iabc pacific plains region chapter leader meeting april 24...

1

IABC Pacific Plains Region

Chapter Leader Meeting

April 24-25 / Minneapolis, MN

2

Welcome!

• We’re glad you’re here

• Explanation of the agenda, breakout sessions

and completion of the Playbook

• Dine around sign up info

• Housekeeping items:

– Location of restrooms

– Breaks

“One IABC”

Michael Ambjorn, Vice Chair,

International Executive Board

3

It Starts with a Great Plan: Effective Strategic Planning

Suzanne Poggio, Chapter Advocate

Brett Pyrtle, Former Director, PPR

4

Playbook Development Session #1

5

Discuss:

• How does “One IABC” fit in with your chapter’s strategic plan?

• Thoughts on other IABC initiatives, direction, impact on your

chapter

• Report out on best Playbook ideas

It’s All About That

(Membership) Base

Kim Arnold, ABC, Deputy Director

Claudia Miller, Chapter Advocate

6

The Holy Grail of IABC chapters

7

• Getting new members

• Keeping your current members

• Getting all of them interested and involved

How well do you know your members?

• To effectively find new members, you have to know and understand the ones you already have

• Have you asked your members lately:

• Why did you join IABC?

• Why do you stay?

• What is the top value to you?

• What keeps you up at night?

• How can IABC help solve your problems?

8

Who are you looking for?

Marketing 101: Buyer personas • New professional starting his/her career

• Mid-career professional

• Senior level professional

• Sole practitioner

• What segments do you want more of?

• Are the needs different for each segment?

9

What are they looking for?

• Professional development?

• Networking?

• Opportunities to build their resume?

• Skills building?

• Solutions?

• What are their pain points?

• How can your chapter help them?

10

Survey says:

11 Results from IABC-OC chapter survey, November 2014

Marketing 101: competitive research

• Who’s your competition in your market?

• What do they offer?

• What do you offer that they don’t?

• How can you differentiate yourself?

• How are you and your competitors staying current?

• If you are standing still, you are actually moving backward

12

Resonate with them

• Demonstrate in your interactions with them—at whatever point

they are—that you know them and understand their needs.

• “Here’s how we can solve your problems.” Be specific.

• A potential member’s purchasing motivations are the same as

most other services. They want it to help them become

healthier, wealthier, wiser or nicer to be near to.

• Stress benefits instead of features.

13

14 Business Cards with benefits and links

Membership benefits sheet with links

Posters and flyers

Recruitment is everyone’s business

• Arm your “sales force” with the tools

they need to be IABC evangelists

• How do you incentivize them?

Testimonials

• Develop collateral—but don’t stop there

• What members say has more influence on prospects than a brochure alone

• Back up your message with evidence

• Solicit testimonials from current members, spotlighting the reasons they joined and continue to gain value from IABC

15

Use the personal touch to connect

• The one-on-one approach is the most effective

• Note who is frequently attending events but hasn’t joined

• Who on the board has a connection to frequent visitors?

Membership is a team effort.

• Call frequent visitors and

ask how you can help them

• Take them to coffee

• Connect people 16

17

Member retention strategies

• They joined—now what?

• Getting members involved keeps them connected

• Acknowledge members’ length of membership in your newsletter and on your website

• Tell your members’ stories and accomplishments

• Help members find jobs and freelance opportunities

18

Member retention strategies

Communicate and appreciate –

• Send a note to a volunteer’s employer to acknowledge his/her

contribution and the skills they displayed

• Call members to see how your chapter is doing

• Hold a brainstorming session with a few members

• Add services or plan a

free member event

• Remind members about

their exclusive benefits

Lapsing and lapsed members

• Contact them 30 days and 14 days in advance to let them know their membership is lapsing.

• Remind them of the benefits they’ll miss.

• Tell them what member opportunities are coming up.

• Exit interview opportunity: “At what point did you stop ‘feeling the love’?”

• On the day they lapse, tell them there is a 60-day grace period during which they don’t have to pay the application fee.

• Remind them again in 30 days.

• During Membership Months, remind them of benefits and inform them about new advantages.

19

20

Key membership lifecycle moments

Touchpoint opportunities:

New member

- Welcome kit

- New member

activity (e.g.

breakfast, coffee

or happy hour)

- Get them

involved

Renewing

member - Thank you

- Check in: How are

we doing? What do

you need?

