FIVE THINGS THE PANDEMIC REMINDED US ABOUT MEMBER VALUE

IAPCO Member: ICS Author: Matt Riley

Educator Randy Paush once said that “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” There’s no question that the global pandemic has prevented us as association professionals from getting many of the things that we wanted for our associations and ourselves. But as we look to the future, this is the perfect time to consider the experience we’ve gained and how it can help us to refocus on member value. Here are a few that stand out for me.

Study after study shows that the pandemic has accelerated the already declining level of public trust in institutions. This is a huge challenge for associations and society at large, but here’s one potential silver lining - associations that can still manage to earn and maintain high levels of trust among their audiences can shine like never before.

Research for the American Society of Association Executives’ "Impact of Associations on Society” study showed that association professionals, members, and nonmembers rated associations’ role as a “trusted source of information” as their most important role in the past and present and for the future. Difficult to earn, and very easy to lose, this “trust score” will be our most important currency going forward, and a key element of how stakeholders evaluate our member value proposition.

As an association management consultant, I find that revenue diversification is unfortunately one of those conversations that boards don’t really value until it becomes concrete. As the pandemic sidelined the in-person conferences that many associations were relying on for most, if not all, of their nondues revenue, revenue diversification became an urgent topic out of necessity. But beyond just being a business necessity, diversifying our associations’ offerings is also a sound member value strategy. Associations that had pinned their entire value proposition on one or two conferences saw large drops in membership during the pandemic, whereas those that were able to occupy a more holistic role as industry advisors, advocates, and relationship brokers saw membership numbers stay much more resilient in the face of event cancellations or shifts to virtual. Going forward, the most successful associations will be the ones that deliver a broad variety of offerings, to avoid major disruptions to both their revenue and their value proposition.

Has there ever been a bigger moment for virtual events than 2020 and 2021? Thanks to the pandemic, even the staunchest luddites have been taking 10 video calls a day and even the humblest of virtual event tech startups is fending off funding and acquisition offers left and right.

And yet, at the same time, is there anyone who isn’t desperate to get back to in-person travel and conferences? If virtual at its peak still hasn’t replaced the demand for in-person events, can we finally just put this age-old fear to rest once and for all? Going forward, I hope we can all start doing what savvy associations always have, that is – recognizing live and virtual events as two powerful tools in our toolbox and using each to its greatest advantage to deliver member value. Let’s use our live events to create impactful, world-class experiences that surprise and delight, and create meaningful connections between people. And let’s leverage virtual to deliver convenient, just-in-time, bite-sized chunks of learning, engagement, and key messaging.

In the early days of the pandemic, the rug was abruptly pulled out from under us, and we found ourselves trying to reinvent our entire business models overnight. In some cases, we succeeded. For instance, Christina Lewellen, Executive Director of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), and her team successfully replanned the association’s annual conference to be fully virtual, managing to retain almost 100% of the collected registration and sponsorship revenue, and delivering an innovative new experience to members at the same time. Lewellen said, "We know that our value to our community lies in the thought leadership and collaboration our events encourage. Our members were open to innovation and new ideas in terms of how we met their needs, and at the same time they also knew they could rely on us to provide the same value we had always delivered."

We’re often afraid to innovate because we’re worried that if we make a mistake, we’ll be criticized by our members, but the pandemic reminded us that when we’re intentional, transparent, and enthusiastic about trying out innovative new ways to deliver value, stakeholders are actually happy to tolerate a few bumps in the road.

One thing that associations can still do better than anyone else is to make meaningful connections between members. From hackathons that pair members with industry to tackle exciting challenges to scheduled virtual “brain dates” to mentoring, associations have a unique ability to build bridges, rally individuals around an issue, and encourage them to share their ideas and passions. For instance, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants created a "Talking Series," identifying vulnerable and emerging sectors early in the pandemic and setting up discussions via Microsoft Teams to help bring members together, share their experiences and support each other. ACCA Member Engagement Manager Amanda Thurlow said, “We have used the insight gained to help guide content, target issues and shape government responses. By getting closer to more members, we have been able to talk to them about what is affecting them, showcase members via our channels, and invite them to contribute to research.”

What lessons about member value has the pandemic highlighted for you? I’d love to hear from you on twitter at @ml_riley or via email at matt@icsevents.com.

Matt Riley, CAE, is the Director of Associations for IAPCO member ICS, an internationally recognized full service PCO and association management company with over 40 years of experience managing global medical, academic, and scientific conferences, and societies.

A Certified Association Executive, Matt has held senior leadership positions in numerous associations including the National Court Reporters Association and Shop Environments Association, and he also worked as a PCO in London, providing event management and strategy guidance to European and North American association clients.