Concurrent Sessions & HIIT Sessions

as of 02/02/2025, subject to change

Thursday, February 20 | 3:45 - 4:45p.m.
Concurrent Sessions

From Operations to Strategy: The CEO Toolkit
Sue O'Sullivan, HMCC, CEP & President, Veritas Association Management and JoAnn Evingson, BHS, Partner, Global Management Partners

As a CEO or C-Suite leader we often find ourselves in the weeds, handling daily operational activities rather than focusing on our C-level work.  We can jump in anywhere that is needed to help the team, filling in during staff transitions or navigating new client projects with ease.  That's great, except when we get stuck there in the weeds for weeks at a time. Serving in the Executive Director role, even on an interim or temporary basis takes you out of the strategic leadership role that your organization needs to continue to thrive.  Experts say that often C-Suite leaders spend more time in the weeds because it is truly a more comfortable place to be.

Join us to learn how to consistently choose to be uncomfortable and act like an owner and not an operator. -  Let's get off the zoom, client facing calls and shine in the C-Level space?  These tools will allow you to adopt a forward-thinking approach that prioritizes vision and innovation over day-to-day management.

Learning Objectives:

The Business of Community in a Me-First World
Gene Terry, CAE, IOM, Executive Director, Association Headquarters; Molly Marsh, CMP, Director of Education and Events, AMR Management Services; and Michael Battaglia, CAE, CNAP, MBA, Founder of the Veromere Group

Association management companies (AMCs) are in the “business of community.” And while associations have been the source of professional community for nearly 200 years, many have found that role stagnating since the global pandemic. With an ever-increasing focus on “what’s in it for me?” and continual splintering of community ties due to political and social ideology, it’s challenging to run any business right now, let alone one that is based on bringing diverse groups of people together for a common purpose.

IF AMCs can get the mix right – pairing our 50+ years of community-building experience with what the data and trends show us is our likely social trajectory in the next 5-10 years – we’ll be offering something no one else is. BUT, it will take new, divergent approaches on “community” to get us there. The journey starts today. Join this transformative conversation on the future of community – one that AMCs are uniquely positioned to create.

Learning Objectives:

Leadership with Intention: Embracing Diverse Styles to Empower and Inspire Teams to Peak Performance
JJ Colburn, Co-CEO, Strategic Association Management, Lyn Wallington, CHRP, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Matters and Elizabeth Pulliam, Director of Talent, Parthenon Management Group

In today’s dynamic workplace, effective leadership requires a people centered approach, honoring individual differences while bringing them to their highest potential, performance, and job satisfaction. This session delves into how leaders in the AMC space, can harness the power of Kolbe, Predictive Index, and Culture Index to understand, support, and elevate their teams. We will explore how we have applied these tools in our own AMC environments, to reveal unique behavioral and cognitive patterns, allowing leaders to tailor their approach to meet the individual needs of their team members. 

Understand how Kolbe identifies natural instincts for problem-solving, enabling leaders to align roles with innate strengths. 

Learn how Predictive Index uncovers motivational drives, guiding leaders in creating environments where their teams can thrive.

Discover how Culture Index ensures cultural alignment, helping leaders foster a cohesive and supportive workplace culture.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and Understand Individual Strengths: Learn how to use assessment tools like Kolbe, Predictive Index, and Culture Index to accurately identify and understand the unique strengths, instincts, and behavioral patterns of individuals within your team.
• Tailor Leadership Approaches to Diverse Styles: Gain insights into how these tools can help you adapt your leadership approach to align with the varied cognitive and behavioral styles of team members, fostering a more personalized and effective leadership strategy.
• Enhance Team Dynamics and Organizational Culture: Discover how these assessments can be used to build stronger, more cohesive teams by ensuring alignment between individual strengths, team dynamics, and the overall organizational culture.

Aftershock: Rebuilding Board Confidence, Commitment & Collaboration Post-Pandemic 
Linda Caradine-Poinsett, PhD, MJ, MBA, Chief Strategy Officer, Association Management Center, and Steve Smith, MS, CAE, FAAMSE, CEO, Association Management Center

The pandemic produced a historic health and economic crisis with effects that will reverberate for years to come. The aftermath and recovery work has created new challenges for association leaders and boards who must reassess, rebuild, and lead differently. Boards struggle to remain focused on what matters most as crisis fatigue, unrealistic expectations, strained human resources, financial fragility, quiet quitting, and professional and personal stress, take root. For AMCs, this can cause considerable disruption and dysfunction that can impact staff and create instability and uncertainty for all parties. Discover how to assess, restore, and rejuvenate board confidence; reframe duties and responsibilities of volunteer leaders; and create successful partnerships and governance practices based on new models of collaboration.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will reflect on how their association clients were temporarily and/or permanently harmed by the pandemic and discover five key strategies for restoring safety, security, and support with the board beyond the initial recovery stage.
• Participants will hear the results of research conducted with association board leaders regarding their hopes, fears, needs, and expectations related to volunteer service.
• Participants will discover how to negotiate and establish realistic expectations for performance with board leaders given the new environment, resulting in a more strategic, stable, and less contentious environment for growth and success for the association and AMC partner. 

