Association Hunger Games: Victory or Defeat?

!
!
!
Association!Hunger!Games:!
Victory!or!Defeat?!
!
Tuesday,!Aug.!12,!2014!
9!–!10!a.m.!
Room:!201AB!
Hashtag:!#asae14!LO3!
!
Donna!Oser!
CAE!
Director,!Leadership!&!Executive!Services!
Michigan!Association!of!School!Boards!
doser@masb.org!
517.327.5923!
@donaoser!
Aaron!D.!Wolowiec!
MSA,!CAE,!CMP,!CTA!
The!Meetings!Coach!
Event!Garde!!
aaron@eventgarde.com!
616.710.1891!
@aaronwolowiec!
!
!
!!
All contents copyright 2014, ASAE, except noted selections which have
been reprinted with permission of the copyright owner.

Association Hunger Games: Victory or Defeat?
!
Biographies
!
Donna!Oser,!CAE!!
Director,!Leadership!&!Executive!Services!
Michigan!Association!of!School!Boards!(MASB)!
!
Today’s!rapid!advancements!in!technology,!diverse,!
multigenerational!work!force,!and!changing!economy!present!
significant!challenges!for!associations!and!nonprofits.!A!Certified!
Association!Executive®!with!15!years!of!experience!in!nonprofit!
management,!Donna!combines!business!acumen,!an!
entrepreneurial!mindset!and!a!creative!approach!to!collaboration!
to!help!organizations!leverage!change!to!build!capacity,!grow!
influence!and,!ultimately,!achieve!their!unique!purposes.
! !
Donna!channels!her!passion!via!four!primary!mediums:!!
• Facilitating)shared!decisionmaking,!planning!and!
problem!solving!with!groups!of!all!sizes!!
• Presenting)to!enrich!the!knowledge,!skills!and!attitudes!of!individuals!and!organizations!!
• Coaching)individuals!and!teams!towards!desired!outcomes!and!improved!decisionmaking!!
• Consulting)by!providing!technical!expertise!on!association!management!and!leadership!issues
!
During!her!career,!Donna!has!held!the!positions!of!executive!director,!assistant!director,!and!director!of operations!with!
responsibilities!spanning!all!of!the!core!areas!of!association!management.!Association!honors!bestowed!upon!Donna!in!the!recent!
past!include!MASA’s!Champion!for!Children!Award,!MASSP’s!Bold!Leadership!in!Education!Reform,!Michigan!School!Public!Relations!
Association’s!Distinguished!Achievement!Award,!and!National!PTA’s!Lifetime!Achievement!Award.
!
In!addition!to!possessing!a!BBA!in!Business!Management!with!specializations!in!accounting!and!marketing,!Donna!received!extensive!
training!in!public!engagement!and!facilitation!from!the!Institute!of!Cultural!Affairs!and!National!PTA.!She!has!held!numerous!board!
positions!over!the!years!and!currently!serves!as!adjunct!faculty!for!the!Michigan!Society!of!Association!Executives.!Donna!reads!
voraciously!and!enjoys!cycling,!kayaking!and!spending!time!with!family!and!friends.
!
Connect!with!Donna!on!LinkedIn!or!contact!her!directly!at!(517)!4207637!or!doser@masb.org.!
!
Aaron!D.!Wolowiec,!MSA,!CAE,!CMP,!CTA!!
The!Meetings!Coach!
Event!Garde!
!
Michigan!native!Aaron!Wolowiec!is!a!talented!and!passionate!association!learning!strategist!and!meetings!coach!whose!diverse!
achievements!guide!and!propel!association!goals!and!initiatives,!especially!as!they!relate!to!education.!Aaron!has!more!than!a!
decade!of!experience!in!the!meetings!industry,!and!has!taught!for!three!years!at!a!Michigan!college.
!
Aaron!is!a!certified!association!executive,!a!certified!meeting!professional!and!a!certified!tourism!ambassador,!and!has!earned!a!
master's!degree!in!administration!from!Central!Michigan!University.!An!active!member!of!ASAE,!Aaron!is!a!past!chairman!of!the!
Young!Association!Executives!Committee,!a!20092011!Diversity!Executive!Leadership!Program!scholar!and!a!current!member!of!the!
Professional!Development!Section!Council.!
!
As!the!premier!source!of!expert!advice!and!innovative!solutions!in!instructional!design!and!meeting!management,!Aaron’s!consulting!
firm!is!quickly!gaining!recognition!for!its!creativity!and!leadership!in!the!field!of!professional!development.!In!2012,!Aaron!was!also!
featured!by!Michigan(Meetings(+ Events(magazine!as!a!“very!important!professional!you!need!to!know.”
! !
When!not!working!with!clients!Aaron!enjoys!cooking,!hot!yoga,!blogging,!old!homes!and!unclehood,!as!well!as!tending!to!his!puppy,!
Lillie.!Likewise,!Aaron!maintains!a!popular!association!blog!at!www.aaronwolowiec.com,!contributes!to!a!variety!of!industry!
publications!and!mentors!a!number!of!emerging!professionals.
!
For!more!information!about!Event!Garde,!please!visit!www.eventgarde.com,!subscribe!to!our!monthly!enewsletter!and!like!“Event!
Garde!LLC”!on!Facebook.!Additionally,!Aaron!may!be!reached!by!phone!at!(616)!7101891!or!by!email!at!aaron@eventgarde.com.!
!

