January 2017 by Associations North

FOCUS

January 2017

NORTH

BUILDING COMMUNITY

AROUND MISSION pg5

Disruption in Education & Employment pg 10

New Federal Overtime Regulations: On Hold For Now pg 12

Published by

www.associationsnorth.com

How MNswim joined thousands of members through a strong mission statement.

Focus North is published 10 times a year by Associations North, 1970 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 100, Roseville, MN 55113. Phone: 651.647.6388 Fax: 651.647.6416 Website: www.associationsnorth.com Email: info@associationsnorth.com

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions of Associations North. The subscription rate for members is $25, which is included in membership dues. Editorial contributors in any area of association management are welcome. Articles accepted for publication are subject to editing by Associations North. Advertising is accepted on a space availability basis. Contact angela@associationsnorth.com for further advertising information.

Staff

Kathy Johnson, CAE, President Sarah Ruzek, Director of Education Angela Kisskeys, Marketing & Comm. Manager Chris Villeneuve, Member Services Coordinator

CONTENTS January 2017

Mission

FEATURES

To advance and serve the association management profession in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Advancing Leaders: 5 Building Community Around 7 Fuel For Forward-

Vision

Associations North, our members and their associations will thrive and grow.

Diversity & Inclusion

In principle and in practice, Associations North values and seeks diversity and inclusiveness within the association management industry. Associations North advocates for and promotes involvement, innovation, and expanded access to leadership opportunities that maximize engagement across underrepresented groups in the Associations North membership.

Advertisements and listings in this publication are provided as a public service to readers. Associations North is not responsible for errors or omissions, and inclusion does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. All information is subject to change.

Dave Radziej, CAE (Chair-Elect) President Printing Industry Midwest Cassie Larson, CAE (Secretary/Treasurer) Executive Director MN Nursery & Landscape Association

Thinking

How MNswim Joined Thousands of Members Around a Strong Mission

7 Tips for Managing the Most Precious Resource in 2017 - Time

Advancing Engagement + Recruitment: Moving Membership

Advancing Meetings + Events: In The Details

Moving Forward Together

The Association Life

14 Conversations 15 Calendar of Events 16 Brain Power 18 Signature Event 19 The North Experience 20 Et Cetera

Disruption in Education & Employment

21 Spotlight

Advancing 11 Advancing Communications: 12 The Essentials: Stay Connected

Invaluable Insights

Boost Your Career Through Tactful Self Promotion

The New Federal Overtime Regulations: On Hold for Now

What do you collect?

Ann Kvaal, CAE (Chair) Owner AK Communications Jenny Prosser (Past -Chair) Vice President of Conferences and Sales LeadingAge Minnesota

Mission

Wise Associations Not Only Do, They Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

For advertising information, call 651.647.6388.

Board of Directors

DEPARTMENTS

Kathy Johnson, CAE (President) President Associations North I have a coin collection from my grandmother that I hope to pass on to my son someday. It must be cabins. I am in two partnerships on two different cabins. I must like people and having fun.

Photos for scrapbooking.

I do have a much loved PEZ collection. Each one tells a different story.

Carmelo Cinqueonce, MBA Executive Director MN Dental Association

John Francis President The Harrington Company

Tara Owens Member Engagement Director MN Academy of Family Physicians

Craft brewery pint glasses.

Cody Nuernberg Executive Director Northwestern Lumber Association

Dave Renner, CAE Director, State & Federal Legislation Minnesota Medical Association

Mark Salter, CAE, ABC Executive Director CFA Society Minnesota

Robbie Thompson Executive Director Professional Liability Underwriting Society

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; throw anything away. Does that count?

Moving Forward Together: Associations North Partners

Featured Sponsor: Visit Greater St. Cloud

Why we partner with Associations Northâ&#x20AC;Ś

What is one memorable moment with Associations North?

Being a strong supporter and an active member for many years, Association North has provided amazing opportunities for our entire CVB staff. This organization has been a priceless resource for us in the capacity through their various networking groups, educational sessions, signature events and multiple other engagement opportunities!

