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ASAE Gathering Signatures on Office of Government Ethics Comments
ASAE is encouraging associations to sign on to its prepared comments in response to the Obama Administration's proposed rule that would restrict government employees from accepting invites to trade association programs and events. ASAE's goal is to have a large number of associations, business partners, and travel organizations join ASAE in its comments to show the Obama Administration the value of association meetings and events, particularly for federal employees.
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NYSAE September 21, 2011 Luncheon Meeting featuring Greg Smith
Sharing stories at NYSAE’s September luncheon were (left to right): Joel A. Dolci, CAE, NYSAE president and CEO, Greg Smith, luncheon speaker, and Louis Coletti, president and CEO, Building Trades Employers Association, and chair of NYSAE’s Board of Directors.
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NYSAE Kicks Off The Year With a Powerful Story
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The culture of an organization—be it an association, not-for-profit, company, or a country—is shaped by the stories it tells and believes about itself. "To bring change, leaders need to tell a better story about where the organization came from and where it is going," said Greg Smith, NYSAE's September Luncheon speaker, who talked about shaping your organization by telling your story.
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NYSAE's September Speaker Says To Get More Members Deliver More ROI
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 NYSAE's September Speaker Says To Get
More Members Deliver More ROI
By Nicole Millman-Falk
Associations are morphing from informational organizations to communities of reciprocity, of value, according to September’s Education Workshop Presenter Ed Rigsbee. He had two primary messages for attendees: See your organization through the eyes of the non-member and prove to your members and nonmembers that through ROI (return on investment), membership is a good business decision.
To be sure you know what non-members are saying and thinking about your organization, it’s essential to monitor the chatter. Set up a Google alerts on your organization; read the blogs. “If there is controversy or negativity about the association, however, discuss it, attack it, deal with it, but don’t hide from it,” advised Rigsbee.
Members are either givers or takers. Givers join to participate in and be part of their industry’s association. “They regularly attend association events, regardless of the quality.” Takers join to take advantage of collaborative synergies; they want to get more than they give. “Takers will attend association events if they see and immediate value and ROI,” said Rigsbee.
He outlined the differences between staff- and member-driven recruitment campaigns. Staff will provide a laundry list of what a member receives for their dues—networking, legislative and advocacy support for the profession or industry, luncheons, etc.—but these do not necessarily translate into return on investment. “It’s essential to look at membership from a non-member perspective,” advised Rigsbee. “Legislative and advocacy work, for example, do not deliver ROI to the non-member. They get that benefit whether they join or not.”
While staff can provide a consistent, united, clear message, and have association knowledge, they tell the story from an outsider looking in. “Member-driven campaigns, however, are more authentic,” he said. Members know the industry jargon, are able to give personal examples of why membership is so important, and because they are so committed, they tell their stories with more passion than a staff person.
Membership, Rigbee stressed, is also about more than mere numbers. “It’s about committed, involved, engaged members. It’s about members becoming evangelists on behalf of your organization.” To do this, new members must be quickly assimilated into the organization. This may include a welcome letter from the board, a phone call from the staff or another member, an informational notebook, immediately assigning them to a committee and getting them to attend a meeting. “It’s essential that part of your membership toolbox is a new member engagement process.”
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Protection of Charitable Assets Act:
What the New Uniform Law Would Mean for Nonprofits
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The committee tasked with drafting a new uniform law that regulates charities and charitable assets has released the newest version of the proposed law, renamed the Protection of Charitable Assets Act, which is currently under consideration by the drafting committee. If ultimately approved, the uniform act could become law in many states.
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Cloud Computing: What You Need To Know
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You may think "cloud computing" is just the latest IT buzzword, but in fact, you may already be living in the cloud. Are you using Webex for webinars? Have a gmail account? Visited YouTube lately? Congratulations! You're using cloud computing.
