2011 Spring Council News

THE COUNCIL NEWS / 1

Success by Association

Volume Twenty Two • Number One Spring • 2011

ACAE Prize Party & Golf Outing 4 Registration Form 5

Lunch & Learn 6 2011 Calendar 7 ACAE Members in the News 8

2011 ACAE Wine Raffle 10 Financial Management Seminar 11

Member Recruitment in a Down Economy 12

Legislative Issues Seminar 15 In this

Is

sue

2 / THE COUNCIL NEWS

2011 OFFICERS

PRESIDENTJeannine Birmingham, CPA, CAE

VICE PRESIDENTArleen Alexander, CAE

SECRETARY/TREASURERBilly Norrell

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTRick Brown, CAE

BOARD OF DIRECTORSLiane Kelly

Lisa FountainRichard Carson

Mel MonkJay Reed

Mike Horsely, CAECary Kuhlmann

Tom LayfieldAlison Wingate, CAE

ASSOCIATE MEMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Pat KielMary Statkewicz

AFFILIATE MEMBER BOARD DIRECTOR

Jere Beasley

PAST PRESIDENT’S COUNCILAmanda Buttenshaw

Message from

the ACAEPresident...

Jeannine Birmingham, CPA, CAEACAE President

THE COUNCIL NEWS is a quarterly publication of the

Alabama Council of Association ExecutivesPost Office Box 240757

Montgomery, AL 36124-0757(334) 260-7970

FAX (334) 272-7128Web Site: www.acaenet.org

Email: [email protected] is managed by

Group Management Services, LLC Larry A. Vinson, CAE, President

Spring approaches and we all know what that means: warm weather, colorful flowers, beach trips and GOLF! When it comes to golf, you may dream of playing at Kapalau, Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass or even Augusta. However, ACAE offers golfers THE BEST and most challenging course right here in Montgomery, AL. Wynlakes Country Club will once again host our annual golf tournament, May 2nd. Over the past twenty years, the golf outing has grown and become one of ACAE’s favorite annual events, as it offers opportunities for Affiliate and Associate mem-bers to showcase their products, services and properties and it allows for a little bit of competition for the serious and the not-so-serious golfers. To add an element of excitement to this year’s tournament MANE’s miniature horse Whinnie, will be at registration to greet golfers and guests. We hope you will join in the fun and register today to be a part of the 2011 Golf Outing. We promise rain or shine, you will have a great time networking with friends and colleagues.

On another but somewhat related note, in 2010 ACAE founded the ACAE Foun-dation. The Foundation’s purpose is to support ACAE members who intend to advance their education and professional development in the association man-agement field and to support other charitable organizations, such as each year’s selected charity. The Foundation is a 501(c) (3) organization which means that payments made to the Foundation are considered a charitable contribution and therefore deductible by individuals and corporations. As an example, the Silent Auction Committee has organized the popular Wine Raffle where lucky ticket hold-ers will win an assortment of wines. Your purchase of tickets for the wine raffle is a tax-deductible contribution. Buy tons of raffle tickets; your payment is deduct-ible!! Three winners will be drawn at the ACAE Golf Outing, May 2nd. Wine!!! Fun!!!

Spring is a very active time of the year for everyone. As our governmental affairs members become busy with the legislature, as meeting planners and the events managed take over the calendar, as budgets are balanced and annual strategic plans determined, I leave you with encouragement and inspiration: “You can only become accomplished at doing things you have passion for. Pursue the things you love to do and do them so well that people cannot help but take notice.”

If you have suggestions or comments, please contact me at [email protected]. See you at Wynlakes!

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ACAE Prize Party & Golf OutingRenaissance Montgomery Hotel & Wynlakes Country Club

Prize PartyMay 1st6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Golf OutingMay 2nd

Registration - 9:00 a.m.Golfers Tee Off- 10:00 a.m.

Meeting Planners Express - 10:30 a.m. 19th Hole & Wine Raffle - 4:30 p.m.

The ACAE Golf Outing has become our most popular event over the past 24 years, offering outstanding opportuni-ties for Affiliate and Associate Members to showcase their services, properties and products. Anticipated all year, this “Members Only” Golf Outing and Tradeshow is a unique experience for all who attend.

