By Meredith Parker, account associate

Until recently, success was easy to define: my life was charted out with the ultimate goal of gainful employment after completion of primary and secondary school. Imagine the following list:

Meredith’s Life Plan:

• Elementary School (1999-2005)
• Middle School (2005-2008)
  • Volunteering
  • Honor Societies
  • Clubs
• High School (2008-2012)
  • Volunteering
  • Honor Societies
  • Clubs
• College (2012-2016)
  • Volunteering
  • Clubs
• JOB (2016-????)

I checked off the final box, “JOB,” in July 2016, two months after my graduation from college. I dove into my first year of nonprofit work with some trepidation (you can read about my first 90 days here) and after 1.5 years in, I feel that I am aware of others’ expectations of me and comfortable with my responsibilities.

This checklist conquered, I find myself restless. From 1999 to 2016, I was focused on the long term goal of eventually obtaining a job and I neglected to plan after that. Though at any point in this range of years, I would have defined this moment as “success,” I realize that it’s now time to plan the next stage of my life.

This is how I found myself at the ASAE Women Executives Forum in Washington, D.C. on November 14, 2017.

Our speaker was Kathy Korman Frey, the founder of the Hot Mommas Project, an organization providing resources to inspire ambitious women to excel. The foundation of these resources is the free Case Library, which houses the stories of women from all over the world who have reached their definition of success, from a woman who overcame alcoholism to likening navigating life’s curveballs with “the bend and snap,” a move coined by the 2001 movie Legally Blonde. There are currently 338 case studies available for perusal with periodic Case Study Competitions to expand the collection. Building off of this library, the Hot Mommas Project completes research on successful women and disseminates data and analysis in courses and workshops.

Drawing on her experience as the Founder of the Hot Mommas Project and a lecturer in George Washington University’s Business School, Frey spoke about encouraging entrepreneurial thinking. One of her key points was the necessity of identifying and developing several mentors to help guide one’s career. In response to this, I remember looking around the room and seeing 100 women who owned their own businesses or served as the heads of organizations. This was evident not only by their nametags, which listed organization and position, but by the way that they carried themselves: they wore power suits, talked about taking regular international vacations and, during the small group activities, provided insightful responses honed through years of experience.

I have never been in a room with that many high-achieving women before and I realized, whilst sitting among them, that I have the potential to go on and be an Executive Leader. I also realized that, as Frey suggested, I need to identify some mentors to help me create a new checklist focused on my next big adventure: my career.

Do you have a mentor? How has a mentor influenced your career? Please share in the comments below.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Meredith Parker, account associate

Richard (Dick) Padlo is one of the most seasoned professionals at IMI. His career has spanned over forty years, beginning in the United States Air Force, where he climbed the ranks until serving as a Base Commander. After leaving the Air Force, he joined the for-profit business world, working with a consulting group to provide strategic planning expertise. Then, he transitioned to a role as a General Manager for Waste Management, Inc., following that position with a role as a General Manager for PMDS, LLC. In the 2010s, he began work in the non-profit world with SOFTLY International, United Way of the Greater Triangle, and since 2012 he has been with IMI Association Executives.

This varied experience gives him a unique set of tools to approach his current position as an Account Manager at IMI, specifically in the area of strategic planning.

As a young professional, I am always interested in learning from the experience of others; as such, I thought it would be interesting to ask Dick to provide some of his favorite professional resources and lessons from his decades of professional experience.

Quick Questions for Dick:

1. What is your favorite podcast?
   1. “Carry Him Shoulder High” (Mary Kate O’Flanagan), The Moth
2. Who is your favorite blogger?
   1. Meg Buckingham, who currently works at Triangle Community Foundation and writes for their blog
3. If I weren’t in association management, I’d…be teaching or working with entrepreneurs and emerging organizations to help them realize their dreams
4. Advice for aspiring Account Managers: Find something you are passionate about and do it for a living—but, maintain a balance between your personal and professional life.
5. Identify a Mistake and what you learned from it: I let passion rule the day.
   1. There are things we don’t know
   2. There is a reason for an organizational hierarchy
   3. We learn more by listening, which is hard to do when you’re dominating the conversation
6. Favorite quote: “…if you get gloomy just/ take an hour off and sit/and think how/much better this world/is than hell/of course it won t cheer/you up much if/you expect to go there” (an excerpt from “Certain Maxims of Archy” By Don Marquis from archy and mehitabel, 1927)

What advice resonates with you? Do you have a mentor who could answer these questions for you? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

 By Linda Owens, CAE, owner and president

In the 31 years since IMI Association Executives began (learn about our beginnings here), we have been asked many times by prospective clients about the benefits of paid staff versus the benefits of remaining strictly volunteer run organizations.

While any non-profit is fortunate to have good, strong, passionate volunteers they are oftentimes better served by paid staff rather than volunteers for a number of reasons.