Membership Case Study
Association profile
• XYZ Association is a 501(C)6 trade association serving school administrators.
• It is an individual membership organization with a budget of $1.5M and 6 FTEs.
• In past years, the association enjoyed a minimum of 80% market share.
• The association is led by a long-serving (20+ yrs) chief staff executive - once a member of the association – who
attributes his success to ‘good instincts’.
Business situation
In the previous five years, membership numbers declined 2-3% per year. Membership dropped by 9% last year. Alarmed,
board members encouraged the CSE to restructure membership and consider reducing the cost of membership dues.
Additional situational factors include:
• Declining school budgets
• Closure of public schools due to loss of funding and population shifts
• Increased scrutiny on how public dollars are spent
• Declining participation in the association’s annual conference
• Recent turnover operations and marketing in staff positions
Technical situation
• The association was well-regarded as an early adopter of technology – including having the distinction of being an
all Mac office and publishing regular blogs and podcasts before other organizations were doing so.
• The association cut a $40,000 line item for printing and mailing from its budget.
• The association moved to all electronic communications with all communications being sent via a personal mail
client with the exception of the newsletter, which is distributed through email marketing software.
• No business process or software was in place for invoicing.
Culture
• The CSE holds 30-minute, stand-up staff meetings as needed or roughly every eight weeks There is no formal
orientation for new staff members.
• Business processes are not documented; no procedure manual exists.
• High performing staff members enjoy considerable independence and bonuses.
• No strategic or business plan exists.

Meetings Case Study
Association profile
• ABC Association is a 501(C)3 organization serving programmers, teachers, leaders and students involved in
outdoor programs.
• Both individuals and organizations are members of the association, which has a budget of $500,000 and three
FTEs (an executive director, an office manager and a membership coordinator).
• The association directly competes with another collegiate recreation association and indirectly with several higher
education associations.
• A former practitioner with no other association experience (other than previously volunteering with the
organization) now leads the association.
Business situation
In the previous five years:
• Annual meeting attendance has slipped a cumulative 20 percent.
• The remaining audience comprises more students than it does professional attendees.
• Exhibitor revenue has dropped a cumulative five percent.
• Sponsorship revenue has dropped a cumulative 30 percent.
Disappointed, the executive director has secretly considered canceling the annual meeting in favor of other revenue
streams. However, the annual meeting currently represents approximately 60 percent of the association’s annual revenue.
Additional situational factors include:
• Recent change in membership structure and dues pricing
• Increased scrutiny on how member dollars are spent
• Various mergers and acquisitions among suppliers
• Competition for education opportunities both online and in person
Technical situation
• For a majority of its history, volunteers managed both the association and its annual meeting.
• Since the executive director was hired three years ago, a local host committee comprised of association
volunteers managed the annual meeting in Snowbird, Utah; College Park, Maryland; and Portland, Oregon.
• Within the last six months, the board of directors has urged the executive director to assume complete
responsibility for the success of the annual meeting.
• Having never facilitated the technical aspects of the annual meeting, the executive director engaged the services
of a third-party meeting planner.
Culture
• Annual meeting volunteers tend to operate in silos with little understanding of how their work connects to the
bigger picture.
• Association members create programs for a living and have a definitive opinion about how the annual meeting
should look and feel.
• In addition to being inundated daily by questions from annual meeting volunteers, staff members are frustrated by
a lack of cooperation and initiative by the local host committee.
• Frugal and environmentally conscious attendees live by the mantra, “reuse, reduce and refuse.” They’d like to
utilize their own thermal mugs, sporks and reusable plates at the headquarters hotel.
• The annual meeting budget is generally not drafted until three to four months prior to the conference. Rather than
following the budget, volunteers tend to ask forgiveness rather than for permission.
• Standard operating procedures exist for some of the annual meeting functions.

