Chicago, Illinois, July 27, 2004 - Association Laboratory Inc. today announced the introduction of an affordable environmental scanning process that allows staff and leadership to be able to identify and understand the future issues and trends that affect their members. This unique research process is designed to identify and monitor trends in the critical issues that have the greatest impact on the membership. Association Laboratory Inc. provides an independent, objective analysis of these issues for decision-making and advises clients on translating this information into a revenue generating tool for their association.

“The identification and long term tracking of critical issues over time is vital to association success,” said Dean A. West, President, Association Laboratory Inc. “This process allows leadership and staff to look forward and make decisions more quickly and with greater results.”

A recent article by James Surowiecki in Wired Magazine (June 2004) cited how groups of individuals acting independently can be better predictors of the future than any single individual. Capitalizing on this fact, Association Laboratory Inc. collects information on the critical issues important to your members and consolidates this information into a clear analysis for your leadership.

Key steps in this process include the following:

• A qualitative process is used to identify issues important to the success of the association’s members. These issues could include economic, government, international, industry, technology or other issues.
• An objective, quantifiable process is developed to solicit member opinions on these issues and establish a baseline for analysis and ongoing tracking.
• An independent study of these issues is conducted and trends, anticipated changes and the corresponding impact on your members are identified.

Using this information, associations can look forward and base strategic discussions on predictive information not on out-dated information from the past.

Finally, this data is extremely valuable to suppliers that target the association’s members for business development purposes. Businesses that serve the association’s members will pay for information that helps them understand what impacts their customer base.

Association Laboratory Inc. was founded in 1999 in Chicago, Illinois and specializes in the research and development of marketing and business strategy for trade and professional associations. The company serves a nation-wide client base and has served some of the nation’s leading trade and professional associations.

For more information on Association Laboratory Inc. visit the company's website at www.associationlaboratory.com .