Membership, Marketing & Communications Conference

2022 Education Sessions

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6

Opening Session (1:30 - 2:30 PM)

Value Proposition is Your Best Sales Pitch to Grow Membership
Melynn Sight, President, nSight Marketing
The choice to buy from or engage with your association happens when your prospect or current member is persuaded that they are better with you than without you. Everyone in business has something to sell, and your members have choices. How do you influence them to choose you? It’s not enough to have a good product or service, or to have confidence in your brand. Today’s leaders consider their value proposition a critical tool to get clarity around why they exist and why it should matter to their most important customers. To persuade prospects to consider you, and to turn member indifference into interest, get laser focused on discovering what they worry about, formulate the words that explain why you are the best solution, and then deliver moments that show them that you deliver on it. You’ll view your own business differently when you can unify around what a member can expect from you. This is how to strengthen your brand and win over those people you most want to convince.

Concurrent Education Sessions (3:00 – 4:00 PM)

Roundtable with the Keynote Speaker
Melynn Sight, President, nSight Marketing
Ask Melynn questions, get more context that applies to your organization, and further explore how you can begin the process of discovering your own unique value proposition. If you’re looking to solidify the key reasons you matter to your members, this process is for you. And if you want to take it a step further and actually discover the message, you’ll have a proven set of steps to follow.

Engage Your Volunteers
Christy Reynolds, Membership Coordinator, Texas Library Association
Beth Arritt, Association Evangelist, Higher Logic
In this session you will explore how to attain, maintain and retain volunteer leaders from your association’s membership. We will explore different online communication platforms and resources to offer your volunteer officers or committee members of your association.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7

General Session (8:30 - 9:30 AM)

Break Through the Noise: Your Association’s Message Matters
Dave Shaw, President & Lead Brand Strategist, Arrow
We all experience information overload. But as communications professionals, our job is to break through the clutter. From members and sponsors to prospective members and even our internal teams, a compelling message delivered through the right channel will make all the difference. This session will cover what makes a message effective, strengths and weaknesses of various marketing channels, and how to align audience, message, and channel so messages break through. In hands-on, interactive breakout groups, participants will then have the opportunity to apply the concepts we cover as they review and refine elements of their association’s’ message platform, assess audiences, and think through their available channels to determine the best way to break through the clutter.

Concurrent Education Sessions (9:45 – 10:45 AM)

Say Goodbye to Being a LinkedIn Wallflower
Amanda Beck, Director, Business Marketing, Brand and Marketing
LinkedIn is known as the professional social media network. What started as a place to build a virtual resume has become a thriving global community of more than 500 million professionals.

Two decades after its founding, LinkedIn is now a dynamic platform where professionals make connections with each other, share ideas and insights about their industries, and present holistic pictures of their professional selves.

Whether you log in daily or haven’t checked in since creating a profile 10 years ago, learn how to get the most value out of your presence on LinkedIn. This interactive presentation will cover how to engage on the platform by:

Tapping into industry thought leadership
Contributing to meaningful conversations
Building your online professional community

From Recruitment to Retention– What the Membership Experience Means for Your Organization
Angela Brutsche, Vice President of Communications & Marketing
Tambra Garcia, Membership and Marketing Manager, Texas Podiatric Medical Association
Donna M. Eberhart, Membership and Marketing Manager, Texas Veterinary Medical Association
Maintaining relevance requires the ability to attract newcomers while meeting the needs of existing members. How do we make the most of each touchpoint in the membership journey even when competing priorities take shape? Join us in discussing effective strategies in recruiting, engaging, and retaining members during this interactive session designed to address challenges and reveal new insights. A panel of membership and communications professionals with a broad range of experience will share best practices and lessons learned to help you succeed in today’s complex environment.

Concurrent Education Sessions (11:00 - 12:00 AM)

Delight Your Members
Jake Fisher, Co-Founder/President, Bridges Revenue Growth Agency
In this presentation, we dive into what it means to delight someone.

What is the recipe for delighting members?
Why would we even want to include a delight element in our overall member offerings?
How does delight play a part in the overall value that member-based organizations deliver to their members?
We will look at multiple examples of how organizations (such as NBA teams) delight their season ticket members.

Attendees will walk away with some concrete ways that they can consistently delight their members.

Thoughts on Data Driven Conversions – the Journey from Anonymous Prospect to Delighted Member
Beth Arritt, Association Evangelist, Higher Logic
New members are more critical than ever in the era of The Great Resignation. So how can you find the new players in the game, and even track down members who have moved on and failed to update you? Learn practical techniques you can use and automate for increasing both members and non-dues revenue.

Concurrent Education Sessions (1:00 – 2:00 PM)

Content IS King! Selling Your Association and Your Events through Content Marketing
Lori Gracey, CAE, Executive Director, TCEA
If you ask your members why they joined your association or why they attended one of your events, they might say it was for the networking or the great location. But what really keeps them coming back year after year is the content: the resources, ideas, and tips and tricks they get from you and other members to make their jobs easier, save them time, or keep them up to date in their field. Join this interactive session as we take existing approaches to “selling” association membership or events and see how to make them more impactful through a content focus. Discover how even a small staff can provide enough meaningful content to turn non-members into fans. Bring your own examples and let’s make them more powerful together!

Don’t Ignore 60 Million People: 10 Ways to Improve Your Website Accessibility
Stephen Tidmore, Vice President, Technology at Mighty Citizen
Creating an accessible website is easier than you think and it’s a smart business decision. But mostly, it’s the right thing to do. In this dive into creating accessible websites, we’ll explore the principles and practices that produce accessible online experiences, including creating content and code for all audiences. Full of examples and given by a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competency (CPACC), this session will help make your website accessible once and for all. Built for anyone who manages websites or web content (not just web developers), you’ll learn how to create content and code to keep you compliant with current law and serve the nearly 60 million Americans living with a disability.

Beyond the Checkbox: The New Reality of True Inclusion & Belonging
Leslie Wingo, President and CEO, Sanders/Wingo
Checking boxes is a simple, efficient, and easy way to quickly make a decision about people and organizations. We have all seen the typical qualifying questions: income level, age, race, zip code, and preferred language. In the digital age, there has never been a better way to gather a ton of information to determine if a person is dateable, belongs in an organization, aligns with the business culture, etc. Today will explore how to cause meaningful change when we move past checking boxes and create new opportunities for our organizations.

Concurrent Education Sessions (2:15 – 3:15 PM)

Feeding the Content Beast
Kate Johanns, ATPE Marketing & Communications Director
Every new social media platform and marketing tool brings new opportunities to connect and engage with members … but each additional channel also means additional work. How can the dedicated association marcom professional cope? Join your colleagues for an honest roundtable discussion to discuss ideas and strategies for keeping the content beast fed without letting it eat you.

Ethical Dilemmas: Membership & Communications Edition
Taylor Jackson, CAE, MPA, CEO, Home Builders Association of Greater Austin
We don’t always talk about the nuanced ethical dilemmas impacting membership and communications practices. Association professionals should actively dialogue about ethical issues and the process for addressing them. Following a process will also demonstrate to your members, co-workers, and stakeholders that your organization takes accountability seriously and provides confidence in the staff and board roles of the association. Join us for an interactive, that will explore some scenario-based ethical dilemmas you may face.

CAE Hours: 7