This is a tough question to answer, I (Lori) have had so many! I would say networking at Associations North Leadership Conference. This conference has allowed me to connect with others in our industry and given me new, creative, outside the box ideas -Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truly amazing!

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The Association Life

Featured Industry: Legal Whoever you are, whatever you do, there is an association working on your behalf.

American College of Legal Medicine

Association for Continuing Legal Education

The Mission of the American College of Legal Medicine is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;promote the continued professional

ACLE represents a thriving community of

advancement of its members, as well as

continuing legal education (CLE) professionals.

non-member physicians, and other interested professionals, through education, research, publications, and interdisciplinary and collaborative exchanges of information.

Hennepin County Bar Association The Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) is

Association of Corporate Patent Counsel

the local bar serving nearly 8,000 lawyers who live or work in Hennepin County.

The Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC) is a membership association of Chief Intellectual Property Counsel of businesses operating in the United States.

ALAMN The purpose of this local association is to provide continued support, educational opportunities and information designed to assist our members in the legal

Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association

profession.

MIPLA is a non-profit organization formed to promote the development of intellectual property law and enhance the professionalism of its members.

MN Defense Lawyers Association MDLA is an association dedicated to serving

International Academy of Trial Lawyers The Academy is a group of truly elite

MN State Bar Association

trial lawyers representing both sides

Founded in 1883, the

of the Bar: prosecutors and defense

Minnesota State Bar

lawyers in criminal cases, and plaintiffsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Association is the

and defense counsel in civil litigation

oldest professional

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the needs of lawyers engaging primarily in the defense and trial of civil disputes.

Building Community Around Mission How MNswim joined thousands of members through a strong mission statement.

A great mission statement means very little when your members are not even aware it exists. MNswim ensured this would not be the case for their association.

Bob Crunstedt and Kerry Thompson had known each other professionally as colleagues and personally as members of the swim community for years. When Crunstedt was appointed Executive Director of MNswim, Thompson reached out to him regarding the association’s marketing tactics. After attending a strategy session about the MNswim brand along with Thompson, Crunstedt realized, “One of the key issues that came out of it was to define and publicize our cultural identity. You might not think you have a brand, but you really do. And if you don’t define it, someone else will.” With 10,000 athlete members and many more coaches, volunteers, parents, and meet directors, MNswim had quite the communications task ahead of them. How could the association share a clear message about their core values with thousands of people throughout Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin? “One of the things we needed to do right away was to get the kids to buy in because they are the largest part of our constituency,” explains Thompson. The organization reached out to their athlete members, young swimmers with a love for their sport, to share stories of their peers displaying one of MNswim’s four core values: Integrity, Sportsmanship, Excellence, and Fun. As it turns out, this crowdsourcing technique did just the trick for MNswim. Athletes shared stories from their local meets that the association may never have heard. Combined with plenty of swag, photo opportunities, and giveaways, these stories made MNswim’s branding initiative a hit.

“Every member now knows and understands the organization’s core values.” The stories feature an athlete who turned in a wad of cash she found on the ground at a meet; a young boy who missed his event to help another swimmer stand up to a bully; and a coach high-fiving competing swimmers for a great race. MNswim took to social media to share their brand message with members. Given the majority of

