I knew we’d properly curated our Association Laboratory Content Strategy Summit audience when one of the first attendees to arrive walks up to me, says “Hi, thanks for the invitation.”, and proceeds to hand me a small bottle of Makers Mark bourbon (potential sponsor?). On October 23, Association Laboratory produced the Association Content Strategy Summit. We had a great group of association CEOs and senior executives. Here’s a quick wrap up of some of the key lessons. Associations Do Not Control Content Production, Vetting or Distribution The financial and communication barriers to content creation and distribution are effectively nonexistent. The result? A glut of content. Association Laboratory produced the Association Content Strategy Summit because data from our global environmental scan of the association business environment, Looking Forward (access HERE), clearly shows association leaders are struggling with content strategy. Consider the percentage of association leaders somewhat or very concerned about the […]

Let me tell you a story about a recent strategic planning gig. In the last hour of a 2-day facilitation, while we were on the final review of the draft strategic plan, a participant who had been contributing positively from the beginning turns to his colleagues and says, “This isn’t a strategic plan.”. Well crap. After I addressed the issue, I sat down next to Meg, our analyst who led the research, and we talked about how we always get the same questions. Regardless of client. Below common questions surrounding strategic planning that almost everyone asks at some point. If you need help with strategic planning, BTW, you can see how we do it HERE. Alright, let’s go. Can we trust the research informing strategic planning? Garbage in, garbage out as the old saying goes. At one recent Board meeting, a participant kept asking about the statistical validity of the […]

Association Laboratory’s Nikki Haton is scheduled to speak at the New England Society for Association Executives 2019 Annual Management Conference.   The upcoming 2018 Annual Conference will be held January 16-17, 2019 in Framingham, Massachusetts.  Nikki will be  presenting “Building a Leadership Pipeline”.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                       ASSOCIATION LABORATORY RELEASES LOOKING FORWARD 2018 ANNUAL ASSOCIATION ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING PAPER  June 25, 2018 – Association Laboratory has once again released its annual association environmental scanning paper, “Looking Forward 2018,” a collaborative research effort conducted with leaders of the association management profession. Looking Forward 2018 is the nation’s longest running and most comprehensive environmental scan of the association strategy environment. This year, more than 300 association trade and professional association CEO’s and senior staff assessed fifty-two different factors impacting association members and fifty-one different implications on association strategy.  Combining this year’s research with eight years of bench marking data makes this year’s paper the most relevant research publications in the industry. “Looking Forward 2018 Association Industry Business Environment and Strategy Scan” is […]