Friday, February 21 | 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions

Counsel's Corner: Two Lawyers Having a Conversation about Legal Matters Relevant to Our Industry, Our Clients, and Our Companies
Michael Silverman, JD, CLO, Smithbucklin, and Hugh Webster, JD, Partner, Webster, Chamberlain & Bean

Sit in the room while Hugh Webster and Michael Silverman dialogue about various legal matters that impact our community. We will survey attendees in advance for subjects to include and will welcome others to join the conversation live as it is occurring.

Learning Objectives:

EOS 2.0
Robert Waller, CAE, President & CEO, Association Headquarters; Carolyn Price, CAE, President, CMP Management; Megan Woodburn, CAE, Founder & Co-CEO, Strategic Association Management; and Emily Leonczyk, MBA, CAE, Executive Vice President, The Markens Group

Building off the success of the session held in Las Vegas, join a panel of AMC owners who have successfully implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) for EOS 2.0.

This session will provide deeper insights/recommendations on how to drive the EOS methodology throughout your organization.

Topics to be covered include:

Till Death Do Us Part: How to Prepare for and What to Do When an Unexpected Death Impacts Your Business
Christina Smith, MPA, CAE, Owner & Principal, Smith Strategies and Stephanie Czuhajewski, MPH, CAE, President & CEO, Agentis Management

This interactive session will provide attendees with real-world examples of unexpected deaths that disrupted the business operations for the AMC. Two case studies will be presented: 1. The first is a case study that demonstrates the impact of an unexpected death occurring during a client transition into your AMC that significantly disrupts that association's operations and your company operations. 2. The second is a case study that illustrates the impact of when the unexpected death is the co-owner or a key executive of your AMC that affects your corporate operations and client association operations.

Practical guidance will be provided to provide foresight to attendees. Discussion will include steps taken to address the lessons learned that can save participants time and money to proactively implement in their business.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will be able to identify areas within their business that are most vulnerable to disruptions from an unexpected death of a company owner or executive
• Attendees will be able to list 5 key steps that they can take immediately to mitigate the impact of an unexpected death on their business and their client associations.
• Attendees will be able to develop key elements of a contingency succession plan and implement it in their business.

Supporting Your Client's Revenue Streams: Philanthropy and Grant Funding
Nicole Greer, Director of Grants Management, Parthenon Management Group and Anna Taylor, CFRE, Director of Development, Parthenon Management Group

AMCs benefit from establishing a diverse funding base for clients. AMCs can grow revenue through supporting clients in building philanthropic programs and grant funding mechanisms. Establishing a Grants and Development Department creates new business from your client base and welcomes new clients by offering a new area of expertise, beyond association management and meetings. Non-profits have an opportunity to establish relationships with philanthropic partners to fund programs related to their mission. Organizations whose goals align with grant opportunities have potential to secure funding to sustain their organization and further their work. When an AMC assists with obtaining philanthropic partners and handles logistics of grant management, the client’s efforts can be focused on the work of expanding the organization’s mission. For the AMC, the department serves as a revenue stream, allowing the AMC to become more full-service in supporting clients' needs.

Learning Objectives: 

• Explain the process for building a philanthropy program within an association management company.
• Describe strategies for gauging philanthropic readiness and building a case for support to obtain philanthropic partners.
• Explain the process for formulating an internal grants department within an association management company, with expertise in collaborating with federal funders, academic institutions, and grant recipients, to handle the day-to-day logistics of communication, programmatic needs, budgeting, and reporting.

Friday, February 21 | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
HIIT Sessions

Fee$-Fi-Fo-Fum: Decoding Client Fee$ with a Benchmarking Giant
John Dee, CPA, CEO, Bostrom and Nick Ruffin, CAE, President & CEO, AMR Management Services

Experience firsthand and learn the ins and outs of using AMCI’s Benchmarking Tool to benefit your AMC.

This groundbreaking tool empowers you to:

• Benchmark your fees against 501(c)(6) and (c)(3) nonprofits
• Deep-dive into more than 50 expense areas with the most currently available data
• Validate your management fees with confidence
• Demonstrate your AMC's superior financial and operational expertise.

This translates to:

• Stronger client proposals that showcase your value proposition
• Enhanced client retention through data-driven cost management
• Reduced risk with a deeper understanding of industry benchmarks.

Learning Objectives:

• Help AMC owners learn how to use the new AMCI Benchmarking tool
• You will learn how to use the tool, how to best present the data to your clients and team.

Looking Behind the Curtain of the AMC RFP Search Process
Marilyn Jansen, Strategic Advisor, BlochReed Association Advisors and Suzanne Berry, MBA, CAE, Strategic Advisor, BlochReed Association Advisors

Is the AMC RFP Search Process a mystery to you? Are you wondering how it really works, and should you respond to the next RFP that comes across your desk? Are you looking to expand your client roster with additional “good fit clients” and wondering if responding to an RFP will help accomplish your goals?