The Golf is OutstandingLocated at the beautiful Wynlakes Golf & Country Club, the format for the tournament is a four-person team scram-ble. This allows all golfers, regardless of skill, to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of fun and fellowship as they expe-rience the course and visit each hole sponsor. To encourage everyone to participate and expedite play, we enforce the “no-worse-than-par” rule. Remember, the emphasis of the Golf Outing is the tradeshow - not competition, so get ready for an exciting day at Wynlakes! The winners will be announced and given their awards at the 19th Hole celebration at the end of the day.

Golf Hole SponsorshipsGolf Hole sponsors will have the opportunity to transform the hole into a creative display based on the television show of your choice. Sponsorship includes 2 individuals to participate in the Prize Party; additional Prize Party passes can be purchased for $35/person. In addition, sponsors can register up to 2 golfers employed by the spon-sor company that may not be ACAE members at $100 each (includes Prize Party).

Meeting Planner Express Sponsorships The Meeting Planners Express is a chance to spend time with meeting planners and association executives as you drive them from hole to hole. You will also meet and greet other attendees as they are stopped at each hole. A Spon-sor Representative is required to drive. Registration includes 2 individuals, signage on cart and an opportunity to register 2 golfers employed by the sponsor company that may not be ACAE members at $100 each.

Prize Party @ Renassaince Montgomery Hotel Registration includes 2 individuals for the prize party and the opportunity to register 2 golfers employed by Spon-sor company that may not be ACAE members at $100 each. Company name on signage to be present at party.

19th Hole Celebration: 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.The 19th Hole will be the meet-up spot at the end of the day to see people that you might not have crossed paths with and to announce the golf winners. Registration includes 2 individuals at the prize party and an opportunity to register 2 golfers employed by Sponsor company that may not be ACAE members at $100 each.


Name: ____________________________________Organization: _____________________________________________________________THERE IS A $50 LATE REGISTRATION FEE FOR EACH REGISTRANT AFTER APRIL 28TH

______ Golf $100- Handicap _______ (includes Prize Party) ______ Meeting Planner Express $50-Regular Members Only (includes Prize Party) ______ Prize Party Only $35

Sponsorships - $600

_____ Golf Hole (18 Sponsorships Total) - Hole # _____ _____ Ice Bags in the Morning @ $6/20lb bag ($15 after April 28th) _____ Ice Bags in the Afternoon $6/20 lb bag ($15 after April 28th) _____ Meeting Planner Express Cart (1 Still Available - representative must drive cart)

_____ 19th Hole (Unlimited Sponsorships)

_____ Prize Party (Unlimited Sponsorships)

_____ We will donate a gift for the drawing at the Prize Party. Description on prize: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Each sponsorship has the opportunity to register 2 individuals to play golf at $100 each. You can also reg-ister individuals to attend the Prize Party at $35 each - everyone must have a name badge to be admitted into the party. Please list those additional company representatives so we can prepare a name badge.

Golfer: ____________________________________________ Hdcp: _____Golfer: ____________________________________________ Hdcp: _____Prize Party: _______________________________________Prize Party: _________________________________________

Total Enclosed: $ _______ Check: ____ Credit Card: ____Visa ____MC ____AMEXCredit Card #: _________________________________________________________________________Exp Date: ___________________Signature: __________________________________________________________________________Billing Zip Code: ______________

Payment must accompany this form. No refunds will be granted after April 30, 2011. Make checks payable to:

ACAE · Post Office Box 240757 · Montgomery, AL · 36124-0757Telephone (334) 260-7970 · Fax (334) 272-7128

Registration Form


The 2011 Lunch & Learn program is off to a great start this year. Fred Crawford & Keely Smith, Co-Chairs of the Lunch & Learn Committee, have been working hard to bring you the most current and relevant topics in the association and hospitality business.

Ray Scott from B.A.S.S. started off the year sharing how his personal passion helped him reach fame and fortune. He told his success stories in marketing and how they can relate to every business person. In February, our own ACAE Affliate Member Rick Brown, spoke on labor and employment trends and developments. The Mayor of Montgom-ery came in March to share with us how Montgomery has invested millions of dollars to create a tourist friendly downtown and the impact that it has had on the meeting industy.

Be sure to catch more great speakers coming to focus on topics such as Social Media Marketing, Tourism for the State of Alabama, Webinars, New Healthcare Law and more!

Co-Chairman Keely Smith poses with Ray Scott.

Co-Chairman Fred Crawford greets February’s speaker Rick Brown.

