Re-Engaging with the AMC Industry

Re-Engaging with the AMC Industry

Guest Post By Carolyn Lagermasini, CAE, President, Association & Conference Group (ACG). Carolyn serves on AMCI's Community Engagement Committee.

In 2015, I attended my first AMC Institute Annual Meeting. The event was held at the Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura, Florida. At that time, my fledgling AMC had 11 clients and six employees. Walking into the Annual Meeting I felt a little overwhelmed and a lot out of place. ACG was (and has always been) a fully virtual company at a time when many AMCs remained traditional. As one can imagine, this fact raised a few eyebrows and elicited unhelpful criticisms. I went to that meeting to learn how to grow my business, how to manage some of the common challenges we all have regardless of size, how to better understand the AMC industry, and to meet my peers. I walked away disappointed, wondering if there was a place for me in the AMCI community.

Fast forward seven years, sprinkle in a global pandemic, virtual everything, and the worst hiring market in years, and I found myself back at the Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs. This time, I went to the meeting to learn about accreditation (which we previously could not pursue as a virtual company), to understand what others are experiencing in our industry, and to make connections with my peers. What a difference seven years makes! The tone of this event was refreshing, welcoming, and engaging.

I left the 2022 Annual Meeting validated, energized, and excited to take what I learned and put it into action. Now, I am doubling down on my AMCI membership by practicing what I preach. I joined the Community Engagement committee (and was volunteered to write this article), I have committed to attend AMCs Engaged and the 2023 Annual Meeting, and I will also pursue accreditation in 2023.

What did I learn at the Annual Meeting? These are some of my key take-aways:

  1. Staffing - There is no silver bullet and everyone is struggling to hire talent. At the same time, this is an opportunity to cut out the toxic influences on your AMC.
  2. The AMC Model - Our target market doesn’t really know or understand who we are and what we can do. As an industry, we need to do a better job educating the marketplace on the value of the AMC model.
  3. Quality Assurance - Interested in implementing a quality assurance program in your AMC? Get accredited. Or, use the standards as a roadmap for your QA program.
  4. Cybersecurity is Real - Claims have increased 800% since the start of the pandemic. Shout out to Justin Heyman of CMP Management for his session on cybersecurity and for reminding us that cybersecurity is a human behavior problem.
  5. The Association Landscape- The future of associations hinges on a generation that grew up on Amazon and expects instant gratification and customization. To get them to engage, we have to identify their needs, meet them where they are, and deliver customizable benefits.
  6. Covid Reset - All of us performed above and beyond over the last two years, recalibrating our client offerings, developing and implementing new ideas to see what resonated with key stakeholders, working outside of or without a scope. Working this way is not sustainable. It’s time to reset expectations with our clients.
  7. AMCs Rocked Covid (and still are)!

If you are wondering, like I did, if there is a place for you in the AMCI community – there is! See for yourself. Attend a meeting. Join an EduSeries webinar. Reach out to the Community Engagement Committee to learn how you can become more engaged. There are many ways to make the most of your AMCI membership, and engagement is the first step!

Share this post:

Comments on "Re-Engaging with the AMC Industry"

Comments 0-5 of 0

Please login to comment