October 2016 Associations Congress 19
‘ It ’ s the commercial drivers that are very important ,’ says Hutt , ‘ as a forecast profi t can so easily turn bad ’
What are the top issues that association executives face when staging their events ? For the medium to small association , creating a programme that is must-attend for enough members , selling sufficient sponsorship / stands , and marketing it effectively . It ’ s the commercial drivers that are very important as a forecast profit can so easily turn bad .
How has your project shifted its emphasis over the years ? We were focusing on getting the event style and programme right in the early years , before developing other areas . Since spring , we have been working on developing the membership organisation , Associations Network , into the Association of Association Executives ( AAE ), as well as bringing it all together online at our associationexecutives . org portal . The portal is the next phase for us as we expand our network of members and extend our online content to complement our events programmes .
You have taken your conferences abroad and also launched internationally . What encouraged you to do so ? There was a dire need for education and sharing best practice and commercial practices in mainland Europe , as there is in much of the world . Addressing European and international associations at a congress on the continent of Europe is quite appropriate . The attendance and support has been excellent and , in Vienna in 2017 , we expect to grow substantially .
How do you delineate the various parts of your associations portfolio business ? It ’ s important to be clear that we are a membership association ourselves and not an event organising company . Our focus is on delivering value and facilitating the sharing of best practice for members . We aim to achieve this by providing educational and networking events in the form of congresses , conferences and seminars , offering an online portal for valuable member content and through recognising excellence via our awards programme .
Where are you at with the Africa project ? This really is an exciting development for us and we see it as a long term project . We are continuing to develop and our membership base in Africa is growing .
Which associations you have worked with strike you as models of well run organisations that others could learn from ? We don ’ t actually work with the associations per se and so cannot specifically comment on how they operate . We do , however , see lots of great examples of excellent work thanks to our awards programme and it is here that I would encourage associations to read about successful projects that might provide valuable insights and ideas . See www . associationawards . org / and www . associationexecutives . org / page / SuccessStories