1. New dynamic committee
opportunity awaits
Understanding and improving member value
Tom Reid, DDS WDA Leadership Development
Taskforce Chair and general dentist in Madison
treid117@aol.com
Lani Becker WDA Director of Membership, Meetings and Strategic Initiatives lbecker@wda.org
Betsy Krekling WDA Member Relations Coordinator bkrekling@wda.org
The Wisconsin Dental Association
is pleased to announce the establishment
of a new dynamic committee to help
address membership with a four-pronged
approach.
TheWDAMembershipDevelopment
Committee is being described as “mem-
bership on steroids”.
The committee will be divided into
subgroups of recruitment and retention,
leadership development, membership
structure and new dentists. These are
four key areas for our membership, so it is
important to have their efforts coordinat-
ed with each other.
The existing WDA Membership
Committee will be rolled into the
new committee along with the WDA
Leadership Development Task Force.
However, we are in need of new mem-
bers dentists and dental hygienist to serve.
The committee will meet three times
per year. Meetings will consist of the
entire committee coming together, break-
ing into four subgroups and then coming
back together to report on group actions.
The new WDA Membership
Development Committee will report to
the WDA Board of Trustees.
Its first meeting will be held from
10 a.m. – 3 p.m on Friday, Jan. 16, 2016
at the WDA Executive Office in West
Allis (lunch will be served).
If you are energetic, interested in
shaping the future of organized dentistry
and willing to be a hands-on committee
member to help the WDA grow, this is
the committee for you.
Contact WDA Director of Mem-
bership,MeetingsandStrategicInitiatives
Lani Becker at lbecker@wda.org or
414-755-4114 for more information.
If you asked every Wisconsin Dental
Association member why they joined
organized dentistry and what they value
the most about their membership, each
would probably have a different answer.
Our members join for a variety of rea-
sons – advocacy support, continuing edu-
cation, networking opportunities, public
awareness efforts, to name a few – but not
everyone values the same thing.
To ensure every member sees the value
of their membership, the WDA is contin-
uously looking at what benefits are consid-
ered the most valuable and where we have
room to improve.
“As the dental profession changes, it
is important we understand the wants and
needs of dentists and dental hygienists so
we can continue providing value to our
members,” WDA Executive Director Mark
Paget said.
During the past few years, leadership
and staff have taken time to review market
trend reports and membership data shared
by the American Dental Association.
In fall 2014, the WDA hired The
Ritterbusch Group (TRG) to gather addi-
tional insight into our changing demo-
graphics and how they will impact the
WDA will have in the future.
We worked closely with TRG to devel-
op a phone survey that was conducted with
a select group of members and nonmem-
bers. Survey results will be shared with the
WDA Board of Trustees in November and
reported in future WDA communications.
Mr. Paget was also recently invited to
observe two ADA-sponsored focus groups
with WDA Director of Membership,
Meetings and Strategic Initiatives Lani
Becker.
The focus groups consisted of nine
member and nine nonmember dentists
from Wisconsin.
Each attendee answered questions
about the importance and relevance of
organized dentistry and what the profes-
sion would look like without the WDA.
Needless to say, some of the answers were
surprising.
Collectively, research conducted by
TRG and focus groups will give the WDA
a better understanding of what motivates
dentists to join and/or renew their mem-
bership.
Taking what we learn, leadership and
staff will discuss what our next steps should
be in order to continue providing high
value products, programs and services to
members.
The WDA is investing time and ener-
gy to understand member value, so every
member can say they are proud to belong
to organized dentistry.
We are confident our efforts will ener-
gize membership in the years to come.
Developing
the leader
inside of you
Are you someone who likes to be
involved, but not sure if you have the
skills to be an effective leader?
My guess is you already have skills,
but you may need a few tools to fully
develop the leader inside of you.
Regardless of your practice model,
as dentists you are already a leader for
your dental team to provide the best care
possible for patients and development of
staff. You may not think of that as leader-
ship, but that is one form.
Other forms can come from involve-
ment in church, school and civic groups,
and of course, from involvement in
organized dentistry at the local, state or
national level.
Being a leader doesn’t come naturally
to everyone, sometimes we need to be
provided with tools and training to devel-
op our skills.
The WDA Leadership Development
Task Force understands this and wants to
help you develop and fine tune your skills
through our new Leadership Academy.
This program will help future leaders bet-
ter understand how to build consensus,
effectively communicate messages, run
effective meetings/team huddles, under-
stand basic parliamentary procedure and
use technology to save time and money.
The academy will also introduce
members to resources available through
the WDA that can help lighten the bur-
den of leadership.
The WDA Leadership Academy
will begin with a one-day program on
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 at the Hyatt
Place in Madison. It will consist of break-
outs on many of the above topics.
The next day, participants will be
invited to attend the WDA Board of
Trustees meeting to see how our asso-
ciation business is done and to have
the opportunity to network with current
WDA leaders.
Two conference calls will be held
in the eight months following to cover
additional topics. Participants will next
meet in-person at the WDA InSession
in October 2015 during an interactive
learning session before “graduating” at
the WDA House of Delegates meeting.
There is no cost to participate in the
leadership program. However, attendance
is limited to 10 WDA member dentists.
Initially, two seats in each of the asso-
ciation’s five geographical regions will be
reserved.
Submit a letter of interest to WDA
Director of Membership, Meetings and
Strategic Initiatives Lani Becker at
lbecker@wda.org by Dec. 15, 2014.
Letters should mention any leadership
positions currently or previously held and
indicate your interest level of becoming
involved in the WDA or local dental
society.
Being involved in a leadership role
does take time, but it brings much sat-
isfaction and opportunities for personal
growth.
I encourage all members to explore
and develop the leader inside by applying
to participate in the WDA Leadership
Academy – you won’t regret it.
EMPOWER
WDA.org December 2014 WDA Journal 9
WDA dental
hygienist
membership
As valuable members of the dental
team, we invite dental hygienists
to be part ofour state association,
to be involved and to receive
member benefits (visit
www.wda.org/membership#
hygienist for a complete listing).
Dues are just $75*
Contact WDA Member Relations
Coordinator Betsy Krekling at
bkrekling@wda.org or
414-755-4126 for more
information.
* Membership is good for the calendar
year and dues are non-refundable and
non-transferable