Acronym

Being an AMC exec is a little different from being a direct employee of an association. I serve as executive director, president, or administrator for a total of 11 entities, with three more in the works. Thank goodness for my amazing team. I have staff focused on accounting, membership, programs and events, and communications. With their help I can focus on my role of working with boards – a role I truly love.

My clients are diverse for sure. We have entrepreneurs, oncologists, psychiatrists, community leaders, dancers, carwashers, Parliamentarians, and more. The good news, however, is that all of our clients need the same services. So we focus our energy on continually refining our systems and adding value. When you do that, the differences are less important than the similarities.

But there are a few practical issues, not the least of which is business cards. When people ask me for a card, they are not impressed if I fumble through my stack looking for the right one. I know some folks wonder – “Is she some sort of con artist?” Finally I invested in a nice, red metal snap case with seven pockets. That is not enough for each group to have their own pocket, but some co-habitation in the pockets is allowed. For me it is a solution, though it won’t hold too many of any one card. So when I am headed out to a psychiatric conference, for example, I fill a compartment in my purse with my psychiatry cards.

Another frustration is that just managing a professional association does not necessarily mean that I am deeply knowledgeable about the professions I serve. So while I know much more about carwashing, psychiatry, oncology, and Roberts’ Rules of Order than the average person on the street, I am not an expert in any of those fields. I have to content myself to be forever the “master of none.”

I think in order to be a good AMC person, you have to live in the moment and be totally consumed by what you are doing at any given time. Some days I ask myself – who am I today? I have to say I love having a choice and the opportunity to be someone different today than I was yesterday. But you also have to take time to plan and to readjust priorities.