- Remind them of a

benefit they may

have forgotten

Lapsed member - Did it slip their

mind?

- Exit interview

opportunity: “At

what point did you

stop ‘feeling the

love’?”

- Benefits reminder

21

Measuring your results

• What does success look like?

• When Orange County used most of these tactics from

2009 – 2011, membership increased by 50%

22

Your ideas?

Best Practices in

Professional Development

Andrea Blowers, Chapter Advocate

Lisa Sedivy, ABC, Professional Development Director

23

24

The questions of the day

How do I know what our

members want?

What are the best

practices for other

chapters?

How can PD be profitable?

How do I get more people to

events?

What am I doing

here?!?

25

Best practices

• Define goals (2-3 is good for PD) that follow

the chapter’s strategic plan

• Each of the goals should be measureable

• For example: Increase attendance by 10% for the

year overall or lower PD costs by a certain percent

• Then, define how to achieve them

26

Best practices

• Define your PD plan for the whole year at the start of the chapter year

• Know how many of each type of event you want to have, the specific topic and on or about the dates to hold them

• Include varying formats such as panels, case studies, speakers, round table discussions and interactive

• Vary times of the day. For example:

• Morning manager - personal development topic

• PD lunch - professional development topic

• After work happy hour or Saturday morning coffee - network event

27

Best practices • Have a PD communication plan/strategy

• Ensure you know how, when and who you are communicating the events to

• Offer opportunities to win a free registration to those who engage with you on social media or share the event, etc.

• Registration

• Don’t forget to ask each member or non-member who is registering for your event how they heard about it

• This will help focus the communications where it’s most effective

• Work with the membership chair

• Have a strategy to follow up with non-members who attend PDs

28

Best practices

• Adapt post-event surveys/evaluations to

measure engagement and motivators

• Ask about satisfaction of the event in terms of

content, speaker, location and venue

• Also, be sure to ask for ideas for other PD topics or

speakers

• The survey should be sent the same day at the

event. Don’t wait to send it. Feedback diminishes if

you wait.

29

Best practices

• Understand your members

• At the close of each chapter year, ensure the member

survey includes questions about what kinds of

development topics members are looking for

• It’s also a good time to ask what level of their career

each member is in. This way you know who is junior,

mid or senior level and you can begin to target

communications for PDs to those individuals who might

benefit the most.

• Try to get board members (or committee members)

from each of these audience/age segments

30

Best practices

• Ensure the price you are charging for events

is reasonable to members. Ask them.

• This could be done with the annual survey as well

• Also make sure you have a significant difference

between the member and non-member pricing to

incentivize membership

31

Best practices

• Finding presenters

• Use highly regarded local speakers as much as

possible

• Don’t forget about the colleges and universities in

your community

• These professors are tuned in to what’s happening

in the profession and can also engage the students

they’re currently teaching

• This could be a potential membership builder as

well

32

Best practices

• Consider partnerships with other professional

organizations or non-profits to bring in a bigger name

speaker for a workshop event

• Keep your past presidents engaged in the chapter and

find ways to use them

• Past presidents could function as roundtable

discussion leaders at a PD/networking event

• They also may be able to lead a PD session – or be

available to step in if your regularly scheduled

presenter has to cancel

33

Best practices

• Finding topics

• Think beyond traditional

communications/marketing/PR topics

• Topics on etiquette, understanding financials, or

communicating across cultures may be great topics

for your members

• When in doubt, ask your members if they’d have

interest. (See membership survey in previous

slide.)

• Trends

• Roundtable

• Network

• Network + giving

• Personal growth

• Professional growth

34

Define event categories

• Your best communicator hacks round

table

• Media tours - print, radio, etc.

• If I knew then … senior

communicators 5-minute inspirational

message

• Defining a social media strategy -

more impact, less work

• Social media for internal

communications

• Creating and using infographics 35

Event ideas

• Cybersecurity and what communicators need to know

• Case studies (example: crisis communications)

• Word of mouth – interpersonal communication is not

dead

• Communications planning

• If you wouldn’t do it for free, don’t do it for money

(personal development opportunity)

36

More event ideas

What is one specific challenge your chapter

has with professional development?

