Already boasting, the “world’s largest organization representing specialists who treat the ear, nose, [and] throat,” can now add multiple award winner for innovation in marketing technology in their back pocket. We’re just drying the digital-ink from our last announcement of their ASAE MM&C Gold Circle award in June, only to turn around and discover the American Academy of Otolaryngology has received yet another award! What could be causing AAO-HNS to be winning all these awards you’re wondering? The Academy, representing, 12,000 otolaryngologists (head and neck surgeons), makes member benefits personal with HighRoad’s Intelligent Contextual Email - or ICE for short.

If you have been to an association technology conference, you have seen organizations get recognized for their innovation and execution when it comes to membership management and marketing.

A recent report conducted by Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism shared insights from organizations aiming to grow by converting readers into members. While news organizations have long led the charge for creating waves with clickable headlines and newsworthy stories, what’s changed is their source of revenue through membership. So, now we are taking successful initiatives from journalists and applying them to associations. 

In a survey of 30,000 consumers spawning 28 global markets, according to a HubSpot webinar on social media trends conducted earlier this year, consumer trust in authority is at historical lows. Additionally, traditional media is at an all time low in 17 countries according to a 2017 Trust Barometer. But we don’t need these global statistics to tell us declining trust is a major event; as it has been going on for some time. We do want to take away is what this means for brands and specifically for global, national, and regional associations trying to get their message across the divide.

Occupying a rustic city block in the promising Norfolk, Virginia area is a sprawling 35,000 square foot warehouse where O’Connor Brewing Company produces the number one six-pack sold in Virginia. There we meet Kevin and Penny O’Connor, the two founders: one a visionary and the other the marketing mastermind. Next to them sit their right- and left-hand men, Hannah Serrano, and a young and talented graphic designer (whose name escapes me, but art doesn’t).

All this talk about attracting millennials and yet we are missing the giant not-so-subtle-anymore elephant in the room - women. We’ve seen the Women’s March take place for the second straight year, chances are you or someone you know used the hashtag “#MeToo” in solidarity, and we’re all noticing the black attire in the room at celebrity and political events. While we’re not here to get political, we are going to touch on how organizations serving their members can better attract the female professional to grow and compete with emerging trends.