Board Member On-Boarding

When your term comes to an end, you might be ready to fly out the door and never look back. This, however, can be a significant setback for your remaining and new board members.

Instead of leaving the person taking over your position to fend for themselves and spending their time digging for information, lay it out for them! As a board, you should work to develop a set process for the transition. We have provided some examples below but be sure to personalize it to your board.

One-on-One Meeting. Around 2-3 months before your transition takes place, invite the future board member to get coffee or lunch. Spend this time to touch on everything you do in your role, old business that is left undone, and future initiatives that the board has mentioned tackling at some point. Be candid and share what the dynamic of the board is like in order to help them better understand what they are walking into. Leave time for questions and let them know you will be available for any other questions over the next couple of months.

Blending of Old and New. Plan a time for the whole group to get together. We suggest hosting a “Board 101” session that explains the basics of the organization including bylaws, specifics of each role, and anything else specific to your board. After this, have the current and future board members attend either a board meeting and/or a social outing. Let them have time to get to know one another and who they will be working with. This will make them more comfortable throwing in suggestions and voicing their opinion when they are officially on the board.

Check-In. Once the new board member has taken on their position, check back in with them. See if they have any further questions or concerns. If there is anything that you forgot to mention to them before their transition, suggest that they add it to the notes for the next transition.

Having a system in place for board transitions will make everyone feel more comfortable about the roles they are taking on and giving up. It will keep the organization from hitting a bump every time the board transitions.

In Business Keynote and Expo Review

On October 16th, In Business held their 9th Annual Expo and Conference with a keynote provided by Dennis Snow, a customer service expert and veteran of Disney.

Dennis spoke at length about customer loyalty and what businesses can do to inspire this in their customers. Walking through examples that he had seen throughout his career, Dennis made the case that there are three things all businesses should be doing that will enable them to capture this elusive, but vital gift from their customers.

During a poignant portion of the keynote, Dennis asked the audience what those who had been to Disney remembered about their experience. Many attendees shouted out things like customer service or cleanliness of the parks, but no one said the rides, which is arguably why anyone would go to Disney in the first place! Dennis explained that the reason no one mentions the rides at Disney is because Disney has succeeded at providing an experience for their customers, where their visits to any Disney theme park is about so much more than the rides.

So how can businesses and associations encourage loyalty in their customers? Dennis believes that all businesses should:

Look at everything through the lens of the customer – when a business or association is evaluating their processes, instead of focusing on what the business is doing at any step in the process, they should really be asking themselves what does the customer see during this step in the process, and how can we move that experience from mediocre to exceptional.

Pay attention to the details, because everything speaks – businesses or associations should be looking at all the interactions with their customers and removing the distractors that would take away from the customer’s experience. Dennis gave an example of the trash at Disney and how a part of the Disney culture is that all cast members are responsible for keeping the parks clean, regardless of if they are a maintenance worker or VP for the company.

Create moments of wow – businesses or associations should be constantly thinking of little things that will make a customer say “wow.” It’s important to look at both big and small things, because it could be the combination of multiple small “wows” that inspire customer loyalty.

The New Member Welcome

When you join or sign up for something new, it is always nice to immediately feel like you are getting something out of it. This is no different when it comes to an association. There should be clear steps as to what happens when a new member joins and if these are not already in place, it is time to start brainstorming!

1. Welcome Email. Have your new member automatically receive a welcome email. This email should include a re-explanation of their benefits, information on how to log in to the website, and where to find different resources. This will help them to quickly become familiar with the system and will reach them at the time they are most excited about their membership.

2. Buddy System. Appoint someone on the board or a member on the membership committee to buddy up with the newbie. This gives that person a point of contact they can go to with questions, concerns or to get more involved.

3. Check back in. After around 6 months, check back in with the new member to see how they are liking the group. This could be done through a survey or just a quick email. This check-in will let you know if your system needs some changes for future new members.

Creating these onboarding steps will help to ensure member retention and growth. The happier the member is the more likely they will be to refer the organization to a friend and to stay in the group themselves.

Arming your Board for Cyber Attacks

We have all come across phishing emails in our inbox once or twice. Some of us might have even fallen for it! Associations are often the prey to these cyber-attacks. It is easy to look at an association’s website and find out who is in charge of the organization and who would have access to the bank account. The emails of those individuals is also usually right there for the attacker. Because this information is so readily available, it is important to train your board and/or staff on potential cyber-attacks.

Most “phishers” are focused around a money transfer. The attacker might imitate the email of the President and email either the treasurer or staff with a request to transfer the money. Train your board to verify the email of the President when they receive a request like this one. There is often something slightly different that will indicate that the request is a scam.

Another resolution to the problem, would be to set procedures in place for when and how a money transfer should happen. Perhaps your board could make it a rule that no money should be transferred unless a phone call first takes place. This will automatically raise a red flag when a board member receives an email with the request.

The 4th quarter is when “phishers” come out in full force so be sure to be on guard! If you are looking to test your board, try this phish test. It is a great way to test your board’s current knowledge and allows them to see examples of what could be showing up in their inbox one day.

The IMEX Experience

With approximately 14000 attendees, 3500+ exhibitors representing more than 150 countries, being a first-timer at IMEX America is quite an experience! I jokingly referred to it on a few occasions as the Comic-con for Event Planners, because the level of artistry and the wow factor that goes into the vendor booths is second to none!  From minute one on the floor, I was immersed in cultures, technology, futurism, exotic locations, sustainability, and education.

One of the biggest themes of the year was the focus on sustainability. IMEX was high on sustainability this year with the amazing implementation of the same scene at the event. IMEX adhered to promoting sustainability throughout the conference – providing free drinking water fountains for your refillable bottles, using reusable lanyards and recyclable badges- reducing event waste and lowering its footprint substantially.  The Sands Expo provided 100% compostable service-ware during IMEX and all leftover or unserved food items will be donated or composted. And the conference provided countless greener options for event planners and sustainability education sessions to soak up knowledge on sustainability from the experts.

Needless to say, I was left with an amazing impression of what this conference is doing for not only the event planning industry but for our world as a whole.