their members are school-aged athletes, social media was a natural place to find and share stories. Through research and great content, the association found that athletes are more active on Instagram, where as the swim parents can be found on Facebook. The achievements of MNswim’s brand awareness campaign are easily recognized on social media; the association grew its social media following from zero to a thriving community. Every member now knows and understands the organization’s core values. Building an online community for MNswim’s members was a natural step for the association, as the sport naturally fosters a sense of community. As high school swim teams (governed by the Minnesota State High School League) and club teams (governed by MNswim) overlap, athletes form relationships that transcend boundaries and foster lifelong friendships. Thompson and Crunstedt themselves are examples of the connections and friendships formed through swimming. MNswim’s feature stories about athletes were vital to highlighting and encouraging their core values. Crunstedt says, “It showed the human side of what we do. Besides [the athletes] just getting faster, we are building better people. As a community, we are doing a lot of good things.” This initiative is a strong example of the power of branding; MNswim is clear in its values, and its community is stronger for it. Crunstedt says of the marketing efforts, “It’s really vital that you’re telling this part of the story, not just how many members you have or how many people are certified, but telling the real core story of what your organization does and what it means to your members.” Have a story to tell? Help Associations North inspire others. Associations make the difference everyday! Email angela@associationsnorth.com. MNswim would like to thank Kerry Thompson of Creekwood Marketing for her great work on the “We Are MNswim” campaign. Kerry can be reached at creekwoodkt@comcast.net or 612-804-0519.

Advancing Leaders: Fuel For Forward-Thinking organizational culture.

7 Tips for Managing the Most Precious Resource in 2017 - Time The most precious resource in the world is not gold but something more valuable, time. As we all know, the time we have is fixed and very much finite. It is becoming even more precious and guarded by your volunteers and staff. How can we better manage this most precious resource in our organizations to make the biggest impact in relevance and value to our members? Plan with Focus – Make it a priority to put in place a functional and practical strategic plan with timelines and performance measures. Without a plan, time is leaking like a sieve in your organization.

Time is a resource that can’t be recovered and can’t be created. Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind”. Excite and Engage – What makes a journey exciting? Imagine taking a trip on a bus with your board and not knowing the destination but driving hours and hours and hours to get there. Some people will hang in there to see where the bus (organization) is going but others will easily lose 7 interest and head back home.

The journey is only as exciting as the destination. Your board needs the vision of the destination in order to be excited and to give of their precious time to make the journey. Cut Out Time Killers – Recognize when board discussions are devolving into tactical details. Always ask the question, “is this something the board should be doing or should it be delegated to a committee or task force?” Guard the time of the board to be as strategic as possible. No Agenda, No Meeting – Every meeting needs an agenda as the roadmap for the discussion and actions that will take place. It should be time-based, address the strategic goals of the organization and keep the mission of the organization top of mind. Bad agendas, that allow a meeting to meander with no time allocation, are the best recipe to lose volunteers. Properly crafted agendas should make everyone feel as though they have contributed and accomplished something as both an individual and a group. 80% Rule – As we all know, people like to talk and this is no different on a board. Right at the beginning of any meeting, set the rule that if the board discussion item is 80% there (or complete), then the board can move on to another topic. Anything above 80% is wordsmithing and not good use of board time. For some organizations it may be 80% and other 90%; modulate this to suit your

“Two Ears and One Mouth” – Epictetus, a Greek Philosopher, once said, “we have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.” I would like to also add that we have two ears so we can hear both sides of the story. This is so important in saving time at meetings when board members are actually listening to understand rather than listening to respond. If we are listening to understand, we are making a conscious effort to focus only on the person and not the response to the person. Return on Investment (ROI) – We do A LOT in our organizations and at times, it is a snowball effect with program after program being created but not evaluated. Saving time is identifying and eliminating programs that no longer suit our members but take away precious staff and volunteer time to administer. We recommend reviewing the ROI of your organization’s programs to determine what should be sunset or repurposed. This will then provide additional capacity to provide even greater value and relevance to your members. Time is a resource that can’t be recovered and can’t be created. Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind”. While writing this, I mused the meaning of this quote and it leads me back to the fact that time is finite and moves on with our without us. Eliminating distractions to achieve our goals in our organizations will leave more than a shadow behind to the people, professions and industries we impact. How will you keep an eye on time and stay ahead of the shadows? Bill Pawlucy, MPA, CAE, IOM is President and Founder of Association Options, a global consulting company. Find out more at www.associationoptions.com.