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Taking Action to Sustain Strategic Relationships
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Most associations and nonprofits invest a significant level of resources in activities designed to identify partners and secure a relationship with them. Executive directors and boards typically identify the strategic targets that they want to win over in each year's annual plan. Strategic sourcing leaders place a critical importance on finding those partners that can make a difference to their organization's success and bringing them onto the team. Executives responsible for numerous business functions, from government relations to fundraising, look to identify partners that can help them solve their most challenging problems. But all too often, these same associations think that they have achieved success once handshakes are exchanged and contracts are signed. In truth, that's when the real work begins.
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Nonprofit Employees Believe Good intentions Are Not Enough When It Comes to Staff Diversity
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According to a new report released by Commongood Careers and Level Playing Field Institute, nonprofit employees perceive that their employers claim to value building diverse and inclusive organizations, but that they do little to back up that claim. The report, The Voice of Nonprofit Talent: Perceptions of Diversity in the Workplace, is the culmination of a nationwide survey of over 1,600 nonprofit professionals.
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Burned Out? You Might Just Need a Reboot Break
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We are a nation on the verge of professional burnout. The financial crisis has taken its toll on everyone, from association executives, to technology entrepreneurs, to employees up and down the ranks of nonprofit and for-profit America. With stress levels skyrocketing and fierce competition from abroad, how can we as a nation, as well as individuals, reclaim our role as creative leaders and innovators?
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Research Paper Analyzes the Use of Social Media in Corporate Social Responsibility
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The Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies released Wired Workforce, Networked CSR, a research paper on the use of social media in Corporate Social Responsibility. Written by Howard Greenstein, Heyman Center adjunct lecturer of the Harbrooke Group, and Tom Watson of CauseWired, the research was sponsored by the JK Group.
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Let's Talk: Master the Lost Art of Conversation
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LOL, EOD, BRB, TY, and YW might be key elements of the way to communicate in a texting, emailing, social-media-obsessed world, but they don't make for high quality communication or conversation. Sometimes you might not even know what your communicating counterpart is even saying to you. With communication becoming more and more diluted by technology, the importance of once again valuing great conversation—an essential element in building strong, mutually beneficial, and even profitable relationships.
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Raphael Badagliacca's play Monologues and Madness was performed at the Cornelia Street Café in early August.
Nicole Millman-Falk, president, Millman-Falk Communications, LLC, has been retained to manage the North Jersey Board of Rabbi's.
Paul Stone has created a website (www.senior-appreciation-week.com) to honor seniors who "are often overlooked and underappreciated."
Condolences to the family and friends of Herbert Tinning, CAE, Deacon of ST. Stephen's Church in Milburn, New Jersey, who passed away.
Diana Voto, senior sales manager for Disney Resort Destinations, reports that Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has received the prestigious AAA Five-Diamond Award. The American Group Psychotherapy Association launched an innovative component of its Continuing Education Program.
The InterContinental New York Times Square, which opened in New York City in July 2010, has been accepted as the newest member of Associated Luxury Hotels International.
The Food Bank for New York City and Manhattan-based housewares retailer Fishs Eddy have created an exciting new partnership to fight hunger in New York City.
Fort Orange Press, a sheet-fed printing company, has entered into a strategic alliance with The Pressroom, a digital printer.
High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid is seeking applications for its Spring For Hope initiative, an opportunity for non-profit organizations to be awarded free use of meeting space, accommodations, and more at the beautiful Adirondacks resort. organizations actively engaged in fundraising for their organization.
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB) has developed a free, downloadable iPad app for the newly enhanced 2011 Spring/Summer Philadelphia Official Visitors Guide.
Also, the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress (GPLSC), a division of the PCVB, launched a new video Philadelphia: The Complete Package for Life Sciences Meetings, which showcases the region the premier destination for the life sciences meetings industry at Independence Visitor Center.
