Back on the Road! Reflections from Annual Meeting 2021


The AMCI Annual Meeting 2020 in Long Beach, CA was one of the last events many in our industry attended before our travel declined and ultimately halted to a full stop. How fitting it was then to come together again in Orlando, FL for AMCI 2021 June 2-4th.

Showing up to our first event in over a year, it was hard to know what to expect for the “new normal” meeting environment, such  as something as simple as shaking a hand, which we took for granted a year ago in Long Beach! Besides the content and networking opportunities that waited for us at AMCI, this was also a learning experience for us to gauge how we should operate our client’s meetings and events in a post-pandemic era. We dusted off our suitcases, dug in the back closet for business clothes that haven’t seen sunlight in months, and hopped on flights packed with theme-park clad families to make it to AMCI.

Read More

Four Newly Accredited AMCs Recognized at Annual Meeting

Four Newly Accredited AMCs Recognized at Annual Meeting

We have all heard of overachievers during the pandemic – loaves of bread, puzzles completed, miles tracked on fake bikes. Some of our AMC colleagues truly used the time to their professional and competitive advantage – becoming an accredited firm within AMCI.

 We had the chance during our Annual Meeting to recognize the four most recently accredited firms, AMC Source, ICOM, Management Connection, and Q & A Business Solutions.  Kudos to their respective principals, Gregory Brooks, Dr. Ahmed El Shal, Nick Bundra, and Beth Quick-Andrews, CAE, for rallying their teams and completing the intensive accreditation process in a virtual environment. And as my company is part of a global firm, I want to issue a special welcome to ICOM, headquartered in the UAE with an additional office in Cairo.

Read More

Microaggressions–What They Are and How To Avoid Them

Microaggressions – What They Are and How To Avoid Them

Microaggressions are like planting, or watering, seeds of doubt – doubt in abilities, doubt in whether one belongs, doubt in worthiness, doubt in identity, and doubt in life decisions/paths.
 – Dr. Gretchen Neigh
 

Acknowledgements: This issue’s column was a collaborative piece with Dr. Gretchen Neigh, Dr. Debra Bangasser and Dr. April Thames. Thank you for contributing commonplace examples of microaggressions and raising awareness to empower scientific society memberships to work together to exclude them.

Over the last decade professional societies have made a concerted effort to improve diversity and create an environment of inclusion.  Since PMG began in 2008, progress has been made.  It has been exciting to see both men and women elevate others who were not like them and see positivity in disagreement on key issues. Throughout my time in association management, I have watched the many organizations grow and change, but yes, we still have a LOT more work to do to create a truly welcoming and inclusive environment. 

Read More

Emerging Leaders Workshop - In Case You Missed It

Emerging Leaders Workshop - In Case You Missed It 

More than 50 emerging AMC leaders convened to listen, learn, and share their experiences at AMCI's first Emerging Leaders half-day workshop. The program focused on how to advocate for yourself, seize opportunities, and spotlighted best practices to close skill gaps and accelerate your career.

There were dozens of highlights and nearly as many books, articles and resources shared. Below are five techniques we explored applying to our routines; if they inspire you, share your thoughts in the comments!

Read More

The Impact of 2020 and beyond on the AMC Industry

Unprecedented times. Pivoting. Navigating the New Normal. Wear a Mask.

I know I am nowhere near the first, nor unfortunately, the last person to give you the terms above. We knew that 2020 had an impact on our community – an impact that would be felt beyond the time of herd immunity and 100% capacity events. I appreciate the nearly 100 AMCs that took the time out of a very dynamic time for all of our businesses to give us data about both the impact on their business as well as where the AMC Institute is hitting the mark or has opportunities to develop.

Read More

Consider Joining Us

Dear AMCI Membership,

Many of us have watched as our industry wrestles with when and how to meet safely again. When the AMC Institute staff team worked with our industry partners to suggest shifting the Annual Meeting to June 2021, I know that the members of the Board took a collective deep breath and agreed to move forward. At the time we needed to make that decision, a relative handful of U.S. residents had received the vaccine, with no clear path forward for mass vaccination.

