ASSOCIATION TRANSFORMATION

Martin Bewick, CPL’s content strategist, discusses why it’s good (although not always) to stray from the beaten track.

Recently we were joined by Marcia Philbin, CEO of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, to discuss her House of Agile framework on the Association Transformation Podcast.

When he defined the concept of "attention economics" in 1971, Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon wrote that "...a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention...". 50 years later, and in a data-rich world, the overwhelming wealth of information available to us means a dearth of something else, i.e. the scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes - our attention.

We're in a more global world than ever before - the world is smaller than it has ever been. However, not everyone may see internationalisation as a valuable path or a top priority, with some Associations preferring to work in splendid isolation believing that “an international outlook is not for us”.

Lucy Oakshott on three key factors membership organisations need to consider when planning or updating their content strategy.

The hard part about generating thought leadership content is committing to it and devoting the time it takes to do it right. But leaning hard into your comfort zone might help you speak up.

To offset financial losses caused by the pandemic, many associations are wondering how to price products in ways that generate much needed revenue. A pricing expert explains why it’s now a good time to reset and price according to value.

Connecting with your members is a key part of persuading, influencing, and supporting your members, but what does it mean in practice?

We spoke in our Birthday Episode about embracing new opportunities that help associations grow and diversify, but also how to engage and add value to our members. As we look back over the past year we have come to appreciate just how important communications are, and the messaging and narrative that you share with your membership and the broader public.

This blog explores how membership organisations can use events to help grow the membership of their organisation.  It explores whether or not members and non-members should have the same, or similar experiences at events, and identifies a few “quick win” tools that associations can use to help them grow membership.

Guest blog from Jackie Scully, Executive Director of Think Publishing, highlighting the key takeaways from their latest industry-leading research publication, Re:member.

With social distancing measures in place, the move to digital has changed the way so many of our business processes are done. The process of strategic planning has in effect metamorphosed through the pandemic because of moving online. Andrew and Elisa explore this change and share their expert tips on how to effectively pull off virtual strategic planning.

The hallmarks of a successful organisations are a Board who will listen to their Chief Financial Officer, and a C.F.O who listens to the rest of the operational team and really understands what is being said. These Boards have mindfulness at the centre of all aspects of governance, considering things such as inclusion, diversity and tackling racism and sexism from the highest level down. 

If you think governance is “boring”, then you’re doing it all wrong. If you think governance is a tick-box exercise, then you’re doing it all wrong. If you think governance is a chore, a burden, or an effort, then YOU ARE DOING IT ALL WRONG!

COVID-19 and the subsequent public health and safety measures have prohibited in-person gatherings for most of 2020 and will continue to do so for the near future. One of the worst-hit sectors is the events industry: the ban on mass face-to-face gatherings has meant no concerts, sporting events, festivals and, specifically for associations, no conferences, exhibitions, dinners, award ceremonies and so on. For the vast majority of membership organisations, events are integral to their value proposition and a significant income generator.