Thanks to COVID-19, associations want change agents in the corner office, but budgets are tight. The savvy new CEO, one expert says, will be creative and study contracts closely.

Nonprofit lawyer Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum has noticed a change in his workload lately. For most of his career, Tenenbaum, managing partner of Tenenbaum Law Group, always spent more time working on association CEO employment contracts than on CEO termination agreements. These days, though, he’s been spending an equal amount of time on both. And though he doesn’t have hard data on whether more association CEOs are exiting due to the pandemic, he’s seeing associations looking for innovative, turnaround CEOs—and perhaps casting off leaders who don’t fit that definition.

“There was a time when you could have a placeholder CEO, someone who’d kind of coast and keep the trains running on time, but who didn’t need to be a great innovator or great at strategic thinking, re-creating business models,” Tenenbaum says. “That’s not a luxury that any association has anymore. There’s a real need for strong, dynamic leadership, starting at the top.”

That situation presents a challenge, though: While demand has increased for the kind of innovative CEO who can earn top dollar, the current economic situation means that association are hesitant about lavish compensation plans. That puts more pressure on the CEO job candidate to be aware of the hiring environment and get guidelines established in their employment contracts.

Tenenbaum will speak more fully on CEO contracts at the ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting & Exposition on Tuesday, August 11. In advance of that session, he shared a few considerations for CEOs braving the job hunt.

Know what you want going in. Ultimately, Tenenbaum says, association hiring committees have a limited amount of flexibility for compensation when it comes to pure dollars. But they can divvy up that figure in various ways—via perks, deferred compensation, and so on. Prospective CEOs should have a sense going in of what their goals are from the outset. If the job involves international travel, those business-class upgrades will matter a lot; if retirement is on your mind, deferred compensation may make more sense. “I say, ‘We can ask for whatever you want, but pick and choose what matters most to you. You’re not going to get it all.’”

Plan for the end before you start. “I think one of the—if not the—most important part of the CEO employment contract is the prenup,” he says. Consider what the contract says about what benefits and compensation the CEO is due if his or her tenure ends: the amount of severance, the length of the severance period, and which benefits will remain in place during that period. One critical element of the contract is language about terminations for cause or without cause, which have distinct effects on what compensation the departing CEO receives.

Know how much leverage you have. Innovators may be valuable, but not all innovators are created equal. Nor are all associations. “If you’re a first-time CEO, and it’s a smaller association, they don’t have a ton of money,” he says. “Are you going to have the leverage to negotiate really good severance provisions and really narrow cause provisions? Probably not.”

Draw some bright lines between the CEO and board. Board members are more likely to micromanage a CEO’s day-to-day actions unless they’re explicitly barred from doing so. Language in the contract can give staff leaders the control they need. “One of the most important provisions in the employment contract, I think from both perspectives, is the provision that says the CEO shall have the sole authority for the hiring, firing, termination, compensation, and promotion of all other staff of the association,” he says. “When boards pick and choose winners and losers on the staff, it’s always a disaster.”

Get clarity on performance reviews. Restricting reviews to once-a-year check-ins is bad for rank-and file staff, and it’s no different for CEOs, Tenenbaum says. He recommends having quarterly check-ins codified in the employment contracts. Moreover, he says these check-ins should be performed by the board members who engage with the CEO the most. “I think it benefits both sides to define the group that’s going to evaluate and set the compensation for the CEO [that way],” he says. “I don’t like this idea of having a separate compensation committee that has no real working relationship with the exec, and all of a sudden they’re brought in at the end of the year, especially to evaluate how he or she did. I just don’t like that process at all.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Mark Athitakis. 

A new guide from the Events Industry Council includes a code of conduct that outlines how attendees contribute to the health and safety of a meeting. A look at some examples included in the guide and beyond.

When face-to-face meetings resume, it will not only be on event organizers and venue staff to provide a safe environment. An equal share of responsibility falls on attendees.

That’s a key point made in the Events Industry Council’s newly released Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide.

