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Thom Singer is an executive search consultant with Stanton Chase International, a professional speaker and master of ceremonies who works with associations and companies to help them maximize the human connection side of business. Building your network -- your connections to people -- is crucial because nearly all opportunities in life and work come from people. With the massive changes and challenges in 2020, many associations are reflecting on how those were handled and thinking maybe it's time to grow with new leadership. Association members are looking for safety, they want to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel because many industries are facing economic hardship; they're looking for change, that human connection, and if you're not providing it they will look elsewhere for it. Connections from the past will be vastly different than connections moving forward with new technology tools, apps, software and virtual events playing a major role. During a pandemic of isolation and loneliness, associations have to be proactive in bringing people together digitally and physically — they need to take ownership of that and show their membership what they can do. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2021 Mary Byers

Thomas Altman and Dray McFarlane are co-founders of Tasio, an organization using cutting edge AI technology in the association arena to predict who will renew a membership and who will not. Using the same tools that give us targeted ads on Facebook, suggested purchases on Amazon, recommended movies on Netflix and even predictive text on your phone, Tasio uses machine learning to target the challenges associations face by leveraging the data that is already being collected. This technology allows associations to create effective, low-cost engagement strategies for boosting membership renewal, retention and revenue. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2021 Mary Byers

Paul Bellantone, President and CEO of the Promotional Products Association International, is one of the few association professionals I know who has actually taken a sabbatical -- something we often associate with clergy and professors. After 20 years working for PPAI (over 7 years in his current role) Paul presented his board with the idea of a 3 month unpaid respite from traveling and running the organization. The board offered him 2 months off with pay instead and his adventure began. We talk about ... What he did with his time off (you might be surprised!) The elements that had to be in place in order for him to step away The relationship of trust that allowed his board to be receptive and him to be comfortable leaving for an extended period of time The boundaries he put in place while away How knowing he's replaceable relieved the pressure he had imposed on himself Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Dave Will is a long time association professional who works with associations as a technology entrepreneur. His first company, Peach New Media, developed a learning management system called Freestone and he's currently working on new technology called Prop Fuel that helps associations capture the voice of the member to improve member engagement with feedback and sentiment analysis. While member engagement is far from new to the market, feedback automation strategy is a new and innovative approach that captures the sentiment around a member at a given point along the member journey. Most associations focus on transactional behavioral data, but that tells us nothing about why somebody is doing what they're doing. Dave shares why it's so important to incorporate sentiment data into our decision making. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Jay Daughtry, Chief Communications Officer/Owner of CQbd, is an independent consultant working directly with associations and technology companies that provide products and services to associations. In the summer of 2020 he launched the Association Initiative on Small Improvement. He started the initiative after finding that during the pandemic associations seemed to be paralyzed in making decisions and moving forward. The Initiative's mission is to help associations focus on smaller kinds of things -- things they can control -- over the big picture things that cannot be controlled. Starting with a diverse group of five associations, Jay lead them through a guided process to focus on specific areas like websites, member support, constituent support and programs, making decisions more manageable. All of these small improvements together help organizations identify cost savings, increase revenue, improving efficiencies and member experience. Listen in as Jay shares what he's been learning that could be helpful to your organization. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Jamie Notter is an author and Culture Designer at Prosper (formerly Human Workplaces) where he helps leaders drive growth and engagement by aligning workplace culture with success. In this episode we're talking about culture and innovation and the role that culture plays in innovation because while a lot of organizations love the ideas behind innovation — creativity and future focus — they don't know how to support the practices like taking risks, running experiments on a scale we can learn from and allowing permission to hack. One of the first culture patterns he noticed in looking at the aggregate data was around innovation where he found that while the concepts are valued, the practices are not. So we must start with having real conversations about creating an organization where experimentation is expected and valued. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Morag Barrett is the author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships and The Future-Proof Workplace and a sought after keynote speaker. She is also the founder of Skye Team, an international executive development company that has supported the development of more than 7,000 leaders in 20 countries across 6 continents. Her secret to success is that business is personal and relationships matter. Morag shares her advice for professionals who are managing a remote team in the era of COVID-19. It's more than connecting on the business side, we also need to connect on the human side or the business side will never become a reality. She has identified four critical questions we're asking ourselves -- consciously or unconsciously -- in every interaction. And when we're not paying attention to those four questions, the gaps are going to widen and those cracks and fissures will undermine all of our success if we're not feeling a sense of team and that we're in this together. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