Below are just a few of the ways that we have personally seen from experience that non-profits benefit from being managed by paid staff, specifically when staffing from an association management company (AMC).

1. Paid staff has experience managing non-profits specifically. They are trained in association management and stay on top of best practices for the industry versus volunteers who are just interested in helping out.
2. Although volunteers are experts on their specific non-profit’s focus, they may not be experts on managing a non-profit’s finance, board election procedures, etc. An association management company allows the volunteers to focus on their expertise and passion, while we manage and grow the business.
3. Staff understands how to negotiate hotel contracts to avoid attrition penalties and how to negotiate for extra concessions including hotel commission or rebates. Plus, with an AMC we can negotiate volume discounts.
4. AMC staff can pull from experiences working with their other non-profit clients.
5. Paid staff can commit the time and effort needed to produce the best results – it is their job to run the non-profit. Volunteers have other full time jobs, so they must use their spare time to work on non-profit tasks.
6. Paid staff is available and working during normal business hours, which is when the members will be most likely calling in for help.
7. The volunteer working on any particular project tends to change from year to year, so with the turnover, things can fall through the cracks. Paid staff can keep track of progress and all project details to ensure that it keeps moving forward.
8. Paid staff serves as a central repository for all of the non-profit’s activities so members don’t have to worry about which volunteer to call for what need.
9. Paid staff understands governance and antitrust issues to protect the leadership.
10. Professional staff reflects a more professional organization.
11. It’s hard to “fire” volunteers. With volunteers come feelings. Someone who was once a vibrant, effective volunteer could have entered a new season in their life where they are unable to perform duties as before with the same accuracy or enthusiasm. Yet, because of their past, it’s almost impossible to remove them. With staff, it’s a clear-cut decision based on performance. The non-profit does not have to struggle because of someone in the wrong seat on a team.

It is our privilege to assist organizations in their growth. As we manage the business side of the organization, taking on the important day-to-day tasks, we find that the volunteers are free to focus on what only they can do within the organization.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

By Rachel Owen, communications manager

As agents of change  in the association world, part of our responsibility lies in recognizing the opportunity for change. But sometimes we can get so caught up in doing the association work that we lose an awareness of our organization, our leadership teams, and even our own day-to-day tasks. How can we pull ourselves out of the weeds, so to speak, and consider again the big picture? To find the big picture, I like to start with asking big questions.

Here are 5 “big picture” questions you can ask today to help reveal opportunities for change and identify the best approach to facilitate that growth.

1. Are we relevant?

How do you stay relevant to the changing needs of our members? The Race for Relevance gives five high impact ideas to implement in your association.

2. Are we using research appropriately?

Research is one of the best ways to make informed decisions about changes in your organization, but is research always the right step to take? Learn four ways to help determine if it’s time to move on from research.

3. Is the strategic plan being accomplished?

Do you know how to get your strategic plan from development to accomplishment? There are a few crucial questions to askwhich can help move your strategic initiatives forward, the first of which is “Is it doable with our association’s resources?”

4. Do we make decisions in a timely manner?

Is your leadership able to make well-informed decisions quickly and concisely? If not, they can be. Learn how to provide board members and other leaders with effective tools for nimble decision making.

5. How well do we handle criticism?

How we respond to criticism shows our character as individuals and as an organization. In associations, we receive feedback from a variety of sources including fellow association staff, board members, volunteers, and members of the association. Are you prepared for how to respond? A few, simple strategies for responding to criticism can make a big difference in how you present yourself to others.

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

By Meredith Parker, account associate

I’m the type of person who would reach the brink of insanity only days after being shipwrecked alone on a desert island. As an extrovert, I feel the most at ease when I am having meaningful exchanges with other people.

When I was informed that I would be attending my association’s annual conference within weeks of beginning my new position, I was ecstatic. The idea of meeting and greeting hundreds of people at the registration desk seemed like a great way to keep myself engaged and entertained as well as play to my strength of intrapersonal communication.

At 7:00am on the first day of the conference, I made my registration desk debut with gusto, making small talk and showering smiles upon every person who came into my presence. By 5:00pm, my feet ached in my too-small shoes and my skull was throbbing. After closing down Registration, all I could think about was fueling up with some hot food. I went to the Exhibition Hall and filled my tiny plate with an impressively large selection of eggrolls, sliders, and ravioli noodles. I had just taken a steaming bite of an eggroll when an attendee, alerted to my role by my STAFF name tag, tapped me on the shoulder and began to ask some conference-related questions.

At that moment, I could see her lips moving, but the words emitting forth were garbled together like the sounds coming out of a voice-changer toy. I sloshed through the mud of fatigue enveloping my cerebral cortex in an effort to understand what she was saying. I knew that the right words were there, but they were struggling to break free from behind a layer of gunk that had built up over 10 hours of expending energy through beatific smiles and energetic follow-up responses.