Developed by EIC’s APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force, the guide features a number of resources, including a code of conduct that is meant to help organizers engage all meeting participants in the health and safety of their events.

“Community buy-in by all participants at the event level serves to advocate for the well-being of our fellow global citizens and our industry,” said Kinsley Meetings Chief Meeting Architect and APEX Commission Chair Allison Kinsley, CMM, CMP, CED, in a press release.

The code of conduct breaks down what attendees can do to support the “collective well-being of an event” into three phases: before leaving home, onsite, and post-event.

For example, the guide urges attendees to follow relevant guidance provided by the World Health Organization or their local health department before traveling. In addition, attendees should monitor the health of people they have been in close contact with. If a family member has recently had COVID-19 symptoms, the attendee should stay home.

The onsite section of the code is the most comprehensive. Not only should attendees wear a mask and agree to have their temperature checked before entering the venue if required by organizers, they should also adhere to social distance protocols and respect the personal space of their fellow attendees.

Then, once the event wraps up, attendees should contact event organizers if they test positive for COVID-19 within 14 days of returning home.

“We must, as individuals and organizations, take the responsibility to own the assessment and mitigation of risk, taking into account guidance from global, national, regional, and local public health officials. If we do so consistently, and communicate these steps effectively, we will make considerable strides,” said EIC CEO Amy Calvert in a press release.

In addition to the details that EIC outlines in its code of conduct, the reality is that attendees and exhibitors will also have to acclimate themselves to other new meeting and tradeshow etiquette. Things that would have been common in the past—like hugs and handshakes—are likely no-gos for the immediate future.

In a blog post published on Trade Show News Network earlier this month, Briquelle Neyens, a digital marketer at Skyline Exhibits, discussed how tradeshow booth staff need to prepare. Her advice is just as relevant to attendees.

“Shaking hands will be a hard habit to break, but one route for your booth staff to go is to let booth guests guide this interaction,” she wrote. “If they don’t reach out for a handshake, leave it at that and know that both sides are in agreement and understanding of the situation. A tilt of the head could be a simple replacement.”

Neyens also spoke about not overstepping boundaries and minding people’s space. “You may have seen markings at your checkout area in your local grocery stores to keep shoppers in each aisle at a respective distance during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she wrote. “This idea could be similarly used in your booth to ensure that it doesn’t feel overcrowded.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Samantha Whitehorne. 

Welcome back to our AuSAE Member Chat Series – Half an Hour of Power. This week we are delighted to have sat down with AuSAE member, Nick Pilavidis, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Credit Management. In a short 30 minute interview we discussed four key questions with Nick to reflect on the last four months and look forward to the future post this crisis.

What do the next 6 months look like for your association and your members

For our members the next 6 months will be more challenging than what we faced at the onset of this crisis. What started as a flood of customers seeking extensions of credit, will now turn to more in depth conversations to renegotiate credit and the high-risk factors involved during this time.

As an association we will need to keep our finger on the pulse and ensure we are supporting members with new needs that may arise. We are monitoring the situation and keeping conversations open with members to fill any gaps in knowledge, information or resources that they will need during this time of transition.

Areas of concern

A key area of concern for our association is the inability to host face to face events and the impact on our connection with members while we can’t meet in our usual event setting. This level of interaction is our key tool to connect with members and provides that natural check point with the community, as well as the ability for our members to connect with each other. We have moved to providing online communication tools for our members such as forums, chat groups, social media and website updates, but I think there is still a need for that face to face interaction. The sooner we can get this back, the better for everyone.

Like most associations, a concern for us is the risk surrounding our annual conference which is set to take place in Brisbane in October. We are about to launch our new look conference, aiming to mitigate this risk by moving to one day seminars in 5 cities and adding a virtual conference component in.

Areas of opportunity

This crisis has allowed us to re-focus, identify, adapt and communicate our value proposition to members. We have found new ways of connecting, delivering member services and lobbying for our sector. With the changes in the way we work, learn and operate we have been given the opportunity to showcase the broader value our association can provide members including connection with thought leaders and industry to guide them through this time.

