EDUCATION SESSIONS

6 CAE Credits (pending approval)

Wednesday - Hilton Richmond Downtown

Workshop 2:30-5:00 p.m.

Practical Applications of AI in Association Management

Erin Fuller, FASAE, CAE
CAE Domain: 4 - Operations
CAE Hours: 2.50

Association management processes are often carried out manually, while performance is measured using strategic outcomes. However, AI can help make daily tasks more efficient. In this session, you will learn about real-life examples of how AI can be used in marketing, strategic planning, content creation, data analysis, and educational program development.

You will leave with a better understanding of the impact of AI on association operations and resource allocation, and how to integrate AI into your operations and strategic planning. You'll also learn ways to use AI in research, member persona development, and environmental scanning. 

Thursday - Greater Richmond Convention Center

Keynote Presentation 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Culture Change Made Easy



Jamie Notter
CAE Domain: 2 - Executive Leadership
CAE Hours: 1.00

We all want an exceptional workplace culture that delivers better results and higher employee engagement. Companies with weak or average cultures struggle to attract and retain top talent. But culture change seems daunting—it feels time-consuming, risky, and difficult to manage. The real problem, however, is that we're not seeing the invisible patterns inside our culture that make culture change so hard. You can create a stronger, more resilient culture by uncovering your patterns and solving the problems they create—all in a matter of months, not years. When you learn how to accelerate your culture change, you will achieve new levels of success you didn't think were possible.

Culture expert Jamie Notter will discuss eight primary culture patterns that keep many organizations stuck with ineffective cultures that hold them back. Using real-world case studies, an extensive analysis of culture assessment data, and a decade of culture change work in the trenches, he'll offer concrete strategies for solving age-old problems related to innovation, information sharing, agility, and silos. He'll also share a framework for rapid culture change that has been used successfully in a variety of industries, and they debunk several popular myths about what culture is and how to change it.

*Provided courtesy of PK Speakers Bureau, LLC 

Morning Breakout Sessions 10:15-11:30 a.m.

Being Indispensable: Driving Association Success

Jim Roman, Business Owners Institute
CAE Domain: 6 - Member and Stakeholder Engagement and Management
CAE Hours: 1.25

Do you have the engaged members you need? Members are the lifeblood of an association. Without them, you have no revenue, no volunteers or leaders, and no ability to achieve your vision and mission. In this talk, Strategic Business Coach Jim Roman reveals the 5 key areas your association must master to gain, engage and retain the kind of active, invested members you need: Communicating your vision and mission to your members, prospects and community; achieving organizational stability and structure; uncovering the needs and wants of your members; increasing your member engagement; and achieving a return on relationships. Spoiler alert: Master these five areas, and you also develop the next generation of leaders your association needs! Join Jim to learn tools and techniques you can implement today to Be Indispensable to your members so that they can thrive—and your association can, too.

Key Audience Takeaways:

• Describe how clarifying and communicating their association’s vision and mission through a

  Unique Value Proposition will enable them to gain new members and increase revenue.

• Define how to uncover the needs and wants of their association’s members in order to increase

  the engagement of those members, including as volunteers.

• Identify ways to provide value to members, including a return on relationships, in order to

  increase annual reenrollment and retain members over the long term.

• Describe how incorporating proven tactics to gaining, engaging and retaining members bolsters

  association leadership by building a membership of active, invested future leaders.

 Purposeful Abandonment and Inspired Innovation: Delivering an Exceptional Strategic Plan

Andrew Chamberlain, FSAM, FRSA, MIoL and Elisa Pratt, MA, CAE, CVF
CAE Domain: 1 - Governance
CAE Hours: 1.25

One of the Board’s central roles is to ensure a winning strategy for its association, but it is common for Directors to question “how are we going to be strategic?”. Admitting they are unsure of the process takes courage, but it is completely reasonable. After all, why should they instinctively know how to plan strategically for a nonprofit membership body? This immersive session will stimulate discussion, educate and inspire, provoke debate, and inform fresh approaches to volunteer leadership development and provide insights into how to engage your board in strategic foresight and action-oriented planning. We’ll explore the strategic challenges and opportunities faced by boards and agree the skill sets and characteristics necessary to lead and be successful in the strategic planning process. The interactive structure will include small team exercises and discussion, and the group design of custom planning methodologies.

Key Audience Takeaways:

• Recognize and appreciate the parameters of strategic and operational roles and responsibilities.

• Describe and mix the ingredients of effective strategic thinking and planning.

• Evaluate your association’s capabilities to deliver strategy and identify the gaps in their board’s capacity for leadership, agility, and strategic vision.

• Support ongoing and future board development, ensuring the board is informed, equipped, and empowered to be the strategic stewards of the organization.

Afternoon Session 2:15-3:30 p.m.

Unlocking Your Creative Thinking to Design Experiential Events

Julie Austin, Creative Innovation Group
CAE Domain: 8 - Marketing and Communications
CAE Hours: 1.25

Today, event planners are looking for creative ways to innovate the traditional event experience. Treating attendees like influencers, creating a sense of FOMO, upscaling attendee wellness…it can seem all too daunting. But the secret to innovation is teaching your brain how to think outside the box! This session will explore inspiration from inventors, cross-industry innovation strategies, and event innovation stories from past to present. Join Julie Austin, award winning author and innovation speaker, in this interactive speech to learn how to maximize experiential events with creative thinking strategies.

Key Audience Takeaways:

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