View Member News
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The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations
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Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success
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Reboot Your Life: Energize Your Career and Life by Taking a Break
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The Velocity Manifest
View Book Beat
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October 2011 Issue
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
A Conversation With
Jeanette Redmond, Esq., Executive Director
Federal Bar Council
By Holly Koenig
I attended the NYSAE Board and Committee Retreat held at Bally's Atlantic City in June. In between the work of the committees and general sessions, there was ample time on the schedule for me to socialize with my fellow NYSAE members. It was one of the group dinners where I originally met Jeanette Redmond, executive director of the Federal Bar Council, and a member of the NYSAE Public Affairs Committee. I was intrigued and impressed listening to Jeanette's story of how she became an association executive and ultimately a member of NYSAE. Meet Jeanette Redmond.
Tell us about your journey to the Federal Bar Council.
I joined the Federal Bar Council as executive director in 2002. The Federal Bar Council is a specialty bar association of particular interest to those attorneys who litigate in the federal courts of the Second Circuit (New York, Connecticut, and Vermont). The Council was formed by an Act of the New York State Legislature nearly 80 years ago, when it decided to split from a national organization that refused to accept minorities as members. At the time I joined, the Council had about 1,600 members. We were located in a small Midtown office and a staff of 2.75 people (me, an assistant executive director, and a part-time administrative assistant). We had three computers, none of which were connected to one another or running the same software. The membership database was a DOS-based program that only the administrative assistant knew how to use. Though I had absolutely no experience as an association executive, I knew right away that the technology was one of the very first things we needed to update!
What did you do before
joining the Council?
I was with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for nearly 12 years, working in the General Counsel's Office. I went to school at night for 10 years, completing my undergraduate education at New York University and then went on to Fordham School of Law. After clerking for one year, I joined Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP as an associate. I rotated through the litigation and real estate departments and then transferred to Hong Kong and Tokyo, where I practiced in the areas of capital markets and mergers and acquisitions.
What do you like most
about what you do?
I've enjoyed a great deal of autonomy and support from our Board of Directors. The Board has given me the latitude to innovate and expand the organization, and I've learned a great deal from each of the six presidents I've worked with over the years. We now have larger offices in the heart of downtown White Plains. Although a few of our members thought the earth would stop revolving when we moved from midtown Manhattan, we have thrived. We now have nearly 3,500 members and 10 full-time employees. We offer more continuing legal education programs, events, and receptions than ever before and have continued to add new committees that work on fulfilling a variety of needs in the legal community, including a very successful and active Westchester Committee.
How has economic conditions affected your work?
We've been fortunate to be well positioned for growth opportunities in the current economic climate. I believe that there are several key things that set the Council apart from other similar specialty bar associations, including: consistently providing excellent customer service; offering valuable and completely free CLE programs; and helping our members connect with one another in ways that provide growth and opportunities for them. We are also fortunate to have very dedicated and extremely hardworking staff members who thrive on the challenges we face every day, such as providing a great product at an affordable cost, exploiting technology to the best of our ability, and communicating with our members in ways that they find most useful and meaningful. Most importantly, we have many highly motivated, talented, and diligent members who serve on the many active committees that help organize the Council's key programs and events.
Why are you a member of NYSAE?
The single most important piece of advice from my predecessor was join NYSAE! She was right. Being a member of the NYSAE is one of the key ways my staff and I help prepare ourselves to meet these challenges. We've attended a number of incredibly valuable programs organized by the NYSAE over the years, including several excellent programs on technology and social media. As important, I've come to learn that the NYSAE members are uniformly smart, enthusiastic, and eager to help one another. As a new member of the Public Affairs Committee, I'm learning about recent and upcoming changes that affect nonprofits in New York and look forward to following these events on behalf of the NYSAE Board and its membership.
Holly Koenig is executive director of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, NYC Chapter and vice president, Kellen Company. She serves as chair of the NYSAE Membership Committee. Interested in being considered for a Membership Spotlight? Contact her at hkoenig@kellencompany.com.
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