Mind Your Members

This is reprinted with permission from AMC Source.

Given the tumult of 2020-2021 and nearly 20% of people in the United States currently experiencing a mental illness (Mental Health America), it's no surprise that mental health is a prominent topic in 2022. From workplaces to retail spaces, everyone is invited, and often expected, to join the conversation surrounding psychological, emotional, and physical well-being. Associations are no exception. More than ever, members are looking for resources that will help them navigate the mental health and well-being challenges that are unique to their communities. Thus, associations are positioned for new responsibility to support members, as well as new opportunity to add value. With the APA’s Psychology Week coming up on April 17-April 23 and Mental Health Awareness Month around the corner in May, now is a good time for your association to consider how you can support your members in this way. Looking for somewhere to start? Here is a list of some surprisingly simple ways to mind your members:

This is a reprinted guest post from Evan Hoffmeyer, Communications Director at Raybourn Group International.

Should my association start a podcast?

This question about podcasts is one I hear more and more frequently each year, and it’s a good one to ask. There are many benefits to launching a podcast, from furthering your association’s brand to establishing your organization as subject matter experts and even helping you accomplish some of your DEI goals. But they are also a significant investment, in terms of the time and resources they take to do them well.

By Lindsay Jennings, Vice President of Business Development, SBI Association Management

Note: This post is re-published with permission from SBI Association Management 

This blog is reposted with permission from AMC Source. To see more articles like this, visit https://www.amcsource.com/news

There is no doubt that virtual learning is here to stay. And there is no better place for associations to feature, archive and assess association resources than in a learning management system (LMS). At AMC Source, we have spent years working with clients to ensure timely and robust programming. But how do we help with LMS implementation and programming efforts? Here are our top 10 ways we can help you create an informative and effective learning experience for your members using an LMS:

This guest blog entry was authored by Lori Conaway, CAE, Executive Director at Association Acumen

Earlier this spring, Act 23 was signed into law in the Wisconsin legislature. This was a momentous day for PAs in the state of Wisconsin. It was the culmination of years of work put in by countless leaders from the Wisconsin Academy of PAs (WAPA), along with a diverse and talented team of teams, who worked together over the years to bring the bill across the finish line.

Having joined the team in the role of Executive Director in late 2017, I have had the good fortune to be involved in the process of bringing this important update to become Wisconsin law. If you would like to read more about it, please visit the WAPA website https://www.wapa.org/page/Act23. I also have learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process. Here are a few tips and takeaways to keep in mind if your organization is embarking on a legislative endeavor in 2021:

Assemble your team and assign clear roles.
Assembling an effective team for legislative advocacy involves many parties, but in the Association Management Company (AMC) world, the primary groups typically consist of volunteer leaders, a lobbyist partner, and staff members. It is important that all parties are empowered to act within their respective capacities to ensure the most impactful presence on the legislative floor.

PMG works closely with an association’s leadership to understand the needs of the professionals they serve to provide value-added benefits for their members or, in this case, board-certified pediatric dentists.

Managed by PMG since January 2016, the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry (ABPD) values a health professional’s commitment to lifelong learning and has developed a Renewal of Certification program to continuously validate each Diplomate’s knowledge, skills, and experience for delivering quality patient outcomes. For years ABPD awarded CE credits for successful completion of components within their annual renewal. However, this was without any formal CE accreditation recognition.

At PMG, excellence is our minimum standard.  We want to get better every year and make our clients better, so innovation is a specific goal for all our staff.  We ask each staff member for at least one example of an innovative new idea, or program, or service, or a new and better way of doing our work that they have implemented, as a part of their performance evaluation each year.  I am consistently amazed not just by the innovation of our staff, but also of the organizations we manage.

One area I think is unique about PMG and its management of societies, is that we encourage our boards in strategic planning to think outside the norm for ways to grow the society and make an impact in their field.  We challenge them to think about opportunities for new growth in revenue streams that can help them in achieving their mission as well as opportunities for public outreach and education.  Below are a few stellar examples.

Jonathan Lurie, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Smith Bucklin & Associates, Inc.

Picture this. A successful association with an operating budget of $5 million known as “the” source for industry knowledge with a board of directors that is strategically focused. The organization is humming on leading-edge technology, providing for efficient operations and supporting a solid financial foundation.