Key Takeaways from ASAE Annual Meeting 2018
From August 17-21, 6,000+ association executives and exhibitors ascended upon downtown Chicago for ASAE’s Annual conference. It was a tremendous event connecting people from all over the country for a few days of learning, networking, and some celebrating, too. It was great to meet some new people and see some familiar faces at LondonHouse on Sunday night, where we hosted a great event with Kevin and Sherry from .orgCommunity. Thank you to all who attended!
Adage was well represented and active during the conference and we thought we would share some of our insights from the show!
Advanced Analytics
While speaking with a number of different attendees at our booth, we heard a lot of familiar stories that are typical of associations and their needs. Things like the need to increase non-dues revenue, how to handle huge amounts of content, and the importance of seamless integrations with various digital platforms. Another common theme that we found interesting was the desire from association executives to improve their use of analytics. We discussed the basics like Google Analytics, but also tackled ways to advance analytics with business intelligence platforms like Microsoft Power BI, Sisense and Salesforce Einstein Analytics. Offering ways associations can create interactive dashboards, merge data from multiple sources, and ultimately improve decision making across the organization.
Get Focused
ASAE Annual’s theme was Get Focused. There were tons of different tracks that were available to attendees with great lessons for how to help their associations Get Focused!
So what does Get Focused mean to us at Adage?
I mentioned all of the different learning tracks available. At big conferences, there are great opportunities to learn, so there is certainly nothing wrong with breaking these opportunities into tracks. Just to give you an idea of all of these opportunities, I’ve broken them out into a few different buckets.
The first bucket was focused on individual and organizational improvement and career advancement, the second on day-to-day association operations, and the third on specific departments within associations.
I want to focus on bucket number three. Each of the departments or business units are ones that we often engage with while helping our association clients. In the past and today, associations often struggle with these business units operating in silos.
It’s important to remember what you should be focused on…supporting your association’s members and your mission! This starts by individual departments working together to achieve this common goal.
Silos in the organization lead to fractured member experiences. Your members need to be the star of your association’s story. Whether it’s technology platforms and multiple email systems being used by different departments, a fractured experience can devalue the incredible benefits offered by your association!
At Adage, we advocate for developing core principles that everyone in the organization should follow when any decisions are being made, big or small. These principles help break down silos and unite the organization so that they can be focused on the common goal!
Get Focused on the members and the mission. Support your members so that they can fulfill the mission!
