By Nicole Millman-Falk
NYSAE’s Board and Committee members gathered at the Hotel Indigo East End, Riverhead, Long Island for its annual planning retreat. A poolside reception was sponsored by the hotel. Pictured (left to right): Joel A. Dolci, CAE, NYSAE President and CEO; Kim Cauchon, Director of Corporate Sales, Hotel Indigo East End, Riverhead; and Michael Weamer, NYSAE Chair of the Board and President & CEO of the Marfan Foundation.
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NYSAE’s Board, with input from committee members, is working on a three-year Operating Plan, spearheaded by NYSAE member Doug Brown, CEO of Paradigm Associates. That plan, many months in the making, was unveiled at NYSAE’s Board and Committee Retreat, held July 17-18 at the Hotel Indigo East End, Riverhead, Long Island, and will unfold to the membership over the course of the year. The Retreat included a reception hosted by Hotel Indigo and a breakfast sponsored by the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In a departure from past years, when the primary focus of the Retreat was for committees to plan NYSAE’s activities for the year, this year’s attendees provided additional input into the Operating Plan, which will chart the course for NYSAE moving forward.
Brown challenged the group to question the current and future role of NYSAE in an increasingly competitive and evolving marketplace. "If NYSAE didn’t exist, and a group of association executives were gathered around a table talking, would they invent NYSAE as it exists today? What if anything would be the same? Different?" he asked.
Board and committee members identified critical success factors—those items that are sufficient and necessary to ensure the plan’s goals will be accomplished in full. Note: The following are not in priority order because all must be accomplished in order to achieve the Three-Year Operating Plan. These factors include:
- Increasing membership;
- Producing wildly profitable signature events;
- Insuring relevance to members, sponsors/suppliers, and prospective members;
- Operating with a sense of urgency, while building momentum that embraces innovation and leverages success;
- Developing and maintaining a highly committed cadre of volunteers, staff , and leaders;
- Developing and executing an integrated communications and marketing plan; and
- Embracing and maximizing the use of technology.
What happens next? The NYSAE Board will review the recommendations that came up at the retreat and will adopt any structural changes needed to accomplish those initiatives. Based on the Board’s final tactical plan, committee charges will get updated as appropriate. Moving forward, committee chairs and members will collaborate with other committees, recognizing their interdependencies, maximizing volunteer engagement, and ultimately creating joint (or harmonized) plans for the next year and beyond.
It is not too late to join an NYSAE committee and get involved in this exciting undertaking. Either contact Joel A. Dolci, CAE, NYSAE President and CEO (212-206-8230) or one of the committee chairs to sign up.
Nicole Millman-Falk is President of Millman-Falk Communications, LLC, providing content development and strategic communication services for trade associations, professional societies, and donor-based organizations. In addition to her own company, she serves as Editor for Apogee Publications, which provides turnkey association newsletters, magazines, and membership directories. She is Editor of NYSAE's InView and is Chair of the PR & Marketing Committee. She can be reached at 201-652-1687; nicolemillmanfalk@gmail.com; or through her website at www.millmanfalkcommunications.com.