Advancing Engagement + Recruitment: Moving Membership

Wise Associations Not Only Do, They Don’t Insanity. That’s what many associations are facing. Bloated product lines, under-resourced marketing and irrelevant services are creating clutter and confusion in members’ minds—not to mention work for staff that doesn’t add value to membership. Something’s gotta go. If your association is like most, each year a new crop of programs and services are introduced. Rarely are any dropped. Eventually you end up with a smorgasbord of benefits. Yet value isn’t created by adding things. It’s creating by added valuable things. When was the last time you did a top-to-bottom review of all your association programs and services? What measures do you have in place to increase the chances of success when introducing a new benefit? Does your association operate under the assumption that the more you do the more you matter? If so, it may be time for you to consider a “To Don’t” list rather than a “To Do” list. If it’s been awhile since you’ve done an intentional, comprehensive program and service review for the purpose of narrowing your product offering, here’s how. Permission. Seek permission from your board not to add or introduce any programs for a given period. This gives you the time and space to conduct a review without the pressure of rolling out new programs. I suggest six months to a year. More importantly, get buy-in from the board up front to discontinue some programs and services as a result of your evaluation. Plan. Decide how you’ll go about the review. Department by department? All programs and services at once? Some associations I’ve worked with have put everything on the table simultaneously while others opted to tackle the project little by little. The value is in the fact that you’re doing it. How you accomplish it is secondary. Proceed. Start with a list. It’s easier to work with a smaller list but eventually all your programs and services should be compared to one another. Proceed with the goal of identifying programs and services that are past their prime, poorly performing or never lived up to expectations to begin with. These go first.

Decide. What will you use to measure value? Here are some options: relatedness to mission, the percentage of members who use the service, financial performance, whether or not the service is available elsewhere and whether you’d start the program today. While some of these are subjective, they are still valuable for comparisons.

Starting a conversation about what to abandon takes courage. But it’s as essential as innovating. Eliminate. This may be the toughest step of all. After careful evaluation, identify a number of programs to discontinue. These may be sentimental favorites, often started by beloved leaders. From golf outings to basketball leagues to Christmas parades, I’ve seen it all—including bigger programs on the chopping block such as insurance programs, publications and even meetings! In a time of dwindling time and resources, however, it’s essential to let go. Be sure to provide numerical data to make it easier for your board to let go of lagging programs. It’s easier to eliminate a program that’s been losing money. Accept. Don’t underestimate the power of the above process. Strategic review helps ensure value for members and provides the resources you need to operate efficiently. Starting a conversation about what to abandon takes courage. But it’s as essential as innovating. Noted organizational consultant Peter Drucker said, “The first step in a growth policy is not to decide where and how to grow. It is to decide what to abandon. In order to grow, a business must have a systematic policy to get rid of the outgrown, the obsolete, the unproductive.” In other words, wise associations not only do, they don’t. Mary Byers, CAE, is the author of Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations and the founder of Association Strategy Circles.

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Advancing Meetings + Events: In The Details

Rise of Technology

Disruption in Education and Employment Disruption is a popular term that is in danger of being overused. Still, it is the only word that accurately describes the state of the education to employment system both here in the United States and in the larger global community. Deep changes are typically sparked when wicked problems show themselves in a systemic context. The future demands a concerted, collective effort on the part of all association professionals who are interested in educational advancement and the health of the industries and professions we represent to understand and to position themselves to provide new solutions in a new context. In our white paper, The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm, my co-author Elizabeth Weaver Engel, M.A., CAE and I (with assistance from our contributors and those we interviewed) outline some of the key changes that are underway and discuss what associations can do to help. Here are some quick snapshots of just a few of the biggest trends we believe associations should consider when thinking about the futures of their industries and professions.

Association professionals need to think critically about where members are coming from.