Read More

Three Reasons Your AMC's Culture is Important

During the selection process, your association’s board of directors will ask a lot of questions about a new association management company (AMC). The questions will probably focus heavily on costs, staffing levels, past successes, and how the AMC has performed with similar associations.

Knowing how your AMC develops its cost structure and understanding how they’ve guided associations through the same obstacles to success is important—but many boards often fail to ask about an AMC’s culture.

Read More

Three Things Boards Need to Do to Ensure a Smooth Transition Between AMCs

The transition from one association management company (AMC) to another can be one of the biggest challenges an association’s board of directors will ever face. Even when the transition goes smoothly, replacing one staff team and headquarters with an entirely different one in a relatively short timeframe is always going to be difficult.

But while transitioning to another AMC may be challenging, it is often necessary. A board of directors and their AMC can become strategically misaligned. The association and/or the AMC may outgrow one another. There can be a need for new perspectives and new capacities.

Read More

You Aren't Firing Your AMC. You're Finding the Appropriate Partner for Your Association.

When your board selects a new association management company (AMC), it isn’t like firing an employee.

It is like firing several employees, all at once.

Read More

Educating Virtually in 2021

As 2021 progresses, we are all feeling the collective desire for things to go “back to normal.” The COVID vaccine is quickly being distributed around the globe, and many are hoping that we’ll soon be returning to all the things we did pre-pandemic. For some, this includes hosting and attending in-person conferences and events.

We’ve fielded a myriad of questions from clients and prospects about what the rest of 2021 is going to look like, and the truth is, we really don’t know. None of us has a crystal ball, but what we can do is give insight into 6 areas we’ve been tracking when it comes to education for the remainder of 2021. 

Read More

How The Palm Beaches is Safely Hosting In-Person Events

The Palm Beaches is open for meetings and events, as we lead the way to re-envisioned face-to-face events with an enhanced focus on wellness, connection, and safety. In January, in partnership with the Palm Beach County Convention Center, we hosted a live event as an Official Network Partner of PCMA Convening Leaders.  By focusing on mental wellness and leveraging community partnerships to create engaging and creative experiences, we’re able to help our clients wow attendees without compromising safety. 

 

Read More

Enhancing Employee Mental Wellbeing – Where to Start

 

As we all know, these are incredibly stressful times as people are working remotely while caring for children or elders, feeling isolated and lonely, worrying about their finances and job security, dealing with political divide and racial injustice, trying to stay physically healthy, and more. That’s a lot! The good news is that if you’re reading this article, it’s likely because you care about your employees’ mental wellbeing and want to learn how you can help them.

Read More

Marriott International Launches Hybrid Meetings Insights White Paper After Testing its Connect With Confidence Approach to Meetings & Events

With everchanging restrictions on gatherings and travel globally, the pandemic brought business as usual to an abrupt halt – significantly so in the world of events. But disruptions can also be fertile ground for innovation, and the meetings industry is ready to meet this challenge. In this spirit, Marriott International set out to plan, conduct, and learn from our series of hybrid virtual and in-person events. We call our series Connect with Confidence and introduced it as an extension of our Marriott Bonvoy™ Events initiative. While more events are planned around the world, our first two hybrid events were:

Read More

Just Released: Omnipress 2021 Conference Industry Report

For the seventh year, Omnipress has surveyed over 150 association and meeting professionals to track the role conference content plays before, during, and after the event. This year’s survey measures the impact of 2020 on conference delivery, conference performance, and the resulting implications for 2021 and beyond.

Read More

Top 10 Tried & True Tips & Tricks for Business Development

Top 10 Tips Tried & True Tips & Tricks for Business Development

 Here is a helpful top 10 list to assist you in ensuring success in your business development efforts offered by Jeanne Sheehy, MBA, CMO, Bostrom, Megan Woodburn, CAE, Founder and CEO, Strategic Association Management (SAM) and Katie Callahan-Giobbi, Head of Business Development, SmithBucklin.