Abby Spott presents Fran Whitaker with her prize from the spotlight drawing.

Mayor Strange shared Montgomery’s vision.

Leigha Cauthen accepts a gift from ACAE’s Huntsville Members.

Lunch & Learn


April 1-3, 2011 Board Retreat Hilton Sandestin

April 4, 2011 Lunch & Learn Alabama Association of Realtors

April 19 & 20, 2011 Financial Management Seminar Wynlakes Country Club & Wynfrey Hotel

May 1, 2011 ACAE Prize Party Renaissance Montgomery Hotel

May 2, 2011 Golf Outing Wynlakes Golf & Country Club

June 6, 2011 Lunch & Learn Renaissance Montgomery Hotel

June 15 – 17, 2011 ACAE Board of Directors Retreat FarmLinks

July 5, 2011 Lunch & Learn Renaissance Montgomery Hotel

August 2, 2011 Lunch & Learn Wynlakes Golf & Country Club

August 6 – 9, 2011 ASAE Annual Meeting St. Louis, MO

September 6, 2011 Lunch & Learn Renaissance Montgomery Hotel

October 5 – 7, 2011 Annual Meeting Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort

November 1, 2011 Lunch & Learn Wynlakes Golf & Country Club

December 6, 2011 Lunch & Learn Wynlakes Golf & Country Club

December 8 – 9, 2011 Winter Workshop Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Resort

2011 Calendar


The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) named Legendary, Inc. CEO Peter Bos the Hotelier of the Year last week at the FRLA’s Annual Awards in Tampa, Florida at Saddlebrook Resort. The FRLA Board of Directors, comprised of the nation’s leading restaurateurs and hoteliers, chose Bos for this distinctive honor based on the hotelier’s personal record of industry achievements over a period of 20 years. Only those nominees who have attained career distinctions of the highest level and are held in high esteem for their notable service to their industry, community, and charitable organi-zations are considered. Carol Dover, CEO of FRLA said, “We were honored to present this top industry honor to Peter Bos, an illustrious example of Hotelier of the Year.”

ACAE Members in the News

Following the soon to be completed $6.5 million renovation project, the Hilton Sandestin Beach will boast approximately 17,000 square feet of expanded flexible outdoor deck areas, with unobstructed views of the sugar-white sand and em-erald-green water of the Gulf Coast. These spaces will include the Sunrise Deck, Barefoot’s Deck and Sunset Deck, which overlook approximately 60,000 square feet of the hotel’s gorgeous sugar-white sand beach.


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2011 ACAE Wine Raffle

Proceeds Benefit ACAE FoundationThe Silent Auction Committee will be selling raffle tickets and accepting wine donations at the March and April Lunch and Learns. This year, we will draw for three winners. Each winner will receive a bundle of wine assortments at the ACAE Golf Outing on Monday, May 2nd! The Wine Auction typically includes over 60 bottles of red, white and sparkling wines, so we hope to send our three winners home with over 20 bottles each.

How Can You Help?We are asking each ACAE member to buy tickets and/or donate at least one bottle of wine. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. The tickets can also be sold to anyone outside of ACAE and winners do NOT have to be present to win. Please bring your bottles to the ACAE Office or to one of the Lunch & Learns prior to the May 2nd Golf Outing! Remember all proceeds will benefit the ACAE Foundation which will provide assistance to members of ACAE in furthering their educational and professional development in the association management field as well as support of charitable causes, such as MANE, ACAE’s charity for 2011.

Questions???Contact Chairmen Carrie Banks (334) 262-2566 / [email protected] Angela Ing (334) 717-7312 / [email protected]

or The ACAE Office (334)260-7970 / [email protected] Ambassador Court, Montgomery, AL 36117

Sponsored by the ACAE Silent Auction Committee


Financial Management SeminarEd McMillan, CPA, CAE

Two location options:April 19th at Wynlakes Country Club, Montgomery

or April 20th at Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham

ACAE is sponsoring two days of seminars on nonprofit financial management. One day in Montgomery, the next day the same program will be produced in Birmingham. These seminars are designed for association CEOs, CFOs, Upper Management, Staff Accountants and Bookkeepers. We are pleased to bring one of the nation’s leading speakers on nonprofit financial management to Alabama in April. Ed McMillan, CPA, CAE is known as the nonprofit guru. Whether your challenge is compiling policies, implementing and monitoring your budget, evaluating your employee fringe benefits program, board and staff training or ensuring your organization is operating in accordance with the complex regulations affecting nonprofits, you will save time and manage the organization with greater confidence and achieve more effective results by attending these sessions. Ed’s presentations are always cutting-edge, right-on-task, humorous and effective. There could only be one first recipient of the United States Chamber of Commerce’s prestigious “Excellence in Teaching” award and that person was Ed McMillan. Recognized as one the foremost presenters and authors in the field of finan-cial management today, Ed offers dynamic presentations on a broad range of topics.

