JUL/AUG GUIDE TO ASSOCIATION 2019 MANAGEMENT COMPANIES POWER UP WITH AN AMC, YOUR ASSOCIATION CAN DRIVE GROWTH, LEADERSHIP, AND INNOVATION LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE WHAT’S NEXT: MAKE THE MOST OF AMCS’ KNOW-HOW 3 AMCS: WHERE THE Association NEXT-GEN WORKFORCE Management IS LEARNING TODAY 6 Company Directory 16 PUBLISHED BY ASAE: THE CENTER FOR ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP AD Template.indd 1 5/29/19 10:52 AM ASAE President and CEO ™ John H. Graham IV, CAE President, ASAE Foundation and Executive Vice President, ASAE Susan Robertson, CAE SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019 Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Robb Lee Vice President/Editor-in-Chief Julie Shoop 3 [email protected] Editorial Director Preparing for Samantha Whitehorne [email protected] What’s Next Senior Editor Tim Ebner An AMC allows an association [email protected] 3 to be agile and flexible— Associate Editor and makes its path toward Rasheeda Childress [email protected] a brighter future easier to Web Content Editor navigate. Ashwin Jagannathan [email protected] BY ALLISON TORRES BURTKA Supplement Design and Production Ana Maria Rivera-Pramuk [email protected] 6 Senior Vice President and Publisher Karl Ely, CAE [email protected] Staffing the Advertising Operations Director Workplace of the Kathy Censky [email protected] Future Advertising Operations Advertising Operations Manager Coordinator As baby boomers retire and Terra Berthau Grazia Mieren millennials and Gen Z step in, [email protected] [email protected] AMCs are helping to train the ACCOUNT MANAGERS next generation of association Ruth Evetts Wayne Wichmann 10 professionals. Florida and Georgia; Caribbean Midwest and Southeast and Latin America Hospitality Hospitality; Business Products BY CHRISTINE UMBRELL 321-783-9501; fax: 321-783-6044 & Services [email protected] 757-565-1048; fax: 757-564-9635 [email protected] Sandi and Jeff Jacobs West and Southwest; Patrick Wilson 10 Canada Hospitality Technology 2 866-425-5230; fax: 775-254-1279 [email protected] [email protected] 202-768-7265 From Where I Sit Bringing Great How AMCs enable innovation in Susan Murphy associations Ideas to Life Northeast Hospitality; BY PAUL J. HANSCOM, CAE International Hospitality; Working with an AMC—and Association Management Companies and Insurance & 14 its team of subject-matter Financial Services 215-862-9815; fax: 215-862-9816 experts—can make for a [email protected] CEO to CEO New reasons why associations are turning more successful new-program to AMCs for service ASSOCIATIONS NOW implementation. ASAE BY CHRISTINE UMBRELL 1575 I St., NW, Washington, DC 20005-1103 888-950-ASAE; 202-626-ASAE 16 Editorial offices: 202-326-9548 Association Management fax: 202-326-0998 [email protected] Company Directory Advertising offices: 202-626-2889 fax: 202-220-6488 16 | Comparison chart industrypartnerrelations @asaecenter.org 20 | Company listings © Copyright 2019 by ASAE. PREPARING FOR WHAT’S An AMC allows an association to be agile and flexible—and makes its path toward a NEXT brighter future easier to navigate. 3|ASSOCIATIONS NOW SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019 By Allison Torres Burtka AMCs help associations figure out what associations assess which products As associations they should change and how to go about and services will better engage it. They offer experience and expertise members. that would be difficult for any single “Ten to 20 years ago, it was easy to consider how to association to replicate alone. send out renewals, and people would An AMC “has its own internal pay because they wanted to belong to think tank, where we are able to an organization, and there were less benchmark and conduct general data questions asked,” says David Casalod, stay relevant, many collection across all of our groups, to CEO of Status Plus. “Now, every single look at trends” and what possibilities member says, ‘OK, what’s in it for me? those trends offer to associations, says What can I get out of the association?’” are finding that the Marilyn Jansen, executive director of People are looking for opportuni- business development at Association ties to advance their careers through Management Center. education,training, and networking— The company works with 31 member and these demands have “fundamen- old model doesn’t associations and draws from experience tally changed how associations are with all of them, Jansen says. The AMC responsive to the needs of members,” also houses a wealth of knowledge— says Iris. Traditional revenue streams cut it anymore. experts on operations, membership, are rapidly evolving to include com- marketing, advocacy, technology, and munity engagement, online and on- education, for example—under one roof. demand learning, and access to industry In that setting, “you have a lot of experi- expertise and best practices. They may need ence, brain power, and innovation,” she Casalod says his AMC noticed that says. members were using fewer of their “AMCs are in some ways the