1. Growing the Pie

Read More

Five Ways Young Professionals Can Promote Wellbeing In The Workplace

Five Ways Young Professionals Can Promote Wellbeing in the Workplace

By Caoimhe Kenny

The pandemic is taking a toll on people’s wellbeing and mental health. Here are several ideas for how young professionals can prioritize themselves in order to improve their work performance and happiness.

As the global pandemic rages on and workplaces shift their perspective on remote work from a short-term solution to a long-term reality, the discussion around workers’ mental health and wellbeing is more important than ever. Every demographic has its own set of unique challenges during these times, and young professionals are no exception. YPs may be more likely to live alone and away from their families, exacerbating feelings of loneliness and isolation. Some YPs may be living and working in less-than-ideal conditions—eating, sleeping, and working in a tiny studio apartment—while others may be trying to juggle working from home with caring for or schooling small children. Whatever your challenges, prioritizing your mental wellbeing in the current climate is an imperative. Here are some tips to get you started:



Read More

The New Shape of Work is Flexibility for All

COVID-19 has tested our ability to flex how and where we work. Employers’ next challenge is to design and implement flexible working strategies inclusive of all employees at all life stages, harnessing the many different forms flexibility can take.  

Many employers say they will increase flexible working at a grander scale than before the coronavirus pandemic to deliver value — such as sustained engagement, productivity increases, and greater access to expanded talent pools. One in three companies — compared to one in 30 previously — anticipate making half or more of their workforce remote following COVID-19. Still, engaging a blended workforce with differing employee experiences will be challenging to managers and teams. It will affect everything from hiring to learning and development and performance management.

Read More

Know Your Competitive Advantage

Know Your Competitive Advantage: The Experts Focus on it; Most Businesses Miss It

Warren Buffet was asked, “What is the single most important thing you look for when you invest in a company?” He replied without hesitation, “Competitive advantage.”  His practice was never to invest in a business that did not have a competitive advantage and a strong management team.  Jack Welch, CEO of G. E. back when it was a strong company, said, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”  This focus provided tremendous results for these two geniuses of yesterday, and the empires they built.

Yet as I travel around for speaking, both nationally and internationally, to business leaders of all size companies, I always ask,” How often do you review/consider/evaluate your company’s competitive advantage?”  Remarkably, the two most common honest answers are “never” and “once a year.”  How often do you consider that question for your AMC?  and your client associations?


Read More

Join us in Orlando, FL for the 2021 AMCI Annual Meeting!

Dear AMCI Member,

Yes, the rumors you have heard are true! We are optimistically moving forward with an in-person meeting, June 2-4, 2021 at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Resort, Orlando, Florida.

The decision to shift this meeting to June rather than convene in February virtually was based on the clear message voiced by our AMC members.  The AMC community is universally challenged by today’s ever-changing landscape.  You are in search of solutions and best practices that will set your firm up for success in meeting the needs of your clients today and in the future.  Yesterday is old news.  Your association clients are looking to you for thought leadership on how to drive past adversity toward stability and growth.  With your insight, AMCI’s Annual Meeting Committee has carefully designed Universal Change and the Evolving AMC: Innovation. Culture. Profit., a 2021 Annual Meeting that will push us all past our 2020 pivot! 

Read More

Future-Focused: How AMPED Met Virtual Meetings Head-On

The word of the year for successful associations? Pivot.

For AMPED and our association clients who rely on annual conferences and trade shows to deliver education and grow membership, 2020 was a chance to explore virtual meeting options, try something new without fear of failure, and, yes, pivot.

It started in March, when the pandemic stay-at-home orders hit just weeks before the annual conference of one of our newest association clients. Staff immediately moved the meeting online and partnered with a virtual platform company to deliver four days of education with both live and prerecorded content. The result was a successful event whose net income was 28 times higher than was budgeted for the original in-person meeting!

Read More