JT Forbes is the executive director of the Alumni Association at Indiana University. At the start of his tenure some referred to their membership as a "leaky bucket" -- retention rates were not what they expected them to be compared to the actual alumni population. JT took on the challenge of going out and listening to alumni, trying to understand what wasn't working so the association could improve the member experience. Doing some empathy research and design thinking exercises led to a new way of framing membership at Indiana University's Alumni Association. The result? Members now have a shared cause of making the university stronger and helping other alumni, and now the Alumni Association can focus on proud members, building those relationships and creating journeys for them. Listen in as Mary talks with JT about how he led this initiative and the new membership model they created. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Garth Jordan is the CEO of the American Animal Hospital Association and in this episode we're talking about business models and revenue for associations, something that is certainly top of mind for today's association professionals. -- What should we be thinking about when it comes to replacing lost revenue right now? -- Why do associations need to start thinking and acting more holistically about their business model? -- As associations pivot and change their focus, what challenges or obstacles often come up? -- How can we take what we've learned over the last 4 months, take the best of that, and make it part of our culture? Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Robbie Kellman Baxter, author of The Forever Transaction, joins Mary for a discussion about subscription memberships, including identifying your value proposition and testing the refining the offer. They cover aligning organizational goals and membership goals; what associations are uniquely qualified to offer that others aren't and why experimenting is such an integral aspect of associations today. Robbie is also the author of The Membership Economy and she shares what she's learned from Silicon Valley that it beneficial to associations today. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Stephen Shapiro has presented his perspectives on innovation to audiences in over 50 countries and is the author of six books including his latest title "Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems". He says the biggest mistake an organization can make when it comes to innovation is believing they need to come up with lots and lots of ideas — but all that does is create wasted energy. What we really need to do is spend more time thinking about the problem. What's the question? What's the opportunity? What's the issue? That's the challenge. We talk about "challenge centered innovation" as opposed to "idea centered innovation" and how associations can use well-framed questions to create the greatest level of value for their organization. Stephen also shares his five step process for harnessing and even capitalizing on what's happening now with virtual events and meetings, and the opportunity to transform how we gather people, how we connect them and how we help them do their best work without being face-to-face in the same room or location. Visit https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Joe Calloway is a leading performance expert who helps great companies get even better. He is the author of six books including "Be the Best at What Matters Most". In this episode we're talking about how organizations can create value in the midst of chaos and welcome innovation. Joe says 90% of all truly useful innovation is adaptive innovation and everybody can do this. He shares how we can listen better, pay attention and then adapt—letting members lead the association where it needs to go or pivot. The goal of innovation should always be creating value, staying relevant by being the best at what you do. We also talked about the biggest mistakes organization make when it comes to innovation and how innovation has changed in the last decade. So much good information here as we move forward in 2020! Visit: https://www.marybyers.com/contact/ for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Andy Bailey is founder and head coach at Petra Coach, where he and his team of entrepreneurial business coaches deploy their no BS approach to inspire, transform and scale organizations. Andy shares some of the same strategies he has used to transform his own businesses and those of his clients which can help associations as they plan for the future ahead. Innovation, iteration and evolution - always be 18 months ahead Recurring revenue models "Brute force" leadership will only get you so far Define your battlefield so you can move from where you are to where you want to be - offense and defense Don't drag the past into the future For free access to a variety of tools including content, workshops and webinars visit https://petracoach.com/the-vault Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Chris West is CEO of Video Narrative, a company that specializes in helping organizations grow through an effective brand story In this episode he is sharing his vision for what association meetings can look like in the next normal we are all creating together. This year can be a great case study experiment in creating and monetizing virtual meetings and events if organizations use the current situation as an opportunity to transform the way they've always done things -- not just for this year, but in years ahead. Chris shares the best models for moving to virtual events this year and how those can morph into a hybrid event next year with live and virtual attendance -- and the benefits of doing that. Also, how to monetize virtual content with a subscription model for non-members that can provide revenue to help build a stronger value proposition for members. Listen in for some innovative ideas and case studies to help your organization be successful as we move through the rest of 2020 and beyond. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

