Blog
Will Association Meetings Disappear?
I was shocked to learn that this year’s American Dental Association SmileCon will be the last annual meeting in its current format. Rising costs and meeting attendance that never rebounded to pre-COVID levels were cited as reasons. Privately, many clients have told...
Your North Star — How to Lead with Purpose Even in Uncertain Times
Is it fair to say we’re living in uncertain times? I definitely think it is. And when times are uncertain, I believe the best advice is: “Follow Your North Star.” The North Star (also known as Polaris if you’re a trivia junkie), is a star located in the Northern...
What’s a Competitive Advantage and Why Do You Need One?
Competitive advantage is a condition or circumstance that puts a company (or association) in a favorable or superior business position. In her book Creating Competitive Advantage, Jaynie Smith writes, “It answers the customer’s key question: Why should I do business...
Remaining Relevant: What We Can Learn from Elvis Presley
I crossed something off my bucket list last year: visiting Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home. I was 15 when he died, and as I wandered through the grounds, I wondered how long it would be before no one remembered or cared about him. This pondering led me to some...
Boy Scout Rebrand: The Power of a Revamp
Boys Scouts of America is changing its name to Scouting America on February 8, 2025—the organization’s 115th anniversary. The rebranding won’t change the organization’s mission of preparing “young people over their lives to make ethical and moral choices by instilling...
The Pricing Predicament
There is an art and science to pricing. But I’d be willing to bet that most associations don’t have a set strategy—and I’m certain that one association I’ve been a member of for more than 30 years didn’t have one. How do I know? Because my dues surged from $525 in...
AI and the Future of Your Associaton
There are two reasons I believe you should be thinking deeply about artificial intelligence: 1. “From the creation of the first mobile phone, it took 16 years before 100 million people were using them. The journey for Instagram to 100 million users was a time span of...
Disruptive Disruption
“We should be changing. We should be evolving. You can’t be around for sixty years and still be the same thing.” These words, spoken by WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani, apply to associations, too. We should be changing. We should be evolving. According to CNN...
When Barbie Met Associations
Did you know that associations got the Teen Talk Barbie recalled?!? (Yes, that pink font is for Barbie!) According to an article in Forbes, “In 1992, when Teen Talk Barbie told young girls, ‘Math class is tough!,’ the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as...