Why an AMC is a great place for the young association professional
Opening up my email early on a Monday morning, I see my conference chairs have decided they would like to add a live Twitter feed stream at our conference. Not having done this before, this could easily make for the start of a very bad day, but luckily I work at an association management company (AMC) and recalled having a lunchroom conversation with a coworker about their client adding the very same thing to their meeting. Instead of dread, I just head down the hallway to my coworkers office to discuss the details of this project.
If you would have asked me what an association management company was five years ago, I would have just stared blankly back at you. Little did I know then, an AMC would be the single greatest influencer of my professional career and has prepared me for my role as associate executive director in ways only an AMC could offer.
To start, the AMC model provides associations with executive leadership, specialists, and professional services. My AMC is structured in a way that each client has its own staff, and the support services (such as IT, web, accounting, HR, etc) are shared among the clients. Now, you may be asking what makes an AMC so much better for young association professionals (YAPs)? Well first, I'm not saying an AMC is better for the association, I'm saying different. I'm not making any judgment calls on what type of structure is better for an association's members or their mission. What I am saying is AMC's can give YAPs a unique experience.
What type of experiences? For starters, how about having a mini-ASAE in your office? As I mentioned in the story above, instead of one membership or education department, imagine having access to 10, 15, or more people doing a similar job, just a few feet from your desk. It only takes a few conversations to track down a person who can show you how their client handled a similar new project your volunteer leadership has thrown at you. This becomes especially useful when you are located outside of the DC/Chicago markets. As someone located in the tropical paradise (if I wish enough it might come true) of Milwaukee, Wis., the pool of people working in association management is a tad smaller.
AMCs also offer you a window into multiple organizations at the same time. Unlike a stand-alone, you are exposed to a wide variety of organizational cultures that range from formal and business-like to some that seem to be more of an extended family. Having this exposure allows you to learn what type of organization culture fits you without having to jump jobs.
Finally, for YAPs, payment comes in many forms, the first of which is experience to put on your résumé. AMCs afford you a great opportunity to gain broad experience in a relatively short amount of time. Although I have technically only worked for one client my entire time at my current AMC, I have had the opportunity to work on cross-team projects with a number of internal groups and attend other client's annual conferences.
These are the main reasons I feel my experience working at an AMC has been a valuable asset to my career, but as I'm still in the beginning stages of my career, I would be interested in hearing from others as to what about their first job in association management made a lasting impact.
Benjamin H. Butz, MPA, is associate executive director of the American Association of Medical Society Executives, a client of the association management firm Executive Directors, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wis. He is a graduate of the inaugural class of the ASAE Leadership Academy.
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Comments
My first job in association management has lasted 9 years. Not very common for someone on the cusp of Gen Y and Gen X from what I hear. Why have I stayed? My position allows me to work in a team-oriented work environment, where I have encountered several mentors in my office with various areas of expertise. Learning from these colleagues has been invaluable and has added immensely to my own skillset. I am challenged everyday. Projects have been handed off to me where initially, I had no idea how to proceed but I was trusted to research solutions on my own and execute as I saw best fit - and most often with great success. This led to a feeling of empowerment and self confidence that I could not imagine gaining in another career. Association management requires a gathering of creative minds where great ideas can come from any level and innovation is championed. What a wonderful industry to work in as an emerging professional - mentorship, ownership, empowerment and innovative thinking all wrapped into one.
Posted by: Katie Johnson, Director of Student and Emerging Professional Programs, ASID | February 28, 2011 6:16 PM
great insight, in addition to the toolkit you all helped put together Ben! Wish I could have started my association path with an AMCs for many of the advantageous reasons listed in your post. Well done!
Posted by: Conor McNulty | March 1, 2011 10:53 AM
@Katie - I think you brought up a great point about experience. I, like you, was very lucky to have some great mentors early in my career. They trusted me with many projects that were most likely above my pay grade! For me those experiences were WAY more valuable then any just compensation alone. I think some in our generation get too caught up in the dollars signs instead of focusing on building a strong skill set so you are prepared when an opportunity to advance presents itself.
@Conor Thanks! It took a lot of work from everyone in our group to put the toolkit together, but we are all very happy with the finished project!
Posted by: Ben Butz | March 1, 2011 3:24 PM
Keep in mind, though, that when you work for an AMC you do not work for the association. You can only do for the association what it pays for and what your supervisor at the AMC tells you to do.
That's a very different model than a free-standing association. So, when you leave the AMC and go to an association you'll have to change the way you think and act.
If you are the Executive Director of an association, you work directly for the Board. You are the CEO. At an AMC you have a supervisor and your power and authority are limited.
So, while you may like the AMC way of doing things, realize it is not the way most associations operate.
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | March 1, 2011 4:13 PM
@David Working for an AMC, you do have a supervisor, which is a huge asset. Someone built in to bounce ideas off and hold you accountable. Similar to the Board Chair, but a different type of mentorship. And you are correct, if you leave an AMC and go work for a stand-alone association, you will definitely just have to change the way you think. Much in the way you would have to change the way you think if you moved from working for an association of home builders to an association of physicians.
Power and authority aren't as important to me as collaboration and being surrounded by a network of my peers.
Posted by: Rebecca Brandt | March 2, 2011 8:34 PM
This is a rebuttal to David Pratt's comments about "for whom you work." In an AMC you don't work for the board, you work for the AMC...
These are irrelevant distinctions, unless someone is not doing their job -- including an over-reaching board member. The whole point of an AMC is to take the focus off the resources and the people and focus attention on results and outcomes.
Don't get me wrong - people are critical and important regardless the model. But being concerned about who works for whom is a complete distraction whether we're talking about a standalone situation or an AMC. The focus should be on principles like: honesty, integrity, effective communication, taking shared responsibility for the right outcomes, yes, perhaps even "mom and apple pie!"
When clients may an issue out of who works for whom, AMC staff should constructively guide the focus and attention on the organization's results everyone is committed to and working towards and away from "command and control" relationships.
Posted by: Michael LoBue, CAE | March 11, 2011 7:33 PM