Author: Lucie Robathan

Lucie has always been driven by teaching and learning. Masters degrees in philosophy and religious studies from Edinburgh and McGill Universities have proved to her the power of ideas, while two years building and growing a dedicated local membership for the children’s tuition centre she ran in South London was a lesson in turning shared ideas into an engaged and flourishing community.

Jun
08

Are we ready for the robots?

People. As members, as staff, as experts, as consultants and as communities, associations need people. And people – as members, as staff, as experts, as consultants and as communities – need associations. As we move into a future when the position of many working people is unknown and unstable, what are the repercussions for associations, […]

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May
25

Don’t advertise to your audience; connect with it

It might seem like your organization is treading a tightrope between the two poles that hold it aloft. On one side is membership engagement and retention, and keeping the rope taught from the other side is the opposing pull of non-dues revenue efforts. Providing and demonstrating value to your members is, of course, a fundamental task […]

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May
23

Why first impressions matter for members

Mindset is a funny thing. Once we have made up our minds about something, even unconsciously, that decision informs every subsequent interaction we have with it. Whether it’s an adult wrinkling up their nose at a steaming plate of broccoli as they flashback to their first childhood encounter with the offending vegetable, or your parents being […]

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May
12

Overheard at MMC: A collection of offstage insights

We all go to conferences hungry for something: hungry for knowledge and information, for rekindling old connections and forging new ones, or perhaps for what’s on offer at the midday buffet. I often find the aspect of conference-going I most relish comes neither from the session hall nor the lunch menu, but from the hundreds […]

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May
02

Seeking 2 brave association executives

I wanted to share an exciting opportunity surrounding the Engaging Associations Forum conference, which will be held in Ottawa, Ontario, from July 19th-21st, 2017. (To read more about the conference, click here). EAF is looking for two courageous association exec volunteers — one from a trade association and another from a professional association — to be on […]

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