As the saying goes, never waste a good crisis, and although we are operating in challenging times this crisis has highlighted the value that credit management can bring to businesses. As an association our focus will be to harness this crisis, and ensure the credit management profession is properly recognised for what they do and the value they can provide.

Celebrated moments in the last four months

The speed and agility in decision making from our entire team is something to celebrate. It has been great to see the team step up and respond quickly to members and their needs over the last few months. We have moved our face to face training to virtual classrooms, and the team have really taken this in their stride. We are now able to offer our education more frequently with greater reach and access to the membership base.

Overall, we have experienced a stronger team culture and collaborative approach while working from home. As an organisation we are committed to providing members with the tools and training they need to navigate the remainder of this year and that common goal has anchored the AICM team to a key outcome.

Although associations may be able to hold smaller, in-person events that follow social-distancing mandates, a lot of people may still not feel comfortable travelling or attending. To navigate this, more associations will implement a hybrid strategy for all of their meetings.

With travel and gathering restrictions still in place in many locations around the world and not expected to ease anytime soon, large conferences and tradeshows are likely not in the cards for associations in the coming months.

At the start of the pandemic, that meant associations had to pivot their events to completely virtual. But now associations are looking at the hybrid model as the way to offer attendees two options: a smaller, in-person event that adheres to social-distancing requirements or a virtual experience.

The format is rapidly gaining popularity. According to a recent survey by Etc.venues, 73 percent of event professionals say they are planning to host a hybrid event before the end of the year.

While implementing a hybrid meeting structure will raise additional logistics to work through, it also comes with benefits. For example, you may be able to attract new attendees to the online component, such as working parents, those with compromised immune systems, caregivers, and international participants. In addition, hybrid meetings could provide new ways to deliver content and allow you to extend the life of your event by giving attendees the ability to watch sessions on demand.

More importantly, a hybrid format will allow those who may be uncomfortable travelling to take part remotely and connect with fellow industry professionals. This shows that your association is putting its members’ and attendees’ comfort first—something that could translate into better retention and loyalty.

A few groups already have plans to host hybrid meetings in the months ahead. For example, November’s Event Tech Live conference will take a hybrid approach. ETL will expand its typical two-day tradeshow in London to include five virtual days of content as well.

“There is no doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated our plans to go fully hybrid just as we have seen many events around the globe pivot to online-only to keep their community connected and provide value for their sponsors,” said ETL cofounder Adam Parry in a press release. “What’s most exciting to me is using this opportunity to push the boundaries, to once again experiment with the formula of an ‘exhibition.’”

Other associations that have hybrid meetings planned include the American Fats and Oils Association, American Trail Running Association, and New England Water Works Association. Even the behemoth CES 2021—which is currently expected to have an in-person component in Las Vegas in January—says it will “continue to make the show’s content accessible for our digital audiences” and “provide a platform for our exhibitors to showcase their groundbreaking product launches and technology breakthroughs digitally, as well as physically in Las Vegas.”

While these are only a few examples, I expect the list of associations taking a hybrid approach to grow. In fact, to use a cliché, I expect hybrid meetings to become “the new normal.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Samantha Whitehorne. 

Office friendships are an underappreciated part of your culture. Leaders don’t have to make everybody pals, but in a remote environment, it pays to encourage them.

Every so often, I miss office hallways.

It’s not that hallways are so charming in themselves. They’re just blank, anonymous, in-between spaces. But that’s what makes them so powerful. Because they have no strict role, they can be used to have the kinds of conversations that you can’t in more official parts of an office. It’s a common enough concept that film and TV writer Aaron Sorkin has practically built a career around hallway conversations. (If you’re a fan of spy fiction, swap in “bridge” for “hallway.”) The hallway is where pecking orders outside the org-chart get established. At a convention center, it’s where the networking gets done. And at the office, it’s where friendships are made.