Please fill out the form below and return it to the ACAE if you plan to attend.

Registration Form

____ Montgomery, April 19th or ____ Birmingham, April 20th Name___________________________________________________________Address________________________________________________________ Email___________________________________________________________Phone___________________________________________________________ $95 Full Day, includes refreshments, lunch and handouts, 6 CAE credit hours$55 One Session, includes refreshments and handouts, 3 CAE credit hours


Member Recruitment in a Down EconomyBy Ed Rigsbee, CSP

The trade associations and professional societies, especially ones that serve mature industries have been hit particularly hard the last couple years with their membership rosters. Unfortunately, the old member value delivery and recruitment formulas seem not to be working like they once did.

First Explore BelongingWhile there are numerous reasons to belong to an association or society, most fall into one of two categories: career/business improvement and industry/profession affiliation.

Credentials & Certification Organizations that offer valuable credentialing tend to lock members in on both of the above reasons. The idea of value in certification and credentialing is important to explore. As an example, the American Society for Quality offers a credential to its members that actually translate into an additional yearly income of approximately $5,000 for the member that hold the credential. Conversely, many other organizations offer credentials but invest no money in the promotion of the credentials to the marketplace thereby rendering the credential of value only to the person that holds said credential. Value is the key. Just developing credentialing and certification programs without investing in the market promotion rarely offers actual real-dollar value to members. This old formula no longer works.

Membership for Business ImprovementGenerally most persons that join their trade association or professional society do so with the hope of securing ideas and help in business and career improvement. Or put another way, “Show me the money!” Members need and want to learn but unfortunately, in the name of “industry specific,” much of the education that is offered to members during recessionary times is more incestuous than innovative. The reason for this is that organizations can get “free” programming form suppliers and consultants. And, the organizations actually, truly, and erroneously believe that the industry consultants and suppliers will not “sell” during their education sessions.

Doing what you have always done and expecting different results is the age old definition for insanity.Looking within an industry in difficult economic times is just that—insanity. The innovation and new answers will come from outside. This is where organizations must look to offer true value to their members rather than be tightfisted with their financial resources.

Membership for AffiliationAs mentioned earlier, credential availability is an important reason for association or society membership. Another “soft” reason is simply the desire to participate and assist one’s industry or profession. This was a primary motivator for the Baby Boomers and those that came before. However, today’s emerging leaders are focusing more on some sort of a return on their time and money investment. No longer is affiliation in itself enough of a reason.

Political AdvocacyTraditionally one of the important reasons for membership that encompasses both business improvement and affiliation has been to demonstrate strong political voice. Associations and societies are effectively the most important collective that business and professional persons can and should join. These groups, when demonstrating great numbers can truly affect legislation at the federal, state, and local levels.The current problem is that so much of the advocacy work done by membership organizations delivers value to an industry or profession regardless of membership. Many have discovered that they get the same value as members without holding membership. This phenomenon greatly diminishes the return on investment of membership. The double edged sword that many organizations are currently facing is that they need more members to do more advocacy but larger numbers of industry players are sitting on the side-lines enjoying the value without investment or participation. Are there answers? Sure there are. One answer that many organizations have employed is through their credentialing and certification programs, where those that hold the credentials or certifications enjoy increased business while those that do not, do not! In this area, a restructuring might be in order.


Member Recruitment in a Down Economy (cont.)

