What's in an organization's recognition of the accomplishment of its members? Quite a lot-applause, plaques, adulation. But it's the recognition by one's peers that's always seemed most important to me. But what's that mean?
Webster's Ninth defines "recognition" as "acknowledgement" and "special notice," both of which nicely explain what NYSAE's Awards program does for its members. I thought a further etymological exploration might be in order to see where we all come from.
"Recon," the initial two syllables, is familiar to anyone with military service: without these guys, the army is blind. In associations, recon is the first part of any marketing plan: know what people want; then give it to them.
"Cognition," from the Latin root cognito, is "to know" or what we learned after doing our recon.
"Cog," part of the root, is what's essential, or the parts that make things happen.
"Nito," the other half of the Latin root, when used with its alternate spelling, "neato," clearly marks a successful product or service. It can also be pronounced "niche," as when we find just the right service to offer our market.
"Ignition" is the fire we light in our markets after having found what they wanted and made it available to them.
It should be evident then that recognition which comes from the Awards Committee-a dedicated cross-section of long-serving NYSAE members, means a lot. Now that you see where we came from, you can see where to go: click on http://nysaenet.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=31 for an explanation of the nomination process, the first step in recognizing one of our own as one of the best.
David Teisler, CAE, is Chair of NYSAE's Awards Committee and director of communications, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, 305 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001; 212-647-1890; teisler@abct.org.