The K-12 System K-12 educators are in an increasingly challenging situation. School districts are being tasked with overhauling K-12 to incorporate the tools, technologies, and innovative learning environments befitting the 21st century, while operating in an environment shaped by decreasing funding, increasing class sizes, and high-stakes testing. Due to these pressures, parents are increasingly opting out and traditional feeder systems into postsecondary training or the employment sphere are breaking. Association professionals need to think critically about where future members are coming from, and how we can help individuals successfully transition into employment in our industries and professions. The Post-Secondary System High levels of student debt are poised to surpass the housing bubble that preceded the economic crash of 2007/2008. A sharp increase in the time it takes to get the degree is leaving more and more students behind. There is an argument brewing about what the purpose and value of a degree is, and how well it will serve students going forward. Employers are bemoaning the fact the graduates they are inheriting are deficient in skills such as critical and systems thinking, and hyper-complexity. Associations have a role to play in helping individuals entering the workforce in our industries and professionals â&#x20AC;&#x153;skill upâ&#x20AC;? in these critical areas.

The swath of automation that cut through agricultural and blue-collar jobs was bad enough. Now, with the rise of intelligent machine jobs in sectors such as accounting, law and medicine are at risk. Oxford University, among others, estimate that 47% of the United States employment sphere is set to be radically enhanced or outright replaced within the next 8 years. Your members are going to depend on you to help them cope with integrating new tools in the workplace, or skill up so they can lateral into new positions.

47%

of the US employment

sphere is set to be radically enhanced or outright replaced within the next 8 years.

These are just three of the trends that are creating a perfect storm in the education to employment sphere. Associations, who have long considered themselves providers of professional development, have new opportunities to create new revenue streams by enhancing and retooling their educational efforts to help serve a new population of learners who have specific needs that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being met by the current system. Download your free copy of The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm at http://bit.ly/29CIquL. By Shelly Alcorn, CAE, Principal, Alcorn Associates. This article is the second in a series of three and will be followed by a review of the role we believe associations can play addressing this major global socioeconomic problem in February 2017.

Advancing Communications: Stay Connected

Boost Your Career Through Tactful Self-Promotion Richard Dodson & Nancy Burke

In the December article, we talked about why selfpromotion, appropriately done, is essential to managing everyone’s career, and helps people gain the recognition and rewards they deserve. In this article, we’ll provide a sample of specific tactics and actions that take some prep, but are easy for people to adapt to their own style. Positioning Yourself. Successful people know what they stand for and how to articulate their value. • Craft a statement you can use when asked “What do you do?” or “What is your association about?” You probably want a very short one (for barbeques and cocktail parties) and a longer one for more serious conversations. • Write out your statement, refine, refine, and practice, practice, practice out loud, until it comes out naturally and conversationally. • Make a habit of thinking about what you’re working on or what you’re learning, so you have something to say other than “Fine” when someone asks you “How’s it going” in the hallway. For example, project professionalism, energy, and enthusiasm by saying something like: “Great! Just wrapping up XYZ project” or “Just joined the team working on project ABC can’t wait to dig in.”

Successful people know how to articulate their value. Cultivating Strategic Relationships. Successful people develop and maintain a “triple-A” network: acquaintances, allies and advocates. • Make a list of 5 people allies or acquaintances with

11 whom you want a deeper relationship. Plan an action

that you can take with each one of them in the next quarter (e.g. asking them to coffee, sending an interesting article’ or making a phone call or send an email telling them how much you appreciate them). • Make a list of 5 people you don’t know that you should meet, to further your association’s business (and your own reputation). Do some research and plan how you will approach each of them and what questions you’ll ask to get to know them better. • Learn some good conversation openers and pick 2 or 3 that fit you well, that you can use with anyone, even if you’re a die-hard introvert, in most situations. Examples might be, “How is your business?” What do you enjoy outside of work?” Increasing Constructive Visibility. Successful people work on promoting their reputation beyond people they know personally. • Practice opening questions that work at large conference meetings. Some of our favorites are: - “What do you do?” - “How long have you been doing it?” - “What do you love about what you do?” - “What connections/referrals can I help you with?” • As you work a room, set a goal for how many people you’ll connect with, get business cards (and follow up), and practice graceful conversations. • Look at your LinkedIn profile with a critical eye – is it helpful to you and your association? Refresh it, putting in your key value statements, and the value your organization provides. • Find a colleague in a similar position to yours in another association, and propose writing an article on a subject that is relevant to your members. Post it on your website, LinkedIn, and other relevant social media. Select two actions that can change how you come across, and make them habits – you AND your association will benefit! Richard Dodson and Nancy Burke are career consultants who live and work in the Twin Cities. You can learn more by visiting their website, www.TactfulSelfPromotion.com.

