The Challenge:
Motivating the media and the state legislature to call upon the state associations for expert resources
Committed to helping foster the recognition and respect of the association management profession, AENC realized only a few member organizations had maintained productive relationships with the media and legislature…while many many more had not. Due to the revolving door of leadership, advanced communication methods, and the lack of funding to outsource certain functional responsibilities – AENC felt the need to step in and help. They needed to communicate the perception (which was an unrealized reality) that the association profession has influence and are considered the subject matter experts of the businesses and industries they serve.
The Approach:
In a MOVE workshop environment, I worked with several member organizations to outline the exact perception desired and developed the messaging around it.
To be successful, the team knew it was critical to respond to all barriers and negative perceptions.
During the 2-day workshop they learned more about their target audiences, the needs of the membership, and strategically positioned the association profession with segmented target markets and influencers.
On the 3rd day I met with the AENC Executive Director to document the organizations marketing materials and determine what was working…what was not, what was missing, and what should be eliminated.
The Results:
I delivered a whitepaper document summarizing the 2-day workshop and detailing directional plans for prioritizing existing and future resources; what needed to be done for AENC and member organizations to make the case for the profession at the highest level.
AENC received the roadmap for building the association professional desired perception of having influence and being considered the subject matter experts of the businesses and industries they serve.
Lea-Ann guided our organization down a path that helped us understand our value proposition, better than even some strategic planners we’ve used before, and helped us develop clear and well thought out messaging that we can take to our key audiences. We learned a lot about our organization during this process.