Continued on Page 14

Members through Members Verses IncentiveThis is an age old dilemma, one that is currently getting plenty of play in board meetings across the landscape. The easy approach is to offer incentives or commissions to members and paid staff to recruit new members. Regrettably, more frequently than not, is the fact that this method simply delivers a turn-stile of members as opposed to long-term member retention. Anybody in sales that has been successful over the long-term will attest to the fact that it is less expensive to keep customers than to find new ones. So goes membership organizations.The best approach for long-term member retention is the grassroots approach where members invite colleagues. This method gets a better class of member and had the built in member retention system; one-on-one mentoring. To successfully adopt any grassroots member recruitment campaign, the current membership has to be armed with the proper tools. The most important tool with which an organization can arm their membership is the yearly sustainable, or reoccurring, real-dollar value of membership return on investment (ROI) num-ber. This is where most organizations fail miserably. Member Benefits Verses Features of Membership

Through extensively researching the web sites of membership organizations I have discovered that few understand member benefits. Benefits are the things that make the members’ lives better. The features of membership are the items available to members to utilize or ignore. As example, access to an affinity pro-gram is a feature of membership. The member benefit that the affinity program is that it delivers more business, more money, cost savings, etc. to the mem-ber. So many organizations that I have worked with offer affinity programs similar to those that are offered from outside the organization. If the price benefit ratio is not substantially greater with membership, for this membership feature, there is no value. This is the case in so many situations because the organization is enjoying a revenue commission from the affinity program provider which frequently eliminates the financial benefit to members. When an organization espouses that members should support

their organization by participating in a particular“additional value-less” affinity program, that is old paradigm thinking and one of the important reasons for lack of member renewals. As example, access to an affinity program is a feature of membership. The member benefit that the affinity program is that it delivers more business, more money, cost savings, etc. to the member. So many organizations that I have worked with offer affinity programs similar to those that are offered from outside the organization. If the price benefit ratio is not substantially greater with membership, for this membership feature, there is no value. This is the case in so many situations because the organization is enjoying a revenue commission from the affinity program provider which frequently eliminates the financial benefitto members. When an organization espouses that members should support their organization by participating in a particular “additional value-less” affinity program, that is old paradigm thinking and one of the important reasons for lack of member renewals.Organizations must find products, services, and programs that deliver real-dollar value to mem bers—far beyond what non-member industry participants may enjoy.

Hidden GoldMembership organizations’ boards of directors and paid staff should regularly mine for gold. Most organizations have assets that are of value to industry players; access being an important asset. As an example, if an organization offersmember access to non-members, the differential between member and non-member price is the honest member value that can be computed into member ROI. Most likely that differential will be a small number. However, if that same access was available only to members, or the differential was greatly increased, the perceived value of membership would also increase. Take this idea throughout all the silos or departments or your organization and I guarantee that you will find gold; more possible member value.


Getting Them to Join The documented reason for over 70% of members that do not renew their membership is due to their lack of perceived membership value. The number one reason industry stakeholders do not join your organization, is not because of the answer most offered; lack of time, but rather because of their perceived lack of value in membership.The way to get industry players to join and retain membership in difficult economic times is to offer unarguable and easily demonstrated high membership ROI. It truly is easier than you think.Copyright 2010 Ed Rigsbee

# # # As an internationally recognized speaker on partnering, Ed Rigsbee is the Chief Member Evangelist at Rigsbee Research Con-sulting Group and the Executive Director of the Cigar PEG, Inc., (US Internal Revenue Service recognized public charity). He has authored three books and over 1,500 articles on business and organizational collaborations. He travels internationally delivering keynote presentations and multi-day workshops on collaboration, partnering, and strategic alliances to Corporate and Association/Society audiences. Rigsbee is frequently engaged by associations and societies to facilitate various boards of director meetings and his proprietary, Member Value ProcessTM.

Member Recruitment in a Down Economy (cont.)


Alabama’s political power structure was turned upside down on November 2nd, with almost one-third of the seats in the Legislature being claimed by new faces. ACAE had an impressive line up of speakers to discuss what we could expect in the regular session. It was a very productive session.

Attorney General Luther Strange shared his visions for the AG’s Office

with the audience.

Governmental Affairs C0-Chairman Sean Strickler, Danny Cooper, House Speaker Mike Hubbard

and Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner converse about the opening session.

ACAE Special Counsel Matt McDonald, ACAE Governmental Affairs Co-Chairman Randy

McRae, and Ethics Director Jim Sumner pose after session.

Legislative Issues Seminar

House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner

respond to questions.

The Council NewsPost Office Box 240757Montgomery, Alabama 36124-0757

Prsrt. Std.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 275Montgomery, AL

2011 Spring Council News

Documents

Transcript of 2011 Spring Council News