Last week, AH hosted its seventh annual Leadership Forum event at the Westin Mount Laurel Hotel in Mount Laurel, NJ. Over 120 volunteer leaders, association professionals, and industry partners came together for two days of education and networking. AH also hosted the sixth annual Red Chair Awards ceremony, honoring multiple client partners that have exceeded goals and expectations under AH's four pillars of success.

I was fortunate to have been able to join 6,000+ association colleagues and professionals in Chicago for the ASAE 2018 Annual Meeting this past summer.

Creating Rolodex-inspired micro-volunteer opportunities

When it comes to volunteers, some folks shine by doing the heavy lifting of organizing and project management. Others make a similar impact just by opening up their phone directory. You likely know the players in your organization who seem to know everyone in the business. Futurist Malcolm Gladwell calls these people Connectors. When asked to do a small and specific task to support their association, Connectors will happily place a call or tap out a text to someone they know. With very little effort from the member, a valuable connection is made and you’ve onboarded another volunteer.

Is your work meaningful or are you just going along for the ride? I recently experienced the loss of a client and employee all in one fell swoop and felt mad, sad and angry. Why did this impact me so greatly? The loss of a good client and trained employee felt like a failure and created a financial and staffing void.