DigitalNow: Association Leadership in the Digital Age

General Session: Hugh Lee and Don Dea
Focusing on Value, Strategy and Structure: The Fusion "Vision" for Associations

Key Points:

• Reinventing "Relevance"
• It's all about the value you deliver.
• It is not about Tactics (more advocacy, mailings, etc.), but value, strategy, and structure that will keep you close to your members.
• It's not about satisfaction gains, it's about "lifetime member value" and how to reach it.
• digitalNow 2000 focused on re-inventing ourselves as a new association. "Do we need to partner?" was the question asked. The real issue for 2002 is that value, trust, and strategy are key factors and are what have to be discussed NOW, in today's changing times.
• The events of September 11 have brought to life and changed many things that were not being done.
• Structure is People, Processes, and Policies…is driven by the value proposition.
• Strategies = Build "lifetime member value"

Issues/Concerns:

• How do you define value?
• Trust and transparency continue to be issues.
• What drives the members' needs to achieve retention and new member growth?
• Switched from old strategies to ones that support new relationships with members.
• The foundation of your digital strategy requires an integrated web-based AMS that builds CRM.
• Taxonomy (standards and processes) of your body of knowledge is required for personalization.
• Need to focus on what is the core significance of our association…what is our value from the membership's perspective?
• Focus is on member value and retention.
• Look beyond the given drive to increase members and satisfaction to creating lifelong stakeholders. Implement new relationships.
• Need to sustain loyalty over a long period of time. Have to go back to value proposition and work from there.
• Without value, you can not design.
• If you have not figured out your value proposition for the member, how can you re-design your website? One will not work without the other.
• Without an integrated AMS, you cannot maximize member satisfaction and relationship.
• Without taxonomy, you cannot deliver personalization and knowledge. Need to organize the content so that it may be used by members seeking it. Personalization is the key.