topics addressed in July 2014:

• What are associations for?
• How do associations improve?
• Association strategies that work
• The next evolution of association conferences
• The changing face of content

Click here to download your copy.

This e-book consolidates and honours the sparks of hope, inspiration, and determination that participants came up with during the 2014 Engaging Associations Summit. Like the association discussion itself, it’s a work in progress. Visit the www.engagingassociations.ca to keep up with the 2015 event. You can also join the discussion on LinkedIn to comment on participants’ ideas, share your own, and help us reshape Canadian associations.

A special thanks go to both Mitchell Beer of Smarter Shift & Rachel Stephan of sensov/ event marketing for your continued partnership & support!