This fall, Forj convened a group of association leaders for an exclusive Think Tank on the intersection of community and member experience. These thought leaders came to the table to discuss their proven approach to member engagement and their ongoing community-building strategies.
Your association provides knowledge, resources, and a community that help members learn, grow, advance their careers, and forge long-lasting connections. Of course, fulfilling that promise requires robust and reliable technology that creates a sense of belonging and elevates the member experience.
The "customer first" mentality has long been at the heart of many organizations' strategies. But as consumers' habits, behaviors, and expectations evolve, it's become clear that the old ways of thinking about customer service have made many of those strategies obsolete.
As associations have worked to innovate, there has been a proliferation of point solutions. Too often, your association’s systems and content are siloed, and these silos create a threat to the member experience.
Members are seeking places to connect with their peers and doing so on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. But those public platforms aren’t necessarily fit for asking questions, having respectful dialog, and engaging in social learning. Your professional associations is uniquely equipped to build community that fosters safer and more meaningful connections.
“If you can drive people to your community, that’s where the magic happens,” said Terri. “Most of our members are looking to learn from each other, so we’ve built a community where social learning is at the core.”
Associations today are seeing a gap between member groups, driven by everything from career stage to values and beliefs. Meetings members where they are involves understanding expectations, evolving journeys, and enabling contributions from all.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a member who doesn’t cite “community” as a driving force behind their decision to join and engage with a professional association.
As an association leader, you likely understand how member experience (MX) impacts everything that keeps you up at night, from member acquisition, retention, and engagement to effective partnerships and revenue growth.
When now-legendary TED Talks first made their way online in 2006, presentations varied in length, with some exceeding 20 minutes. Today, more than 15 years later, talks are strictly limited to 18 minutes, and TED officials often advise presenters to speak for just 3, 5, or 9 minutes.
Forj convened an exclusive Member Experience Think Tank at the ASAE Marketing, Membership & Communications Conference. During the roundtable session, leaders came together to explore:
