At a recent association conference, I heard a classic cliché, “I learn the most during conversations in the hallway.” My response? If you’ve devoted all that time and energy to an educational event and the best learning is a random conversation in the hallway, your education probably sucks needs improvement.   Any reasonably competent meeting planner or educator should be able to produce an activity more meaningful than a random conversation. In Looking Forward 2019, 81% of association leaders indicated they were concerned or somewhat concerned about producing compelling professional development opportunities. I go to and speak at many conferences. I’ve also acted as a Master of Ceremonies for events. Association Laboratory also designs our own association executive educational events. We also develop education strategy. Here are some thoughts. Audience Understanding (or not) Educational events don’t have an “audience”. They have a Venn diagram of audiences. Multiple markets who are […]

I’m not a “milestone” sort of person. I rarely celebrate with big birthday parties for example. My wife and I famously celebrated our anniversary with a drink at the United Club once as we passed each other in the airport. This year, though, when I announced the 20th anniversary of starting Association Laboratory on LinkedIn, the response surprised me. I received more than 7,000 views of the post. I only have 1, 531 connections on LinkedIn. People I’d never met were interested and supportive. It got me thinking about how it all began and what I learned about business and life through the years as I conceived, started and grew my small business. Below is the original HQ of Association Laboratory (no hassles please, I’m not a photography consultant). I started the company out of my condo on the 12th floor.  The voice on my answering machine for the company […]

Association Laboratory partners with Colorado Society of Association Executives (CSAE) in the first ever Revenue and Research partnership.

Association Laboratory’s Nicolette Haton, MBA, CAE will present as part of a panel on Wednesday, May 8 at 12:00pmET for a webinar through ASAE titled Trust is a Must – 3 Ways to Build Trust in Your Healthcare Organization. ASAE and Association Laboratory’s research shows that trust in institutions, including government, science, and medicine, is declining. Association Laboratory’s 2019 Looking Forward also identified that: 60 percent of healthcare association chief staff officer are concerned or somewhat concerned about their association’s perception as a source of credible information. 52 percent of healthcare chief staff officer respondents are concerned or somewhat concerned about public perceptions of their members’ competence or quality. As a result, healthcare associations are needing to invest more time and resources into building trust with their members and the general public. But, how? Attend this one-hour webinar to hear what healthcare associations are doing about trust in their organization. […]