So the hallway is not a small thing—your organization’s culture comes from everybody’s sense of belonging, and that culture is often established through the informal channels that the hallway provides. In the Atlantic, reporter Nicole Mo recently wrote about the impact that the lack of those informal channels is having on offices in the wake of COVID-19. Work friendships are a boon to productivity and loyalty, research shows, and remote work has made those relationships a challenge. As organizational-behavior researcher Hilla Dotan tells Mo, “What we’re doing through virtual work is we’re neutralizing the social aspect of [work].”

Workers can certainly maintain office friendships on their own time, of course. But the dynamic is inevitably different, Mo reports, and more prone to erode thanks to the additional stresses that everything the pandemic (and the daily news) delivers. Social psychologist Evelyn R. Carter tells Mo that in the new environment, it’d be wrong to think “there aren’t people who are hurting or who are thinking that they had those genuine, trusting relationships and are realizing they don’t.”

“Help maintain employees’ social lives” isn’t in the association CEO’s job description. But one way or another, you have a role in them, and neglecting that fact has consequences. Last week the New York Times reported on the current crisis at Airbnb, which has found its social dynamic change radically due to layoffs and a shift to remote work. The company’s entire culture is built around conviviality—its business is built on strangers sharing their homes, after all—but the changes to the company has eroded the bonds that culture created, according to the report.

Contractors who were publicly declared to be “teammates and friends” were summarily dismissed, and employees took to the company’s Slack—the closest thing to an office hallway for many organizations these days—to vent. That venting led to venting about other internal issues. That old culture of friendship wasn’t an official benefit, but it functioned like one. “Part of the compensation is being part of this family,” Wharton professor Ethan Mollick told the Times. “Now the family goes away, and the deal is sort of changed. It just becomes a job.”

Leadership’s role in this situation is tricky. As much as I might miss the office hallway, I emphatically do not miss the kinds of forced-fun bonding exercises that have launched countless TV and movie satires. For many workers, a temporary end to holiday parties, Skee-Ball outings, and officially sanctioned happy hours can only be one of the scarce blessings of the COVID-19 era. The virtue of the office friendship is that it happens organically. So, create the opportunity for it to happen organically.

Recently, organizational scholars Alana Cookman and Gayle Karen Young Whyte wrote in the Stanford Social Innovation Review about the need for organizations to cultivate what they call “microshifts”—small changes in how organizations are run to boost collaboration and improve morale. That can include, they write, “integrating well-being into strategic planning,” and one way to accomplish that is to establish spaces where a sense of belonging can occur. Transparency from the top is one way; another is “opportunities to really get to know colleagues through reflection and check-in exercises.”

That can mean more opportunities for employees to share their challenges balancing work and home life, instead of pretending it’s not a challenge. It can mean being open enough about the organization’s own challenges that workers can share their own. Sharing those experiences that aren’t directly related to jobs but are inescapably related to work can foster the friendships that are part of your culture. If you can’t provide your people with a physical hallway, it’s worth the effort to encourage them to build one themselves.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Mark Athitakis. 

The idea of reskilling or upskilling was already an emerging trend even before COVID-19. Now it’s more important than ever—and associations can potentially stand out by leveraging their technology to provide next-gen learning opportunities.

When all of this shakes out, our economy and world probably won’t look quite the same as they once did. That can feel like a dangerous position to be in. But with the right mindset, it can also be an opportunity.

That mindset might involve a focus on reskilling or upskilling, the idea of teaching workers new skills to help them keep up with the innovations driving their industry. There is room for associations in this trend. Last week, for example, the National Governors Association and the American Association of Community Colleges announced a reskilling initiative involving a network of 20 states.

“Governors across the country have been taking steps to prepare their residents for the jobs of the future, but the COVID-19 pandemic makes this effort much more urgent,” NGA Center Director Timothy Blute said in a news release.

AN ACCELERATING TREND

They’re not alone in encouraging such initiatives, and the heightened urgency in an unstable employment environment is leading to renewed interest in educational tools that were once seen as second banana, like the massive open online course, or MOOC. These tools struggled to reach a potential audience but are now seeing huge upticks in use.

