From the Editor
“Leap, and the net will appear.” – John Burroughs
In case you didn’t already notice, 2016 is a leap year. Leap years always apply to any year that is divisible by 4 but not by 100. This year the human species has one whole extra day to get a lot more stuff done despite the fact that this year’s Leap Day (February 29th) falls on a Monday.
Leap years represent the promise of extra opportunity and even new possibilities. For those of us in association management, we are always on the lookout for tried and true best practices, ways that we can improve our organizational culture or methods to effectively engage volunteers. Will we be more productive with 366 days instead of the regular 365? We shall soon see!
This issue of FORUM is our first quarter edition and we are focusing on young professionals and public affairs.
While the Liberal win last October provides us with a fresh, new government, it is also a blank slate for those association executives whose focus is government relations. Plus, the rules of engagement have changed.
Huw Williams of Impact Public Affairs provides advice on how to talk to the new government. Wally Hill of Canadian Marketing Association outlines the new Lobbyists Code of Conduct that was enacted in late 2015.
What is the average age of your team? Are you employing the right blend of Millennials, Generation X and Boomers? Do you have the right strategy for attracting a younger cohort of association executives?
Danielle Russell of Association and Events Management discusses lessons learned through her involvement in her university alumni association. Maddy Marchildon of Redstone Agency talks about her experience as a new association manager and provides tips for recruiting employees out of school.
Stay tuned for the February and March reboot editions where we will add some additional content. The 2nd quarter edition will be hitting your mailbox in April.
There are a number of volunteers who quietly work behind the scenes to pull each and every FORUM newsletter together. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank them for all that they do:
Oksana Buhel, CAE – Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council
Marc Cousineau – Incline Marketing
Sandra De Medeiros – Real Estate Institute of Canada
Karen Dowhan, CMP – London Tourism
Rebecca Harris, CAE – Ontario Association of Residences Treating Youth
Kevin Jackson – BizZone Inc.
Helen Van Dongen, CMM, CMP – The Meeting Works
Respectfully submitted,
Constance Wrigley-Thomas, CAE – Essentient Association Management
CSAE Trillium Chapter Board of Directors/FORUM Editor
Twitter – @conniewrigley or @EssentientAMC