37

Discuss

Can you share a professional development

“win” or success story for your chapter?

38

Discuss

How have you shaken up your chapter’s

professional development in the past year?

39

Discuss

• Final thoughts

• Wrap up

40

Questions?

Awards Alignment

Cindy Schmeig, ABC,

Director, International Executive Board

41


42

Discuss:

• What are your chapter’s professional development and

membership goals?

• What tactics have been successful for your chapter?

• What are your thoughts about the plan for awards alignment?


43

Let’s Wrap Things Up

• How is your Playbook shaping up?

• Best ideas of the day

• How will you bring the ideas back?

• Dine around instructions

• Everyone meets in the lobby at 6 p.m.

44

Welcome!

• Overview of today’s agenda

• Playbook review: How is it coming along?

• Let’s keep in touch: Contact info sheet

Communication: It’s all in the mix

Amy Barnett, ABC, Communications Director

Rob Walgren, Lead Chapter Advocate

45

Your communication strategy: Things to consider

• Align with your mission, vision, values and

brand

• Know your members and target appropriately

• Learn from your audiences – take time to

look at what they are looking at (what

interests them)

46


• Pick three objectives – less is more

• Identify how, who and what

• Establish calls to action (email subscribes,

follows, registrations, forwards)

47


• Evaluate efforts and adjust where needed

• Lessons learned from past member survey –

they know what you need to know (Ask)

48

Tactics for staying in touch

Old School

• Print, face-to-face, personal letter, postcards

New School

• LinkedIn, Google Plus, Video, Snapchat

49

Social media: What’s in your mix?

• Post with purpose – set short and long-term

goals

• Don’t try to do it all

• Consider generational differences – photo

sites appeal to younger generations

• Use as a compliment to meatier info

50

Social media - What’s in your mix?

51 Graphic by Whoisgregg.com

Content: Keeping it fresh

• Create: Blogs, Q&A, member features – Audience and

maintenance (committee perhaps, or a volunteer)

• Curate: Share content by others that supports your objectives

• Integrate: Repurpose what you’ve written and use it elsewhere

52

• Final thoughts

• Wrap up

53

Questions?

Sponsorships and Other

Non-Dues Revenue Ideas

Christi Dixon, Chapter Advocate

Jennel McDonald, Finance Director

54

We know how it goes…

• Chapters live or die by the balance sheet

It’s important to find things that…

• Add value and boost the bottom line

• Create cash flow or are at least ‘net zero’

55

Before we begin…

Sticky notes!

56

Sponsorships – Valuable to both

57

What’s in it for us?

• Establish partnerships

• Add value to your

members

• Helps you reach new

audiences

What’s in it for them?

• Increases their visibility

• Increases their public

awareness

• Demonstrates a

charitable lens

58

1. Identify your goals

2. Identify a list of prospects

3. Figure our your value

proposition

4. Put together packaged

information to share with

prospects

5. Start setting up meetings

Sponsorships – Plan your attack!

Sponsorships – Traditional options

In-Kind Sponsorships

• Photographers

• Printers

• Designers

• Audio Visual

• Mailing

• Chicago chapter has a

terrific sponsorship

outline

59

Event Sponsorships

• Professional development

meetings

• Networking sessions

• Awards ceremonies

Annual Sponsorships

• Packages with vary levels of

options

http://chicago.iabc.com/sponsorship_opportunities/





Creative Examples

Events

• St. Louis - Cocktail

napkins and signage in

St. Louis

• San Diego - COTY

awards

Services

• San Francisco – Job

bank

60

• Final thoughts

• Wrap up

61

Questions?


62

Discuss:

• What are your chapter’s communication goals?

• What member/prospect communication tactics have been

successful for you?

• How is your chapter addressing sponsorships and other non-

dues revenue generation?


Hey, How Did You Do That?

Entering the Chapter Management

Awards and how it positively impacts the

strategic planning process

63

PPR Resource Sharing Ideas

64

Playbook Development Session #4:

Putting all the pieces together

65

Discuss:

• How does your Playbook look?

• Filling in the blanks…

What do you still need help with?

• Biggest challenges/obstacles to success

66

Thank you for coming

and participating!

iabc pacific plains region chapter leader meeting april 24...

Documents