“Crises lead to accelerations, and this is [the] best chance ever for online learning,” Udacity cofounder Sebastian Thrun told The New York Times back in May. Thrun noted that the company was within a few months of running out of money just two years ago, leading to deep cuts in its staff. Now the opposite is true.

Large companies are taking advantage of the reskilling need as well, according to CIO, which reports that corporate giants like Shell are leaning heavily on offerings from services such as Udacity and Coursera to teach their workers increasingly important skills.

“The lifetime of digital skills is getting shorter and shorter,” Daniel Jeavons, who heads up Shell’s data science program, told CIO. “By adopting new skilling approaches we can support our workforce needs, while evolving to embrace new opportunities ahead.”

Not even counting the number of people who have been put out of work due to the COVID-19 crisis, the need for updated skills is widespread. KPMG recently reported, for example, that 84 percent of the tech companies that responded to its survey are teaching workers new types of skills. The problem is a lack of clarity about who, exactly, should get training.

“Once there is a solid understanding of current workforce capabilities, leaders need to decide who to upskill,” according to the report, The New Employee Deal in the Technology Industry. “Since in-demand hard skills are constantly changing, organizations need to be strategic about who they choose to upskill. Formal learning programs, mentoring, and even online training are expensive and time consuming, so targeting the right individuals will be important.”

WHERE ASSOCIATIONS FIT IN

Upskilling isn’t cheap, and many organizations don’t have a Fortune 500 budget to invest. But associations can likely help their industries reskill through virtual events and ongoing online educational offerings that meet the needs their members have identified. This, of course, could mean significant business opportunities for your association.

Long before we knew the seismic shifts we would be facing, reskilling was expected to be a major trend in human resources departments this year. Research has focused on retraining as a long-term solution for specific segments of the workforce, including women. And as far back as 2018, the Association for Talent Development was sounding the alarm on a lack of training.

In almost every area, the coronavirus makes the day-to-day move slower and the big picture move a heckuva lot faster. This is one area where your association could benefit both its staff and its members by keeping up.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith. 

A strong voice can empower your members and help you manage difficult messaging moments. Now might be the perfect time to build one from scratch.

By Eric Goodstadt

A couple of decades ago, a brand could continue to live on for months with just one clever slogan on TV or in a print ad.

But in the modern era, your organizational voice is a living thing. It has a pulse, which needs to run through your entire association—and keep up with the rest of the world, in real time. And, thanks to social media, it’s instantly within reach of your members 24/7.

The problem is that voice-building doesn’t always get the attention it deserves because there’s always something bigger out front—always some fire to deal with that’s more important.

The uniqueness of the current moment, however, could be an opportunity to fine-tune your organization’s voice. Many organizations, associations included, are struggling to respond to the pandemic and the broader cultural movement around Black Lives Matter. And during this once-in-a-lifetime period of restricted budgets and disrupted schedules, the essence of your brand—your voice—suddenly matters a lot more than ever to your membership and to the public.

BUILD YOUR VOICE FROM SCRATCH

Using the voice of one of your rock-star marketers might seem like an expedient solution for creating a distinct voice for your association. Just one problem, though: The second that rock star exits stage right (i.e., decides to find another job), you’re suddenly missing a voice. It’s simply not sustainable. Whereas building a good voice from the bottom up, while it may take time, is more than just a way to sound clever. It’s a reliable barometer for brand safety, a funnel for content ideas, and a point of view that you can totally own, which spreads across different topics with ease.

And by building from the bottom up, you can account for tonal changes—something you can’t do by just winging it. There are times when a fun tone just won’t work, and your organization’s voice needs to account for that.

If, for example, your organization struggled to find the right tone during the recent Black Lives Matter protests, an inflexible brand voice might be the reason. (To be fair, a lot of organizations were similarly challenged, as a recent Morning Consult survey shows.) The result is a moment when your voice wavers a little, unsure of what to say next.

With the right framework—say, an effective social governance policy that helps guide your responses on Twitter and Facebook—you can deal with these moments effectively.

Best part? This kind of framework can help improve your messaging everywhere.

