Who’s the storyteller in your family? We all have at least one. Growing up, my dad’s mom, “Grammie,” was the storyteller in our family. She worked as a waitress at Howard Johnson’s on the PA Turnpike for over 35 years. A widow at a young age, with a limited education and three small boys to raise, she saw her …
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Millennials: The Economic Engine of the Future
The wedding is just over 5 weeks away. After marrying 3 sons off in the last three years, I FINALLY get to play the role “Mother-of-the-Bride!” As the parent of 5 millennials, it’s easy to identify with the stereotypes of this younger generation as entitled, spoiled and non-committal. Wedding planning is a great microcosm to see these characteristics at their …
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Association Membership: Keeping Gen Y Motivated and Engaged
“The challenge inherent in keeping Gen Y engaged is that we’re easily distracted, we want to see progress from our daily efforts, and have a high need to stay in touch with those leading us.” ~ (p. 108) Translation for Associations: GenY needs to know OFTEN why being a part of your association matters. They need to see measureable …
Associations, Are You Talking to Me?
I’ve been waiting to see if some of the associations that I’m interested in would reach out to me first. Why? I’d rather spend the money on a weekend get away or dinner at my favorite restaurant, unless you can convince me of the value of membership in your association. I love to read posts by XYZ University’s Shannon Neeser. …
Brand Congruence: WHY Mission and Vision
Last in a series exploring mission vision & brand congruence. For more info, register for our FREE webinar presentation on Wednesday, March 20, at 10 AM—3 DANGEROUS TRENDS FACING ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-PROFITS. “Congruence: n. agreement, harmony” Have you ever stood in the grocery store line, picking up items to make a favorite family dinner and had the cashier try to …
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Vision and Mission : WHY Vision Statements
This is the third in a series of posts exploring the difference between mission and vision, leading up to our webinar presentation in March—3 DANGEROUS TRENDS FACING ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-PROFITS. . Today we’re talking about WHY vision statements, manipulation vs inspiration and setting expectations… There were two stonemasons working on the exterior walls of a building in medieval Europe. A …
ASAE #Tech12: Connecting Technology & Real Life
As CEO of an Industry Partner in ASAE, sales doesn’t come easily to me. I’m not comfortable with being promotional. So when I attended the annual conference in Dallas, I struggled with engaging attendees in conversation. It wasn’t until the last day of the conference that I realized it wasn’t about me but about finding out what attendees were struggling …
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ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP: Generational Differences in Your Audience
Do any of you connect life milestones with historical events as a way to keep track of your personal timeline? I think it was once Meredith, child #4, daughter #2, (2006?), was in college, that we finally realized that leaving cell phone messages were ineffective. (And I thought giving them all cell phones would keep us connected!?) If we wanted timely …
THE WHY AND HOW OF MOBILE: A PLACE TO START
I’ve had my iPhone 4S for less than a year. I was a late comer to the mobile party, but now I don’t think I could survive without it. Convenience is one of the greatest benefits of the iPhone. The accessibility of Siri, e-mail, an iPod, a camera, GPS, mobile apps and websites all in one place is incredibly useful. …
ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP: Tips for Recruiting Gen Ys and Why you Need To
I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that I did not have a clue about all this baby boomer, Gen X and Gen Y business until I started searching for content about association leadership, recruitment, membership, and etc. Then I found this great article, Net Gen and the Future of Social Media Marketing, which shed some light on what I believe about …