I composed myself and after a few moments of contemplation and was able to adequately respond to the member’s concerns. As soon as I had sent her on her way, I took my plate of food and went upstairs to my room. Sitting there, polishing off sliders and ravioli, I thought about the exchange.

Though I am an extrovert, I had never before reached my limit of interpersonal interaction; however, my first day of conference work taught me that even extroverts need to reserve their energy so they are able to provide a high level of customer service throughout a long day.

When registration opened at 7:00am on the second day of the conference, I was still warm and friendly in my exchanges with conference attendees, but I toned down the small talk and giant smiles. My colleagues and I also took advantage of low-traffic periods to take small breaks in the staff office. Even as an extrovert, I found that I needed those 5 or 10 minute periods of “me” time in order to recharge.

Utilizing this strategy for the rest of the conference allowed me to meet members with an appropriate level of customer service while still taking care of myself. I advise all personality types to be intentional about rationing their energy while they are at a conference so they are able to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.

Have you ever found yourself “hitting a wall” at an event? What tips have you found that help to maintain a healthy balance during a conference?

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

By Lee Campbell, account manager

I attended the Meeting Planners International Winter Conference and had the chance to learn about “Strive for Five: Creating a Culture of Success” from Paul Miller and Dawn Daria. Here are some great takeaways from that session.

When mistakes are made people often say “I dropped the ball.” In creating a culture for success what is important is what happens after the ball drops: Are you ready to bounce back? Strategies for success must include strategies for when things don’t go as planned.

Tools for Creating a Culture of Success

Foster Relationships

• Talk with integrity – say what you mean and mean what you say
• Listen to each other – always consider their point of view
• Communicate eye to eye
• Build a personal connection
• Get in the trenches – connect with your team regularly

Personality testing is an essential investment for employers to ensure a culture for success. Get to know your team and how they work best. Consider including regular “getting to know you” questions in your team meetings to learn how to work better together.

Stay Positive

• Make sure to focus on positive strategies and responses even during stressful times
• Keep lines of communication open and strong
• Be solutions oriented

Ensure Understanding

• Speak face to face – avoid emails or texting when tone can be misunderstood
• Offer tangible trails of instruction
• Consider different learning styles –what is clear and straightforward to some members of your team may not be helpful to others

Practice Healthy Conflict

• Foster positive resolution strategies
• Appreciate different personalities
• Understand each individual’s approach
• Work towards resolution quickly – address problems as soon as possible so positive change can happen sooner rather than later

If leaders create a culture of success, it makes hard conversations much easier. Set the expectation of how conflict will be resolved. Steps should be clear and considerate of all parties involved.

When considering your coaching style, leaders should start with encouragement before getting straight to the point of a problem. Trust is built when team members know that their positive efforts will be recognized as much as their mistakes. In your debriefing meetings, praise the successes in addition to discussing solutions to pain points.

For more strategies for success by focusing on the strengths of your team:

• Finding Our Strengths
• Creating Strong Leadership Teams

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

In this feature, we ask our team members some quick, fun questions to show a little spotlight on the staff that makes IMI great.

Angela Allen

Account Associate

• My favorite aspect of association management is:
  • Seeing the members’ passion for a cause and helping them turn their ideas and ‘what-ifs’ into reality.
• On my desk right now:
  • Coffee, my bike helmet and the webinar schedule for this week.
• My favorite blogs:
  • The Webinar Blog and theSkimm
• My media mix:
  • Pandora –Tom Petty, John Hiatt and ‘Shake It Off’ radio are my favorites.
• What I’m reading:
  • Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
• Who to follow on social media:
  • @ilovecycling, @DurhamBulls and @katescraftcave
• What I do when not at work:
  • Cycling, hiking and hanging out with friends and family.  Anything outdoors!
• If I weren’t in association management, I’d:
  • Be traveling the world and meeting the locals.  I’d love to do a bike tour across Europe one day!
• Favorite quote:
  • “So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” – Norton Juster

For more about Angela, don’t forget to check out her full bio on the IMI website!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

 

 

By Angela Allen, account associate

Conversions are the name of the game in 2017. It doesn’t matter if we’re figuring the number of miles to run because we signed up for a 5k as a New Year’s resolution, thinking about the leadership of our country or planning the next call with a client in another time-zone … conversions are everywhere! Thinking about this blog, I started to think about my favorite on-line tools and how they, too, focus on conversions. A few months ago, my co-workers and I met to discuss some of the tools we found useful and this seemed like the perfect time to blog about them. Here the top five tools that have made every day work life more efficient:

Time and Date Calculator

Want to know what date is six months from now or two years, 33 days ago? Timeanddate.com has a tool that allows you to add or subtract days to any date.

