By Jason Logan
President-Elect, ISES Orlando
As the new year of ISES begins, our chapter is faced with new opportunities, but also considerable challenges. The biggest challenge we face right now is membership retention. I don’t believe that this problem solely belongs to ISES Orlando. It seems to be a recurring challenge for many other association chapters as well.
Looking back over the past couple of years, I tried to figure out what the overarching factor was in why our chapter membership numbers have been decreasing. While the economy is an obvious reason for many event professionals to leave their memberships behind, I wanted to dig deeper and look at our own chapter.
For the past 3 years, our board of directors has conducted the “No Member Left Behind” survey to see how we could best serve the membership. We heard what the membership was saying and we tried to implement their needs and wants into our chapter meetings. Education and networking were the two most popular requests as a result of our survey last year. So, our programs and education team worked hard to deliver an equal portion of both education and networking in our programming.
Problem solved? Hardly.
While we were paying attention and giving our members what they want, it seems to have not created the overall impact that we were hoping for: to keep existing members and to gain new ones.
I began to dig even deeper into the situation. I asked leaders of other ISES chapters what they were noticing in their own memberships. I read articles about membership attrition and the reasons why people join, and then leave organizations. One of the articles that I came across was a blog post from Jeffery Saltzman. He seemed to have a lead on the subject. Here is an excerpt from his blog…
The notion that people join organizations and leave bosses tends to be an overly simplistic depiction of the complexities of why people join and leave organizations. After years and years of research and literally hundreds of articles and books published on the topic, there is no mystery regarding what people around the world want out of a job experience or a career. And while you can spend your time searching and highlighting the minutia that indicates differences, perhaps driven by your research design, the bottom line is that people at work, humans, are more the same than we are different, and I don’t care if we are talking about generational differences, gender, ethnicity or perceived geographic differences. And while there are as many ways to state it as there are researchers to describe it, the fundamental underlying characteristics of what people want include:
- A clear and compelling message or reason regarding what the organization is about, why it exists, what it stands for, what it hopes to accomplish and knowledge of how each individual person within it can support it in a meaningful fashion. In other words, give me a compelling reason for belonging; make it desirable for me to join up.
- Performance enablement – providing individuals within the organization what’s needed to accomplish their tasks in a way that creates pride. Align those tasks to the compelling message. In other words, make me feel like what I do is important in the organization’s mission. Additionally important to enablement is:
- Working for a management team that is effective, trustworthy, ethical (warning: people’s definition of ethics is dependent on their role in the organization), makes individuals feel valued and accepted, and puts sensible business processes in place, positioning the organization well within its markets and industry, whatever those may be.
- Create a sense of future – give me compelling reasons to stick around such as:
· Fair and respectful treatment – the equity equation – you get out what you consider to be fair for what you put in, covering pay, benefits, recognition, rewards and advancement as well as being treated in a respectful and dignified fashion
· The ability to stay current in your skills and to develop new skills.
I know that each event professional sits down at the end of the year and analyzes his or her expenses and determines what stays and what goes. That is part of being a responsible business owner. The question of how much your membership brings you value is surely part of the analysis. But the true value of your ISES membership is what you put into the organization.
While attending EventWorld a few years ago, one of the attendees made a statement that has remained with me ever since. It occurred during a discussion between two very well respected event professionals. They were talking about the economy and how it had affected their business over the past year. One of them said that he might not be able to afford to renew membership in the coming year. The conversation volleyed back and forth for a few minutes. The other professional made the final statement by saying…”You say you may not be able to afford your membership this year… well I am in the same boat as you are, and I can’t afford not to have my membership”.
This struck me right between the eyes. That statement was so true for me as well. I am a small business owner and I struggle just like anyone else. I thought about the $399.00 a year that I spend on my membership. I thought about the $420.00 I spend annually on monthly meetings, plus all of the other expenses I put forth to attend industry conferences. I thought about the countless hours I dedicate to this chapter by being on the board of directors, and thought, man that is a lot of money that could go back into the bottom line. I started to agree with the guy who was debating on not renewing. But then, I started to think about what this chapter is about, and what this organization is all about…
Vision
Dedicated and Educated to Deliver Creative Excellence and Professionalism in Special Events.
Mission
The Mission of ISES is to educate, advance and promote the special events industry and its network of professionals along with related industries.
To that end, we strive to…
- Uphold the integrity of the special events profession to the general public through our "Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics"
- Acquire and disseminate useful business information
- Foster a spirit of cooperation among its members and other special events professionals, and…
- Cultivate high standards of business practices.
There it was. Nowhere did it say I was guaranteed business from other ISES members. Nowhere does it say that my market share would increase due to my membership. What it does say in a nutshell, is that I will be a better Special Event Professional and I will do my job ethically and with integrity.
Some people may not think that is enough to join an organization like ISES, but membership does have its privileges. Here are just some of the things you get from becoming an ISES member…
Membership in ISES will entitle you to member benefits and Internet access to ISES resources that non-members don't get.
· Professional Development and Education
· Subscription to Special Events Magazine
· Unlimited use of ISES' Online, Downloadable Membership Directory
· A listing on ISES' website and website content dedicated to the consumer to find you!
· Special Member Discounts and Access to Affinity Programs
The Affinity Programs include discounts from these companies:
· The Wall Street Journal
· Staples
· Shaker Group Inc.
· Quicken
· Microsoft Office Live Small Business
· Franklin Covey
· FedEx Kinko’s
· Budget Truck Rental
· Alamo
· Adobe
The perks listed above are all great reasons to join ISES. We have all heard the stories of how the FedEx Kinko’s discounts basically pays for most member’s memberships for the year. It truly is that great of a discount!
But what it all boils down to for me is this: my company would not be where it is today if it hadn’t been for my involvement in ISES. The people that I have met, the contacts that I have made locally and out of state, and the places I had the opportunity to perform have all come because of my affiliation with this prestigious and valuable organization.
Whether you are an existing member, new member, or someone sitting on the fence, I challenge you to do this. Give ISES a try and get involved. Join a committee. Become a chapter leader. Write an article for our newsletter. Network at our meetings. Sponsor a product or service for one of our events. These are the best ways to get what you are looking for out of your ISES Membership. I hope to see your name on our membership roster this year!
