by Marilyn Bier, CAE, KCSAE Allied Director
It’s not always easy to practice what you preach! But as an ‘association for associations,' it is important for KCSAE to continue to do our best to provide value to our members and be guided by an ever-evolving strategic plan. In the last KCSAE board meeting, there were several topics of discussion that sounded very much like what many of you probably have within your organizations.
For instance, you have been reading about the changes KCSAE made this past year to create more targeted networking opportunities for emerging professionals, advanced professionals, CEOs, and for those most interested in membership. Within KCSAE, these groups are known as SIGs, or Special Interest Groups. Discussion on the best way to promote those led us to a belief shared by most that we need to keep talking about the newly formed groups and promote them. By now, you have seen several notifications about the networking sessions that occurred in November. Stay tuned, participate and please give your feedback as there are more sessions coming your way. Also, make use of the online discussion groups that are now segmented by the special interest groups. The board also spent time discussing how to evaluate newly formed SIGs to make sure they are hitting the mark in terms of value. We welcome input and need that to make sure they are working for you. Feel free to contact any board member or our Executive Director with your thoughts, suggestions, and recommendations.
Keeping a strategic plan alive and changing is what we know as a best practice in association management. Yet, giving attention to that plan at each board meeting can be challenging. It takes discipline and willingness to be flexible if the plan is truly going to guide the actions of any organization. At KCSAE, the document KCSAE Strategic Priorities 2014 – 2016 has been a part of every agenda since I joined the board over a year ago. Because of the diligence of previous boards and continuing with your current board, that strategic focus remains front and center to discussions driving the actions of the KCSAE board. Much of the 2014 – 2016 plan has been accomplished. Currently, the board is tackling how to revise that strategy to reflect the evolving needs of our members. Again, stay tuned for more information on that in the coming months as work progresses and stand ready to offer your brilliant insights as members! We all know that is key to a sound, on-target plan.
Finally, what a coincidence that the topic for the November educational sessions was “Navigating through Change." It was a reminder to all of us that the only constant is change! I guess in this instance, KCSAE is actually walking through our own changes to the programming we hope will provide more value. An underlying component of success to any change, new programming, or strategic focus is communication. Let’s all pledge our commitment to walk the talk of sharing information and giving feedback to continue with our mission of “…creating an association management community for its members that advances their careers through education, professional development and networking.”