ulti- available membership benefits. So, for to step into mate shared economy,” says Susan Iris, one of its association clients, it imple- partner at Navigate Strategies. AMCs mented a lower base fee, allowing offer “flexibility and scalability along members to build their own member- with innovation, so they can really cre- ship based on what they want—such as unfamiliar ate turnkey solutions for associations— journal subscriptions, free or reduced- as they need them—and help associa- fee access to online platforms, and tions assess which ones will be the most webinars. territory, and that effective,” she says. “For us, the challenge is to guide The business acumen AMCs bring that process and find the right tools to to the table “allows the business of the implement the changing membership association to operate at peak effi- structure as it becomes more dynamic,” can be daunting. ciency,” Iris says. he says. As part of the process, Jansen says, “business analysts and innovation SCALABILITY specialists look carefully at the orga- AMCs can scale their resources— nization to determine: What kind of including time, money, and talent—to business process do we need to have in respond to associations’ changing place? And then what sort of technology needs. “It’s hard for a single associa- solution would couple with that?” tion to move with the same fluidity that AMCs can,” Iris says. WHAT MEMBERS WANT This scalability may include an One common challenge for associations association’s international expansion. is the evolving membership model. It Casalod says Status Plus manages several used to be that “there was one game international organizations and has in town, and that was the association,” helped focus their efforts on a country Jansen says. Now, people have more or a region as they expand—includ- resources at their disposal, and “they’re ing understanding local cultures, what not as inclined to think, ‘I have to join structures already exist in other coun- XYZ association and become a member tries, and what links or networks can be to get this information.’” AMCs help created. 4|ASSOCIATIONS NOW SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019 AMCS ARE IN “SOME WAYS THE ULTIMATE SHARED ECONOMY —SUSAN IRIS, NAVIGATE” STRATEGIES BIG THINKING Overall, AMCs allow associations to think big and long-term. Doing so can help associations “make sure they are not only relevant to members, but also important to their success—that they deliver a unique value that members can’t really get anywhere else,” Iris says. Read More Many associations are starting to “look at their future selves with a startup mental- Online ity,” Iris says. “If we had to build it tomorrow, what would we look like? Who would be our competitors?” This approach helps associations be proactive and not just reactive. READ THESE STORIES AND MORE AT But change can be scary. “I always approach it with: ‘Change always hurts a little ASSOCIATIONSNOW.COM bit,’” Casalod says, but not changing often is riskier than changing. AND ASAECENTER.ORG For an association considering an AMC model, Jansen recommends engaging a • “AMCs Solve Cost Challenges,” by Emily Bratcher, August 13, 2018 consultant who understands the pros and cons of the model. “The AMC model is not a fit for every association, but it can be a perfect fit for a significant number of groups • “Special Report: 20/20 Foresight,” by Mark Athitakis and Tim Ebner, that sometimes don’t even know the model exists,” she says. February 1, 2018 • “The Association of the Future Is Allison Torres Burtka, a longtime association journalist, is a freelance writer and Diligent,” By Karla Taylor, August 21, editor in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Email: [email protected] 2017 ASSOCIATIONS NOW SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019|5 STAFFING THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE As baby boomers retire and millennials and Gen Z step in, AMCs are helping to train the next generation of association professionals. By Christine Umbrell 6|ASSOCIATIONS NOW SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019 STAFFING THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE ASSOCIATIONS NOW SUPPLEMENT 7-8/2019|7 Given record low unemployment rates Enter the AMC solution: When an AMC provides staffing and the graying of the baby boomer for a smaller association, the loss of one employee is less population, today’s associations are problematic. Because AMCs generally have multiple staff being challenged by high workforce members with specific skill sets working with an associa- turnover and a need to train new staff tion, it is similar to having a large staff—and easier to suc- members in the nuances of association cessfully navigate a staffing transition. management quickly and efficiently. In this climate, some associations— TRAINING GEN Z particularly small and medium-sized By 2020, Gen Z workers are expected to comprise 36 per- organizations—are finding positive cent of the global workforce, according to CNBC. Fortu- results in partnering with AMCs.