To say that today’s buyer has changed would be a bit of a massive understatement. In fact, we’ve never seen such change in such a short period of time. When you consider how we’ve evolved since the advent of the internet (it became mainstream in 1996) and then throw on top of that all the digital behaviors that were catapulted by the recent pandemic, the results are stunning.

To name a couple:

I am honored to serve as VSAE President, especially during this time of great change and opportunity. When I first became a member, I was a young female, non-CEO who did not play golf. At times, I felt unable to take advantage of all that VSAE had to offer because I did not always feel like I belonged. Thanks to the tenacity of past VSAE leaders and staff, this is no longer true.

While I am not “young” anymore, I am still a female, non-CEO who does not play golf. Now I have many female past president role models, I can lead the Board as a non-CEO, and I can enjoy a variety of amazing networking activities on or off the golf course. VSAE leadership made intentional changes to the bylaws, programming, and organizational norms to move us forward.

Now, we need to continue moving forward. This year your Board will examine how we advance our efforts to bring about greater diversity and inclusion. We will work to define what this means to VSAE, what actions we can take, and how we can support you as you grapple with this at your organization, whether related to your staff, your governing leadership, or your membership at large.

What can you do now?

Keep learning from your peers. VSAE has already provided some great sessions on diversity and inclusion and another one is on tap at Annual Conference. If you are a member of a Shared Interest Group (SIG), suggest this as a topic. Talking through your experiences and listening deeply are also powerful ways to learn and grow.

Look around the table. When you attend a VSAE event or meeting (virtual or in person), look around at who is there, and more importantly, who is not there. What can you do to make someone else feel that they belong? Consider how you can bring more people to the table, especially people who may not think they belong.

Share your perspective and hold us accountable. The Board needs to hear from the members. We will be engaging in important conversations and soliciting feedback from you. This is not a “check the box” exercise that will be accomplished by the end of the year. It will require sustained commitment from future leadership and the membership as a whole.

VSAE’s mission is to be the best of the best, so you should expect great things. Right now, we all need to listen and to lead. I hope you’ll take this journey with us.

If your work for a national or international association, its natural to question the value of belonging to a state association. Here are the questions we commonly hear (and answers to them): 

What drew you to the association industry?

We asked three new association CEOs the following questions to learn about their career paths and insights on issues facing the industry. The three interviewed were Christina Lewellen, MBA, CAE (CL), Executive Director, Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools; Sarah Mattes Marshall, CAE (SM), Executive Director, VA College of Emergency Physicians; and Abby Tammen (AT), CEO, Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS.

The Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE) is proud to announce its newly-elected 2021-2022 Board of Directors, whose term begins May 1, 2021. The installation ceremony will take place at VSAE’s Annual Conference, June 27-29 at the Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

Officers
• President – Maureen Dingus, CAE, Chief Operating Officer of Virginia Society of CPAs
• Immediate Past President – Phyllis Errico, JD, CAE, General Counsel for Virginia Association of Counties
• President Elect – Steven Williams, CAE, Partner at Hardiman-Williams, LLC
• Treasurer – Stewart Hinckley, President & CEO of Ruggles Service Corporation
• Secretary – Shannon McCabe, CAE, Executive Director of Association of Consulting Foresters

VSAE is partnering with SAEs across the country on a compensation benchmarking platform designed exclusively for executives of professional, trade, and service-centric associations/nonprofits. Our goal is to provide valuable data to help you in maximizing your budget when making hiring and personnel decisions while keeping your organization competitive. The platform’s value increases as more organizations participate (i.e. more data = better results!). 

In addition to compensation and salary information, this platform also gathers data on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, such as gender and racial identity of employees; hiring practices; DE&I policies; and more. All organizations inputting data by March 31 will receive a DE&I Industry Snapshot Report at no cost.  

While an annual subscription is required to generate benchmarking reports, data entry is free and all information will remain anonymous. 

Vaccines approved for emergency use by the FDA are now providing a welcome doorway out of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, they are unlocking a range of legal issues for associations concerning vaccine mandates. May an association require employees to be vaccinated before they return to the office? And, more broadly, may it require vaccination for attendees at its meetings and conferences?

Virginia has enacted permanent COVID-19 workplace safety and health standards, effective January 27. These standards are similar to interim standards adopted in 2020 and continue to mandate personal protective equipment, sanitation, social distancing, infections disease preparedness and response plans, record keeping, training and hazard communications in workplaces. 

Employers are required to train employees on COVID-19 safety and develop infectious disease and preparedness response plans. The regulations also include guidelines for returning to work and communication about employees who test positive and potential exposures.

The Nominating Committee and the Board of Directors present the following slate of officers and directors for the 2021-2022 year (May 1–April 30).

Things will get better. Just keep saying that. And when we come out on the other side of the pandemic, we will face a world far different than the one we left behind.

If you're looking to deepen your engagement in VSAE, now is your opportunity!  VSAE's volunteers are instrumental in a variety of activities. They assist in developing educational content, mentoring new members, speaking at VSAE events, engaging members in community service projects, and much more.

ASAE delivered a letter to President Biden on January 27 urging the administration to engage the association community in policy discussions of critical importance to the nation. ASAE typically sends an introductory letter to each incoming administration, though this year’s letter reflects the extraordinary and immediate challenges facing the White House as it works to arrest the COVID-19 pandemic and reverse months of severe damage to the U.S. economy

Congratulations to the 2020 graduates of the Association Leadership Virginia (ALV) program! This is the second class to graduate from the program, following on the nine who graduated in 2019. 

Launched in 2018, ALV aims to develop leaders for the Commonwealth’s association management industry. The program brings together association professionals from across Virginia and from all levels of association management to discuss and explore strategies for leadership. Tom and Melissa Laughon of Catch Your Limit designed and facilitated the year-long program, guiding participants as they learned about their own leadership style and how to harness it to have a positive impact in their organization. 

“VSAE congratulates its latest ALV class. We continue to be impressed by Tom and Melissa’s program leadership and focus on excellence in association management and we commend the 2020 graduates for their resilience and commitment in the face of the unprecedented challenges this past year,” said Phyllis Errico, ESQ, CAE, VSAE President and General Counsel of the Virginia Association of Counties.

Looking to recruit more volunteers for your association?  Check out these six out of the box volunteer tips.

I have a confession to make – I don’t read very many books or journals focused on leadership. My reading tends to be more focused on fiction, and my leadership is more often guided by gut instinct. But I did recently share an article on LinkedIn that I thought summed up much of what my gut usually tells me to do as a leader. Many of my connections on the platform were inspired by the article, and it spurred an invitation to write this column for VSAE about servant leadership.

To a great extent, we’ve all been winging it, making it up as we go along and doing the best we can in both our personal lives and with our associations, The following ten strategies will help us survive and thrive as we move ahead.

On November 18-19, VSAE hosted its annual CEO and Senior Staff Retreat virtually. The two-day retreat was facilitated by the tandem of Seth Kahan (Founder of Visionary Leadership) and John Sarvay (Founder of Floricane). 35 people attended the event, including several recent VSAE members and even a few non-members!

On November 2, the VSAE Board of Directors met to review the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan in response to the unprecedented events of 2020. The event was facilitated by Dave Phillips, founder of Phillips Leadership and Consulting and a past president of VSAE.