Transform Culture

Associations must be prepared for future disruptors. Look at the horizon: what are the big challenges that your organization, members and wider world will face? Frame these disruptors not as objects of fear, but of opportunity. How can you capitalize on these changes? I believe that this preparation for change requires associations to prioritize diversity […]

Associations Catalyzing Entrepreneurship (ACE) is a group made up of association executives and stakeholders who think outside the association box about the future. We have conversations about an entrepreneurial approach to association leadership and implement the resulting great ideas in our jobs. In our most recent conversation live in DC, with a virtual component hosted […]

When you delve into putting a customer experience strategy in place, you’ll naturally start to think about technology that will enhance the customer experience. And CX leaders are on the cutting edge of the intersection of CX and technology. It is no surprise that the use of artificial intelligence is on the rise. A 2017 global survey sponsored […]

Nowadays in the association world, I hear a lot about building a “legacy,” especially in the context of what associations “leave behind” after organizing events in a venue destination. In his article in Legatus magazine, Paul J. Voss writes that the word legacy has been used exclusively as a noun for nearly 500 years but has expanded […]

It is with optimism surging through our veins* that we announce to you the launch and line-up of our next SURGE virtual conference. Running on November 7th-9th, this event is themed around Optimism for the Future. The goal of our twelve sessions is to celebrate and make possible the potential of our associations. They have all […]

Let me open by sharing a line that I use to explain the role of my association’s board and its importance to achieving our mission: “It’s called a board of directors, not a board of doers.” Have you, as staff or a board member, ever expressed similar sentiment? There are certain types of high value work […]

Usually when we talk about workplace culture, we’re talking about the entire organisation. However, it is possible to look at culture on a more micro level, which can be important when trying to make significant change at the team level. In 2010, I was brought in as leader of the communications team at the Canadian Society […]

Digital Transformation is the current hot topic in the association world, but there are a zillion different definitions of it. In preparing for a panel at SURGE, I found a definition I thought was heading in the right direction. “Digital transformation is the convergence of digital technologies applied to organizational activities, processes, competencies, customer needs data, intelligence […]

In North America and Europe, I have long known that there is a professional term called, “association executive”. There was no such term used before here in the Philippines, until I and a few like-minded friends founded and formally launched the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) on November 20, 2013 in conjunction with […]

As association professionals, developing an ability to navigate the future is becoming more critical by the day. We all have strategic plans serving as drivers for change, and a belief that we’re doing our best to take mega-trends and micro-trends and put them into usable operational plans that provide value for our members. But how […]