Advancing The Essentials: Invaluable Insights

The New Federal Overtime Regulations: On Hold for Now Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced the most significant changes to the federal overtime regulations in over a decade.

However, briefing will not be complete—and therefore, the case cannot be heard or decided—until after January 31.

Had these changes gone into effect, they would have required employers to pay employees at least $47,476 per year if those employees were to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions from federal overtime.

What’s Could Happen Next?

The changes were set to go into effect on December 1, leaving most employers with only a few months to determine how to come into a compliance in a way that did not jeopardize their organizational operations.

In determining your next steps, you must identify if you qualify for the ‘white collar’ exemptions. On November 22, however, a federal district court judge in Texas entered a nationwide injunction blocking the DOL from implementing the new regulations. The DOL has appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the federal appellate court for Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

• By the time the Fifth Circuit hears this case, the new administration will be in office. A Trump DOL need not maintain the position of the Obama DOL. In fact, a Trump DOL could withdraw the appeal. • Even if the new regulations are ultimately upheld—by the Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court, or both—it will likely be several months before employers would have to comply with them.

• If your organization was set to increase the salaries of exempt employees or reclassify them to nonexempt status only because they did not meet the new salary threshold, you no longer need to do so at this time. However, you may need to do so in the future, depending on how the courts rule. • If your organization has employees who do not meet or may not meet any of the duties tests for the “white collar” exemption (or if you have not analyzed whether they meet the duties tests), your organization should consult legal counsel. If an exempt employee did not meet one of the duties tests before the Texas court’s decision, s/he does not meet it now and reclassification is likely necessary.

What Should We Do? In determining your next steps, it’s important to remember that, to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions, employers must satisfy not only the salary threshold, but also the duties test. Specifically, an employer must show that an employee is performing the duties—as defined by the regulations—of an administrative, executive, professional, computer, or outside sales employee to qualify as an exempt “white collar” employee. Importantly, the new regulations—and the Texas court’s decision—dealt with the salary threshold only. Neither dealt with the duties tests.

In the interim, consult with your association’s attorney to obtain advice regarding your situation. Veena A. Iyer is a shareholder at Nilan Johnson Lewis PA practicing labor and employment law. She can be reached at viyer@nilanjohnson.com. This article does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with an attorney to obtain advice regarding your association’s situation.

LEGAL & FINANCIAL HOT TOPICS Coming February 23 Featuring Veena! 12

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Conversations: In Focus

Different view points. Different solutions.

What is one game-changing idea you have implemented at your association?

Barb Grieman Senior Vice President Better Business Bureau MN/ND (BBB)

Patti Coles

The BBB has made a concerted effort to create more partnerships in the past few years to pool resources and share assets to more effectively meet our mission. Specifically we focused on our outreach to educate seniors on scam prevention, and provide tips and resources to keep them financially safe. Allianz was looking for a program to educate seniors on how best to avoid financial fraud and BBB stepped up to train Allianz employee volunteers in this effort. Because of this partnership, many more seniors are getting the education they need to protect their savings. BBB also partnered with AARP to create Scam Jam – a free event aimed at educating seniors and caregivers about the many predatory schemes that target the elderly. These examples show the importance of partnerships and what they can do to enhance and expand your mission. Partnerships can be powerful tools for associations and BBB has made greater strides because of them.

Networks. Each of ICBM’s networks is designed with a part of the bank in mind, and each one offers its members opportunities to get together, exchange ideas and experiences, and share the latest best practices and the challenges found in each job or position. Each network meets face-to-face three to four times a year in sessions that include an expert speaker and plenty of time for peer-to-peer networking.

