March 2017 Education 7
Tipping point for the small operator
' We need to start thinking a bit differently about who we ' re serving and how we ' re serving them '
have little interest in membership but are eager for training opportunities . ( one theme of MCI Group ’ s recently released Global Engagement Index , a document I had an editorial hand in .)
The White Paper suggests that many associations already have a grasp of the employment environment and career paths in their industries , what ’ s left is to build a strategy and delivery system around it . And also , Alcorn and Engel told me , a will among association leaders to adapt their mindset enough to make education as much a tentpole of their model as membership and the big annual conference .
The clock is ticking : for-profit organisations will happily take over the kind of niche education that associations specialise in if associations themselves don ’ t pursue it , Alcorn says . ( As an example , recently I received a PR email from Amazon trumpeting its nursing training for employees in its fulfillment centres .)
“ I think associations are the best secret going ,” Alcorn says . “ You can have an impact , and it ’ s time to embrace some optimism . The kind of member loyalty that you have always said you wanted to create ? I don ’ t know of any better loyalty than ‘ They helped me get a job , keep a job , and get a better job ’.”
Reprinted with permission . Copyright , ASAE : The Center for Association Leadership ( September 2016 ), Washington , DC .
In the pharmaceutical industry events can be supported by generous budgets , but not all organisers are able to shell out on the latest intuitive app technology . Network Pharma is a one-man business that organises small medical meetings and is run by Peter Llewellyn . He says he was finally persuaded to plump for Lumi ’ s Meetoo app when he saw that 70 % of delegates in one market he witnessed were able to engage and interact with the technology . The app also allows attendees to continue engaging and asking questions after the events were over . It also met Llewellyn ' s criteria for a simple and inexpensive solution . Llewellyn admits he had been sceptical of the practicality of some apps on the market . “ I ’ ve seen quite a number of instances where they don ’ t work in practice because people can ’ t be bothered to download them or they don ’ t know how their smartphone works .” He adds that organisers end up giving out iPads with the app preloaded , an option that costs . At a NetworkPharma event of 65 people , Llewellyn says 45 guests used the Meetoo app to interact with the polls and more subsequently arrived with the app already installed on their phones , reducing the amount of time he now spends giving a tutorial at the beginning of his events .