One great example of an organization that has developed an authentic voice is the email marketing service MailChimp. Its in-depth content style guide covers things both broad for “voice and tone” (it says it has a plain-spoken voice, with a dry sense of humor and a goal “to demystify B2B-speak”) and incredibly specific (it has four different styles for its technical guides, and they vary by target audience).

And it’s flexible, too. As MailChimp puts it: “Our voice doesn’t change much from day to day, but our tone changes all the time.”

This flexibility allows MailChimp to do things that few brands of its nature can. For example, the company has significant original content offerings that include podcasts, original series, and acquired content. The one thing that’s pulling it all together? That authentic voice.

The result is that MailChimp is in control of its defining characteristics. And because the company put in the work upfront, everyone in the office can contribute, not just a star player.

THE POTENTIAL OF AN AUTHENTIC VOICE

The problem for many organizations, including associations, is that they don’t put in this work. It takes time to get it right, and it requires a process to understand how to distill a mission statement into a voice that empowers an entire staff.

But it’s worth the time—especially now, when the primary way that your members interact with you may be with likes on your social channels rather than a handshake at your annual meeting. If your team can hone the elements of your brand values into the right formula, you might find that your messages resonate better.

The right voice should feel like something every member of your organization might actually say—it’s the kind of thing that doesn’t deserve a shortcut.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Eric Goodstadt. 

In an unpredictable and shifting landscape, the Fragrance Creators Association changed its associate members to active members to create a stronger, more unified community to better respond to extraordinary global challenges.

The Fragrance Creators Association recently announced that it is elevating its finished-product manufacturers from associate to active members in a move aimed at giving members better ways to break down silos, share ideas and points of view, and create a safe place to engage on topics that advance collaboration and innovation, according to Farah K. Ahmed, Fragrance Creators president and CEO.

The decision to change its membership model was driven by an understanding that for Fragrance Creators to achieve its mission, all participants in the fragrance value chain need to work together, Ahmed said. The association reaffirmed a commitment to “listening, respecting, and engaging all stakeholders,” she added.

Previously, as associate members, finished-goods manufacturers (makers of products that use fragrance ingredients) collaborated with fragrance manufacturer members to support state and federal advocacy efforts and on key projects such as FCA’s consumer education website, The Fragrance Conservatory. The pandemic heightened the need for collaboration, as fragrance creators and finished-product manufacturers worked together to share ideas and keep critical cleaning and disinfecting products accessible across the country.

WHAT WILL THE CHANGE ACCOMPLISH?

“This change will benefit all Fragrance Creator members. It will support a greater diversity of perspectives—not only on a project basis, but in the overall strategic thinking of the organization,” Ahmed said. Elevating finished-product manufacturers to active status, she said, will help the association increase its influence with key stakeholders, legislators, the Congressional Fragrance Caucus, nongovernmental organizations, retailers, and allied trade associations.

The new active status of the finished-product manufacturers provides the advantage of a broader perspective, which, Ahmed said, will help increase awareness and appreciation for fragrance and promote better understanding of the industry’s safety programs.

That kind of wider industry perspective can bring new vitality and impact to many associations, Ahmed noted, although achieving it can be challenging.

“My advice is to work simultaneously with all levels of membership—board, executive, and technical—to ensure all parties have clarity on the purpose of the association (i.e., serving the industry as a whole) and its mission, and understand that a pivot is a change in strategy, not a change in the mission,” she said.

A trade association’s relationship with its membership is built on mutual respect, trust, and leadership, Ahmed said, and is strengthened by a shared understanding of purpose. “We strive to elevate that common purpose, instill a culture that promotes consensus building, and strengthen teamwork among the members, so that when great challenges arise, industry can come together to meet the moment and be a force for good.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Lisa Boylan. 

At a time when not much feels certain about the world, having someone in your corner to turn to can help to make work life a little more manageable.

Mentoring is often a key part of what associations help foster, and what many younger professionals are looking for.

And it turns out that’s particularly true now, even though people can’t be in the same room to accept such mentoring.