Meeting and Event Planner Independent Community Bankers of MN

Kathleen Peterson Senior VP

MWCIA’s optional hours program. MWCIA employees can elect to work a compressed schedule, which means that they work the same number of hours as normal (75 hours per pay period) but in fewer days than the normal 10 days. With supervisor approval, employees can choose their starting and ending times, work additional minutes per day and have every Friday or every other Friday off.

Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Insurers Association

For more details and to register, visit: www.associationsnorth.com/calendar

Calendar Of Events: Mark It + Make It

WEDNESDAY JANUARY

Strategies to Improve Member Recruitment & Retention Courtyard by Marriott Mpls Downtown 8:00 am - 2:00 pm Learn how to effectively communicate the value of membership, new approaches to developing tiered membership models, and how to develop a retention plan that gets results.

Thursday FEBRUARY

Legal & Financial Hot Topics Minnesota Humanities Center 8:00 am - 12:30 pm Find out what new legal and financial hot topics you need to be aware of to protect your association including: FASB, initiatives, employment law changes with impact of new administration, cyber security and ways to avoid being sued.

THURSDAY MARCH

Marketing & Sales Symposium Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West 8:00 am - 3:00 pm A must-attend conference for marketing, communications, membership and sales professionals who want to get your message heard, engage your members more and provide outstanding service!

Upcoming Events

January

February

Webinar: Making Your Message Memorable: Video

Webinar: Emerging Practices for Optimal Content and

Storytelling as a Strategy

Speaker Selection

Allied Networking Group

Young Professionals Networking Group

Meeting Management & Education Networking Group

Associations North Board Meeting

Financial & Accounting Networking Group

CEO Networking Group

Strategies to Improve Member Recruitment & Retention

Membership Networking Group

Webinar: Successfully Leading Change Initiatives

Webinar: Making the First Year Memorable

Communications Networking Group

Legal & Financial Hot Topics

March

April

Webinar: The Fine Art of Cultivating Member Relationships

Webinar: How to Become a High-Performance

One Conversation at a Time

Association Executive

Allied Networking Group

Freebie Day

Marketing & Sales Symposium

CEO Networking Group

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A New Year: A Fresh, New & True Brand Justin Bieganek, Mercury Creative Group Last year, Mercury Creative Group had the honor of working with the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE) through their major rebrand. Through working sessions and in-depth analysis, we uncovered the core value of this organization to be advancement. This discovery and focus led us to the new name of Associations North, a vibrant color palette and an aspirational logo that all speak to the essential value advancement. Our team likes to say - A Brand’s Work Is Never Done. This applies to both established and new brands. In the case of Associations North, the heavy lifting is done but they will continue to infuse their organization with fresh elements of the new brand. As with all rebrands, the key to successful adoption of the Associations North brand does not rest in the

hands of the organization. It takes the acceptance and enthusiasm of members and vendors to bring the new brand full circle. Luckily, the feedback from both groups has been exceedingly positive and the new branding has brought a new energy, enthusiasm and commitment to advancing associations. In 2016, Associations North announced their new name, released Focus North - Association’s North official publication, launched a new career center, and delivered educational programming that armed associations with the tools they need to thrive and grow -- and that was just the beginning. Moving into 2017, expect to see further incorporation of the fresh and new brand in a multitude of ways. A new website will be launched, e-communications will continue to inform and educate members and a 2017 Compensation and Benefits Study will be published. 2017 will also bring new and innovative education that continues to keep associations at the top of their game. As promised in all endeavors, Associations North is dedicated and committed to Moving Professionals Forward.

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The North Experience: Holiday Celebration & Silent Auction

It was Turtlenecks & Tiniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for all at Associations North Holiday Celebration & Silent Auction on December 2nd! Attendees enjoyed bidding on over 130 silent auction items, Wall of Wine with 100 festive bottles of wine benefitting Arthritis Foundation of MN and an a cappella vocal treat by Six Appeal.

SAVE THE DATE

Holiday Celebration & Silent Auction D e c e mbe r 8, 2 017

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