Time Zone Calculator

Worldtimebuddy.com has become my best buddy as of late. If your clients are in multiple time zones, this tool quickly lets you see equivalent times in multiple time zones of your choosing. Scheduling calls with clients around the world is much faster now!

ColorPicker.com

Needing a creative color scheme for your next presentation or want to match a graphic to your organization’s logo? This quick, online color picker tool lets you find the hex code for any point on the color palette and converts it to RGB numbers, too. It even gives you the option to find colors that coordinate nicely and are eye catching.

Canva

Who doesn’t love a good design? Canva.com provides a robust library of designs and graphics that will help you convert those drab clip-art announcements into exciting pieces that your clients will pick up and read. From social media posts to marketing materials, this tool has it all.

WorkFlowy

If you’ve been looking for a way to convert your paper to-do list to an online one, workflowy.com, may be the answer. While I haven’t tried this one, personally, it was recommended by a colleague and definitely worth sharing.

These online tools have made our lives easier and hopefully they will make yours better, too… and a bit more colorful!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

By Lee Campbell, account manager

As simple as it sounds, writing a Request for Proposal properly can save time and offer invaluable information to a vendor who is trying to gather information in offering services that fit your needs.  When providing thorough information, it gives the vendor knowledge of your organization which helps them understand your overall objectives.

The following are items that should be included within your preferred spreadsheet document of request to ensure a respectful and fair quote for hotel services:

1. Provide basic organization information
   1. Full association name and acronym
   2. Address
   3. Website address
   4. All appropriate phone numbers
2. Offer specific days or patterns of flexibility for dates
3. Establish attendee attendance numbers
4. Offer sleeping room requirements
   1. Day pattern
   2. Room type needs
   3. Number of rooms for each peak night
   4. Total rooms requested
5. Offer a tentative schedule of events
   1. List by day
   2. Include event names
   3. Basic room setup requirements
6. Concessions (Desires of the organization)
   1. What are your “Must Haves”
      1. Keep in mind for negotiation:
         1. What would you “Like to Have”
         2. What are your “Tradables”
   2. Request a rebate of each room sold back to the master account
   3. Request a commissionable rate back to your organization
7. Offer historical information
   1. Dates of past events
   2. City locations of past events
   3. Facility used of past events
   4. Total sleeping room pick up
   5. Total registered attendees

Using this basic format in providing information to a hotel vendor will save time and decrease the amount of back and forth questions asked as they put together a proposal that will be a fair start to negotiating a final agreement.  Remember, everything is negotiable!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.

In this new feature, we ask our team members some quick, fun questions to show a little spotlight on the staff that makes IMI great.

Deb Doepp

Account Associate

• My favorite aspect of association management is:
  • I love how IMI has such a variety of clients with so many similarities and differences. I also adore that IMI works in a team-friendly way, supporting each other as the work ebbs and flows.
• On my desk right now:
  • My water bottle, a cup of chamomile tea, my iPhone, paper for notetaking when I get a call and a tin of Altoids
• My favorite blogs
  • Tatertots & Jello – This is a fantastic DIY blog with a lot of ideas on décor.
  • Young House Love – this is a husband/wife team that has blogged over the years about their various home transformations. They even came out with a home décor line in Target and Home Depot.
  • Suburban Turmoil – She is a mom Blogger out of Nashville, Tenn. She’s fantastically funny and totally down-to-earth. She tells it like it is and makes me laugh with nearly every post.
• My media mix:
  • Since my trek to work takes about an hour each way, I’ve been listening to NPR quite a bit. Otherwise, I find out what is going on through Facebook or my local TV station.
• What I’m reading:
  • Nothing right at the moment, but I would like to finish J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series. The first book (The Cuckoo’s Calling) was great!
• Who to follow on social media:
  • @kellycreates – She makes videos of herself doing calligraphy. It’s beautiful!
  • @ivenoven – This is a bakery in Indonesia that makes the most amazing cakes. They look unreal.
  • @scarymommy – A go-to for feeling like we’re all part of this parenting team.
  • @brenebrown – Author of the amazing book, “Daring Greatly.” It changed my life.
• What I do when not at work:
  • I spend a lot of my time as shuttle service for my three children. They’re in three different activities as well as three different schools, so it can get crazy. My husband and I try to get a weekly date night, but sometimes that isn’t possible.
• If I weren’t in association management, I’d:
  • I would probably be working directly with a non-profit. This is why working for IMI is such a great fit for me.
• Favorite quote:
  • “I broke up with pink. Yellow is my new favorite color.” – My daughter, Madelyn at the age of four. To me, this reminds me of how uncomplicated the mind of a child is – and that we should strive for this mentality each and every day.

For more about Deb, don’t forget to check out her full bio on the IMI website!

Want to know more about association management? Contact us at info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.