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Notes: 5/5/04 Conference Call
Recap of May 5 Chapter Presidents Teleconference – Getting Speakers, Professional Development, Supporting NABE
Leadership dinner recap. We heard from chapter presidents that attended the leadership dinner for board members, roundtable leaders and chapter officers. They praised the event for being a good opportunity to meet people, secure speakers and compare notes with other chapter presidents. (Several speakers were secured!) They liked the connections they made that continued throughout the conference and beyond. As we’ve stressed before, relationship building is important to our individual and collective success.
Encourage officers to become national members if they are not already members. Chapter members may join national at a discounted rate of $100, a $40 savings. The national organization makes many resources available to chapter presidents, including events such as the leadership dinner, as well as resources to better run your chapter, such as the toolkit and teleconference calls to share successful ways to build chapter membership.
The chapter leadership toolkit is available at www.nabe.com. This is a downloadable booklet of “how-to” run your chapter to successfully add members. It outlines how to plan the logistics of your events, how to advertise (the importance of setting up a telemarketing campaign. In addition to e-mail, call members to invite them because this builds relationships.) The handbook also includes examples of letters to request a speaker and thank you letters, among other things.
How do we retain speakers?
- You need to know your membership base. Decide what trends are going on that your members would want to hear about.
- Choose a topic that is timely.
- What is your budget? Can you pay or find a gratis speaker? Many chapters get good speakers and don’t pay a fee.
- Resources of national NABE can help you match/partner with speakers.
- Write a compelling letter to introduce your chapter to the speaker and be sure to say how speaking to you chapter may benefit the speaker.
- Have someone introduce you to a speaker. You should still follow-up with a formal letter, but this is a good way to be sure you get a response.
Discussion about speakers and event formats
- Economic roundtables have worked well for some chapters. Here’s how it works: have eight people sit at each table, ask them to discuss a prepared question, then have a designated person at each table come to the front and discuss his or her table’s viewpoint. This gets everyone involved, builds relationships and does not require a featured speaker. Some chapters have Town Hall events that are similar.
- Partner with other groups. Some chapters are successfully doing this, reaching out the associations their officers are involved with and local society of financial analysts. This is also a source of new members.
- Invite the media. The Richmond Chapter invited a media person whose byline was compatible with the speaker’s topic. In fact, when the media person asked if the speaker could talk about local and national, the chapter’s president went back to the speaker to see if he could comment on the local area, he said yes, and the media person covered the event.
- Consider private pre-event meetings with corporate sponsors.
- Consider nominal thank-you gifts to speakers. It is the thought that counts, and it puts your chapter in a good light because it is a professional and respectful gesture.
National Association for Business Economics
1233 20th Street NW #505
Washington, DC 20036
Phone 202.463.6223 Fax 202.463.6239
nabe@nabe.com
© 2003-2005, NABE®
Return to the Chapter Leadership handbook