During this 15-minute HIIT session, BlochReed Association Advisors will pull back the curtain and remove the mystery of the often-dreaded AMC Search Process.

We will share why an organization’s Board will consider issuing an RFP, what they want to accomplish, critical items to know before developing your proposal, and process timeline. Also included, will be a candid description of the steps in a well-designed AMC Search Process, key selection criteria, why an AMC might not advance to the finalist stage, the differences between a consultant led process vs a Board led process and what matters most to volunteer leaders.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn reasons that drive Associations to conduct an AMC search.
• Learn the key steps to the process and how to engage.
• Learn what volunteer leaders have told us matter most during the process.

There's an Association for Everything, BUT Should You Really Manage It?
Carrie Hoffman, Senior Vice President, Association Management Services; Melissa Forburger, CAE, SHRM-CP, Senior Vice President, Association Management Strategies; and Kirsten Reader, Chief Operating Officer, Impact Association Management

Unicorn Leadership: Data-Driven Strategies for Association Success
Jim Thompson, CAE, IOM, Vice President, Client Relations, IMI Association Executives

Friday, February 21 | 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

From Chaos to Clarity: Implementing EOS in an AMC
Carolyn Lagermasini, CAE, President & Founder, Association & Conference Group

In March of 2023, AGC began its implementation of Pinnacle, a version of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Traction. Pinnacle follows this formula: People + Purpose + Playbooks + Perform = Profit. Our journey began with the realization that we were operating like an old start-up and our results so far have completely transformed the firm. These results include an increased average fee, increased staff and client satisfaction, improved staff-to-client ratio, and increased profitability.

This session is more than EOS 101. This session shares the initial steps we took to implement EOS, the data we chose to collect and analyze to assist in our decision-making, the gaps we uncovered, and our strategies to move the firm forward.

Learning Objectives:

• Strategies to overcome the unique challenges faced by AMCs implementing an EOS.
• Tools and techniques for achieving the Right Person Right Seat (RPRS) concept.
• What and how to measure results.

Strategic Staffing: How to Seamlessly Integrate New Business Without Compromise
Katie Callahan-Giobbi, Head of Business Development & Industry Relations, Smithbucklin; Emma Bennett, CEO, Nonprofit Resources; Suzanne Berry, MBA, CAE, Strategic Advisor, BlochReed Association Advisors; and Tara Withington, CAE, Vice President, Executive Director, Inc.

In a growing market, Association Management Companies (AMCs) often face the challenge of handling new client demands while managing a roster of existing clients and projects. This lively, interactive session will provide practical strategies for optimizing your staffing approach, ensuring both new and current clients receive the attention they need without compromising operational efficiency or quality. The focus will be on exploring various solutions for effectively managing staffing needs to accommodate new clients while simultaneously managing existing clients.

Attendees will leave with actionable insights and strategies to handle new business opportunities effectively. You will gain a clearer understanding of how to balance staffing needs, manage risks, and ensure both new and existing clients receive the service they deserve.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify possible optimal staffing solutions to meet new business needs.
• Learn the essential skills and competencies required for managing new clients.
• Understand how to evaluate the impact on existing operations and find solutions to balance the workload. 

Navigating the Talent Drought: Strategies for Success
Mark McSweeney, CAE, Vice President, Association Strategies, Raybourn Group International; Leslie Murphy, FASAE, CAE, President & CEO, Raybourn Group International; and Kim Paugh, CAE, Director of People Strategies, Raybourn Group International

ASAE Foresight Works' newest Driver of Change is The Talent Drought. Join us for an insightful discussion about how one AMC is tackling the talent drought within its organization. This session will provide practical insights into understanding the current talent challenges, exploring successful recruitment strategies, and identifying effective methods for developing talent within your own AMC. Through the experience of and lessons learned by RGI, and additional insights from peers in the room, attendees will gain actionable strategies to enhance their talent management practices and drive organizational success.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Talent Drought: Gain a practical understanding of the talent drought, including its causes and impacts on the association management industry.
• Identify Recruitment Sources: Explore innovative recruitment strategies and discover potential sources for attracting new talent to your organization.
• Implement Your AMC’s Talent Development Strategies: Learn how to effectively develop and nurture talent within your organization to ensure retention and staff expertise turn in your favor.

The New Normal: Surviving and Thriving Amid Changing Client Service Models
Lily Davidson, MSW, Vice President, Association Management Strategies and Carrie Hoffman, Senior Vice President, Association Management Strategies

In our current climate new clients are rarely looking for full-service association management. Hybrid or limited service gigs are plentiful but come with their share of challenges, including scope management, resource allocation, employee satisfaction, and relationship management. In this session we discuss how AMCs can make the most of these new kinds of opportunities. We will explore case studies of three different service models: limited service, external executive director, and full hybrid and discuss what went well and what could have gone better. Attendees will join the conversation to share their experiences and perspectives of this new normal for association management.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the opportunities and challenges of association management service models outside of the full-service context.
• Gain insight from case studies of on AMC's experiences with limited service, external executive director, and full hybrid clients.
• Connect and learn from other AMCs in the room about their experience with this new normal for AMCs.