Speaking & Strategic Events
Without a common understanding of the association’s Vision and Mission, and consensus on how challenges to success will be overcome, it is very difficult to create successful, sustainable strategy.
Association leaders operate in an environment where bringing people together and creating consensus on future action is critical. It is often vital to educate decision makers on the issues facing the association and lead productive, engaging discussions that result in meaningful change.
Association Laboratory has spent nearly two decades designing and leading staff and leadership facilitations and retreats designed to help you and your association’s leaders identify common ground and develop consensus on next steps.
From speaking engagements to staff and volunteer facilitations and produced events, Association Laboratory produces programs that are informative, provocative, and fun for attendees and participants.
Some common services include the following:
Speaking
Association Laboratory routinely provides keynote speakers and trainers to help you understand key issues facing associations or to lead more in-depth conversations critical to success.
Association Laboratory is a national thought leader within the association community. We provide you with an engaging, provocative and conversational speaker. Someone who understands the unique needs of association leaders working in a complex, dynamic environment.
From volunteer leadership to membership engagement, the company shares research-based insights, articulated by seasoned professionals that inform and inspire. The diversity of the company’s experience working with associations ranging from small trade associations to global professional societies gives us a unique perspective on the challenges faced by association leaders.
Facilitations
When you need a deeper dive into issues or seek to achieve more substantial training goals or decision consensus, professional facilitations are a good solution.
The goal of Association Laboratory facilitations is to create a robust dialog on identified issues and translate a common understanding of these issues into actionable next steps for the association.
To achieve this, Association Laboratory designs facilitations which provide the following:
- Discussions Informed by Research – Many associations invest too much time reinventing the wheel. Our facilitations, where possible, incorporate industry and proprietary research into the discussions. We help your association build on foundational knowledge that already exists, instead of spending time and money to recreate it.
- Creative, Engaging Dialog – Too often, facilitations can be dominated by a particular perspective. Our facilitations use a multi-tiered instructional design which allows every participant to be engaged and to contribute to the discussions.
- Decision Maker Consensus Without consensus, strategy becomes fragmented and inconsistent. Our facilitations have distinct steps designed to inform and create organic consensus among participants, which improves understanding and the likelihood of successful outcomes.
- Post-Retreat Engagement – While participants may be in agreement immediately following the facilitation, the realities of work often interfere with effective translation into change. The retreat will incorporate a specific follow up mechanism to improve the likelihood of changed behavior based on the conversations
Private Events
Association Laboratory produces a variety of private invitation-only events using the company’s proprietary peer-driven research to inform discussions.
These exclusive events give senior association leaders the opportunity to interact with their peers and discuss the strategic issues facing associations at the highest levels.