Given the current state of the world right, it’s worth underlining exactly why that is, and why your organization should emphasize it, even if it means phone calls and Slack chats rather than handshakes and lunch meetings.

A few insights:

Mentors help boost confidence during difficult times. In an article for Harvard Business Review, David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson note that mentors can prove a calming presence during a difficult period. “Every growth-fostering interaction in a strong mentorship bolsters a mentee’s professional and personal growth, identity, self-worth, and self-efficacy,” Smith and Johnson write. In a Forbes piece, organizational psychologist Rebecca Newton notes that mentorship also helps to foster trust. “In a business environment where competitiveness and pressure can certainly lead to some negative interpersonal dynamics, we can’t underestimate the impact of relationships built on trust and empathy, grounded in active listening for professionals’ psychological strength and well-being,” she writes.

It may be the best tactic you have to develop internal talent right now. The talent management news site TLNT says that talent development can be costly right now—but that mentorship can offer an inexpensive alternative for helping strengthen resources internally. “Let’s get practical: mentorship is one of the most cost-effective ways you can invest in training and promoting diverse talent,” contributor Katherine Plumhoff writes. “You don’t need to shell out for expensive conferences. You probably already know who the rising stars at the junior levels of your organization are. You just need to set them up with someone more senior who can help them navigate the transition to a leadership role.”

It can help fight back isolation. In a recent Forbes piece, contributor Tanya Tarr makes a case that one reason that mentoring programs are so important currently is due to lingering factors of loneliness, which she says is costing businesses billions of dollars yearly. Seena Mortazavi, the CEO of Chronus, underlined that the pandemic may highlight areas where employees may not have a support network to lean on. A mentoring program can help to strengthen that. “Imagine what’s going on now,” Mortazavi said. “I can’t even fathom what that cost will be in terms of impact to our lives or health conditions or mental health.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith. 

A recent survey by Tradeshow Logic confirms that many exhibitors consider virtual events risky compared to in-person events. But there are ways to win them over.

Associations are well along in pivoting to virtual meetings this year, but there’s no guarantee that their exhibitors will follow suit. In fact, many won’t, according to a new study from the show management company Tradeshow Logic, which surveyed nearly 350 exhibitors.

According to Redefining Value for Today’s Exhibitors and Sponsors, more than a third of respondents (35 percent) said they don’t anticipate participating in any virtual tradeshows in the next 12 months, while another third (32 percent) anticipate attending between one and three. In comparison, just 14 percent of respondents said they don’t plan to attend in-person events, and 38 percent expect to attend up to three events.

Exhibitors were significantly more likely to say they’ll take part in in-person events on a repeat basis: 17 percent of respondents anticipate attending at least 10 in-person events, compared to 8 percent that expect to attend 10 or more virtual events.

The report’s authors suggest that the results highlight how risky moving exhibitors to a virtual event by default could be. The firm recommends offering multiple options to exhibitors who would traditionally take part in an in-person event, including refunds.

“Based on this response, it’s not a given that your exhibitor/sponsor base will engage in your virtual event. Internal budget restrictions or reduced staffing are indicated barriers,” the report states. “Automatically re-allocating your customers’ deposits to your virtual event will alienate a certain segment of your market who are simply unable to participate.”

EASING VIRTUAL EVENT DOUBTS

One major challenge is that virtual events are still largely an unknown quantity for exhibitors, who often aren’t convinced of their value.

“Even though virtual platforms are touted as ‘turnkey,’ they still require significant marketing and promotion investment from your exhibitors and sponsors in order to get a worthwhile return,” the report notes.

The report offers advice for easing exhibitors’ doubts about the virtual format:

Maximize face-to-face time. Direct interaction with potential customers matters for exhibitors at virtual events, who want to offer education or product demos to attendees.

Ask for guidance. Keeping exhibitors in the loop can help ensure better engagement for sponsors.

Make the value of participating clear. Exhibitors want to gain leads and make sales, and they’re not sure a virtual experience can deliver them. Articulating how those results are possible will help ensure exhibitor investment, the report notes.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith.