The top-9 news articles of 2012
TRENDS readers were most interested in trends in meetings and compensation, but also in effective communication, including with Congress.
1. Who earns what among association meeting professionals – July 6
Convene magazine found that the average salary for association meeting professionals is $68,346, compared with $72,887 for their corporate counterparts; $68,529 for government meeting professionals; and $72,092 for independent meeting professionals.
Meeting professionals in the New York metro area earn on average $80,114; $74,254 in metro Chicago; and $76,941 in the DC area.
In the TRENDS 2012 Compensation Report, a convention/meetings director earned on average $90,607; a convention/meetings manager earned $59,928; and an exhibits manager earned, on average, $63,466.
Both the Convene and TRENDS surveys found that directors are paid highest in the Northeast.
2. New-look Salute wows association community – Feb. 16
The TRENDS 2012 Salute to Association Excellence premiered a new look to go with its updated format while retaining the purpose of honoring the association community’s best.
More than 450 attended the 2012 Salute at the Capital Hilton in Washington. Participants were treated to a pre-reception in the All Media Contest winners gallery, hosted by Venable LLP.
When it was time for the awards segment of the program, a curtain wall was drawn back dramatically to reveal the changes to the stage from previous years, including the new Salute logo set against a wall of blue, as well as a larger dais.
For information on the TRENDS 2013 Salute to Association Excellence, including details of all the honorees and the winners of the All Media Contest, go to www.AssociationTRENDS.com/salute.
3. TRENDS Attends: Highlights from the CFO of the Year Awards Luncheon – Feb. 1
Communication and flexibility are key factors to being a successful association chief financial officer, two association winners said this week in a panel discussion at the Nonprofit CFO Awards Luncheon in Washington.
More than 300 attended the event at the Mayflower Hotel to honor CFO of the Year Stanley Berman of Global Impact; Rising Star Jason Daisey, Associated Builders & Contractors; and Transformational Leader Kimberly McKinnish of National Beer Wholesalers Association. The awards luncheon was a standalone event this year after being part of the program of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs Nonprofit Symposium for the past few years.
The luncheon's new format featured a panel discussion among the three winners, moderated by Current TV anchor David Shuster.
4. TRENDS Attends: 6 trends in association meetings – April 5
Claire Smith, CMP, sales and marketing VP for the Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) Convention Center gave a presentation on what is new and innovative in association expos and tradeshows, as part of ASAE’s Business of Meetings Certificate Program, this week in Washington. Among her points:
1. Hosted buyers programs are growing. Follow the IMEX example – with the association meeting planner as the buyer – and take the lead for your exhibitors.
2. The rise of scheduled appointments. Make it easy for your exhibitors.
3. Alternate ways for the sponsor to connect. Meeting Professionals International listens to their exhibitors, and testing having booths standardized and turned into appointment spaces, while eliminating shipping costs.
5. 2012 Association Email Marketing Report – May 10
Emails promoting events have the best open rates for associations and most people are still opening their emails by their desktop computers.
These are among the findings of the Informz 2012 Association Email Marketing Report, released this month. Informz analyzed the results from 600 million emails sent by more than 700 large and mid-sized associations.
The purpose of the study is to provide industry-specific metrics to association email marketers, enabling them to have a better understanding of what metrics to analyze when reviewing email marketing programs; what goals to set based on similar organizations; and how their email marketing programs are performing.
6. New report: Why people join associations – March 22
Word of mouth seems to be the main reason why a person joins an association, according to new research by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
MetLife recently released a report called "The Association and Affinity Marketplace: Expanding business opportunities by understanding member preferences by association type." The report's intent is to guide insurance brokers and third-party administrators on tapping into associations.
The research shows a large portion of members join associations based on recommendations by friends and family (14 percent), and by colleagues (14 percent). Other reasons are the association is well known (10 percent), the person joined because he attended an event sponsored by the association (9 percent) and that the association has a good reputation (8 percent).
Only 6 percent said lobbying/political influence was a reason they joined an association.
7. The top 8 legal issues for associations – March 22
This article is included in the TRENDS 2012 Legal Review, sponsored by Venable LLP. Among the eight issues:
Lobbying: The Federal Election Commission and Office of Government Ethics have proposed significant new restrictions on the interaction of federal employees with trade associations. Existing House and Senate gift rules restrict legislative personnel from attending events unless they are “widely attended (more than 25 people)” and if they have a speaking role or if it will ‘further the interest of the government.’ …
Taxation. Revocation of nonprofit tax exemptions. In June 2011, the Internal Revenue Service revoked the tax exemption of more than 275,000 nonprofit organizations, almost 17 percent of those previously exempted. This action impacts those entities that have failed to file required returns for three consecutive years. Litigation. October 2011, the Obama administration continued its restriction on interaction with lobbyists by prohibiting registered lobbyists from serving on federal advisory committees. Six lobbyists for various trade association groups have sued the administration claiming that the new policy denies their constitutional right of freedom of speech and the equal protection guarantees.
8. Research to raise your association government relations ROI – July 12
By David Rehr, PhD. The country’s 72,000 trade associations are responsible for much of the $16.4 billion spent over the past five years to influence the U.S. Congress. Annually, association boards approve significant government relations budgets to advance their legislative priorities on Capitol Hill. Associations also have bolstered their budgets to include advocacy at the state and regional level, acknowledging that success with members of Congress now includes swaying the opinions of their constituents. But with all this focus on affecting outcomes on Capitol Hill, there is one elusive key piece for ultimate success: knowing what works and what doesn’t.
Well, the wait is over. On June 12, the Congressional Communications Report was released. The report is designed to help associations better understand the complex environment on Capitol Hill and what Congress looks for from association government relations experts. More than 700 congressional staff and nearly 2,300 lobbyists participated in the survey – the largest sample to date.
The report is a partnership of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University and The Original U.S. Congress Handbook and Lobbyists.info, published by Columbia Books and Information Services. ORI, a market research company based in Reston, Va., ensured the report meets the highest statistical and methodological standards.
9. Trends in association compensation - July 27
Pay for performance, or incentive plans, are gaining popularity among associations, which must compete for talent with for-profit companies, especially in IT, human resources and finance, among other disciplines.
This was among the topics discussed at the TRENDS Finance LIVE Breakfast: Nonprofit Salary Trends and Executive Compensation Issues in Washington, which featured speakers Charles Quatt and Brian Vogel of Quatt Associates, and Eileen Johnson, a lawyer with Whiteford Taylor Preston in Washington.
As reported by Vogel and Quatt in their presentation, base salary continues to be the primary component of cash compensation in not-for-profit organizations. But the base salary gap between not-for-profit organizations and general industry is narrowing as many not-for-profits now recognize the value of executive talent.
