Acronym

I asked three incoming chairs to share with me the top three things facing associations (and ASAE & The Center as one of them) as they look to the year ahead.

From Dina Lewis, president of Distilled Logic and incoming chair of the Technology Section Council:

- Mobile delivery of content and information to our members and stakeholders.

- Usability of websites, constantly getting feedback from members on web usability and using that to enhance the online experience of our members.

- Getting better about using member data to determine how our members want to engage with us, and to meet them where they are.

Tony Ellis, director of education and incoming chair of the Professional Development Section Council:

- Learning to repurpose content in ways that are meaningful to members. Technology is enabling many new ways for associations to capture content and add value to the programs we produce.

- Restructuring around economic realities. People have fewer resources and less time; we need to learn what our members value and find ways to deliver it.

- Keeping up with the pace of change. How we interact with our members and how they expect us to interact is changing so much faster than it used to. Just keeping up with what member needs are is incredibly important for associations.

Don Dea, cofounder of Fusion Productions and incoming chair of the Membership Section Council:

Don had one major point with two key points underlying it.

The major point: uncertainty. We have moved from a time of relative certainty to a time when technology, the economy, and even political stability have produced a unique point in history that is defined by uncertainty.

For associations this means two things:

- Reinventing member value. Memberships are down, as is attendance. It's a fact that associations need to reassess what they do to reflect new value.

- New membership models will emerge. How people are interacting with each other -- associating-- is changing. The economy is only serving as an accelerating factor, but it was happening anyway. We need to quickly jump in front of that curve, and be prepared to adopt the models that make sense in this new world.