In this episode I'm joined by Arianna Rehak, CEO of Matchbox Virtual Media and Amanda Kaiser, Member Engagement Specialist at Kaiser Insights and we're talking about how you can hit it out of the park with your virtual engagements and events during the COVID-19 situation and beyond. Virtual is very different than in-person and creating a space that's engaging, interactive, intentional and easy to access by members is crucial. Here are a just a few of the topics we cover: Using chat effectively to encourage meaningful conversation How and why to use breakout sessions What it means to use "intentional design" Clever ways to monetize virtual programs How to pivot a multi-day meeting into a virtual event This episode is packed with so many great ideas, you won't want to miss it! Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Velvet Chainsaw Consulting helps associations and others improve annual meetings, conferences and education. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they're helping their clients pivot as in-person meetings are being canceled and rescheduled or moved to a virtual format. In part two of my interview with Dave Lutz, Managing Director and Sarah Michel, CSP, VP of Connexity, we're talking about creative ways to keep registration numbers up and develop virtual events that provide value, interaction and engagement for participants. The content and options that work in-person don't necessarily transfer to the virtual space, so the pivot must also include re-working things to encourage connection and participation. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

Velvet Chainsaw Consulting helps associations and others improve annual meetings, conferences and education. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they're helping their clients pivot as in-person meetings are being canceled and rescheduled or moved to a virtual format. In this episode I'm joined by Dave Lutz, Managing Director and Sarah Michel, CSP, VP of Connexity, who share with us what associations need to be thinking about when cancellation decisions have to be made, how to keep members up-to-date, and how to navigate negotiations with meeting partners. And as many associations consider moving to virtual events, Dave and Sarah share insights on how to best make that transition, the opportunities of going virtual, and how to plan memorable, engaging virtual meetings on a reduced budget. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

No grief is insignificant. Grief is grief. Large losses leave us wondering how we’ll make it. But small losses add up, too. And continual small losses, such as what we’re experiencing as a result of COVID-19,have a cumulative impact. Don’t minimize any grief you feel. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve shed tears over the last month. I’ve cried for people I don’t know who are dying alone. I’ve wept for the healthcare workers who care for them, often without the protective gear they need to keep themselves safe. I’ve shed tears over both uncertainty…and the certainty that things will be different moving forward. I despise the words “new normal,” even as I grasp how achingly accurate and descriptive they are. Yes, we’re in a new normal. But no, we don’t have to pretend we’re not sad about what’s happening, what’s changed, and what might not be. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

This episode is a love letter to associations and the work they do on behalf of members on a daily basis. As I work with association professionals who are making tough decisions and pivoting daily, what I see is that members are grateful for leadership and guidance. Once members look to you for advice and support in difficult times, they will look to you again. The result is that even as you navigate these rough waters internally, you have the opportunity to enhance your value proposition for your members externally. In addition to hearing about what associations are doing for members, I’m also hearing wonderful things about the staff members who are pivoting, innovating, and scrambling. Your work is not going unnoticed. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers

I usually have a guest discussing something noteworthy his or her association is doing. Not this time. I’m recording today in the midst of the Corona Virus. “Community” is a word we often hear in connection to associations. Frankly, that’s what associations are. Communities of commonality—accountants, engineers, researchers, physicians, and chemical distributors. There’s a word we don’t hear as often, however, and I’ve always wondered why we don’t. The word is “resilient.” Since the beginning of associating, associations have helped their members weather economic storms, market changes, technological challenges, regulatory burdens and unexpected crisis that upend business as usual. Yes, associations are about community. But they also contribute to resilience. I’ve long said that an association’s strongest value proposition comes from helping members do together what they can’t do alone. In this time of turmoil, I invite you to lean into this by asking four essential questions. Visit: MaryByers.com for links to join the conversation on our social sites. © 2020 Mary Byers