ASAE|AnnualConference2014 8/6/2014
Welcome!
AaronD.Wolowiec,MSA,CAE,CMP,CTA
TheMeetingsCoach | EventGarde LLC
616.710.1891| EventGarde.com
DonnaOser,CAE
MichiganAssociationofSchoolBoards
517.327.5923| www.masb.org

Overview of Session
The Case for Execution
Framework for Execution
Case Studies
Group Sharing
Debrief
Companies typically
realize only about 60%
of their strategy's
because of defects and
breakdowns in planning
Harvard Business Review, 2005
potential value
and execution.
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org

The Execution Gap
Lost opportunity
and revenue
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
What we PLAN to do…
What actually GETS DONE…
What’s At Risk?
Operational:
• Production
• Finances
Organizational:
• Efficiency
• Culture
Personal: • Reputation
• Credibility
• Supporters
• Job

82% of Fortune 500
CEOs feel their
organization did an
effective job of strategic
planning. Only 14% of the
same CEOs indicated
their organization did an
effective job of
implementing the
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
strategy.
Forbes Magazine, 2011
Framework
Scan
Plan
Implement
Communicate
Evaluate

Execution is a minefield…
Agendas compete. Priorities clash.
Decisions stall. Communication
breaks down. Timelines get blown.
It’s never a question of IF these
problems will happen; it’s a question
of WHEN and to WHAT DEGREE.”
HBR Blog, 2013
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
n
Scan
Assess strategy/plan based upon
recent performance
Conduct a SWOT analysis
Assess competitive strengths and
identify weaknesses
Determine the issues that need to
be addressed based upon findings
o
p
q

Porter’s Competitive
Forces
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
StSrengths
Internal Origin
(attributesoftheassociation)
External Origin
(attributesoftheenvironment)
Helpful
Toachievingtheobjective
Harmful
Toachievingtheobjective
WeWaknesses
OppOortunities TThreats
Scan
Rivalry among competitors
Threat of substitutions
Potential new entrants
Power of suppliers
Power of buyers
Scan

Implement Monitor the plan obsessively. -
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
n
Plan
What needs to be done?
Who needs to do it?
By when?
With what resources?
o
p
q
Ensure leadership knows the plan.
Schedule key check points.
Invite input from colleagues.
Be on the look out for barriers.
Help colleagues prioritize.

Play-by-Play Replay
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
n
Communicate
Articulate specific actions needed
and desired outcomes.
Check-in frequently for questions and
progress.
Ask questions about process,
workflow, unexpected issues.
Share progress, challenges and
successes along the way.
o
p
q
Progress towards goals/metrics
Performance against the plan
Feedback from colleagues
Feedback from stakeholders
‘Done wells’, the ‘Do betters’
and even the ‘Don’t dos’
Evaluate

Common Pitfalls
Lack of detailed planning
Expectations not clearly stated
Poor communication/coordination
Lack of accountability
Poor prioritization
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org
Evaluate
n
Case Study
Find a buddy.
Select case study and
read it.
Discuss w/ your buddy.
Identify 3 breakdowns.
o
p
q

May the
odds be
ever in
your
favor!
DonnaOser,CAE
517.327.5923| www.masb.org

Association Hunger Games: Victory or Defeat?

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