Eric Lanke

JULY 1, 2019

I wrote a blog post back in July 2012 called The Chairman's Gift. It's a pretty popular post, making most of my year-end Top Five lists, and capturing the eighth most number of pageviews from among the more than 600 posts that have appeared on this blog. In it, I describe a tradition we have in our association of giving a gift to our outgoing Chairman of the Board.

Leadership 113

Leadership Report Member Engagement Organization 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 24, 2019

A bit of a rant this week. On my most recent business trip, a staff member of mine rented a car for us. She is not a "preferred" member of the rental car company she worked with, so she had to stand in line and wait to be served. It was awful. There was only one agent working the desk and I counted nine people in front of my staff member. I timed how long the first person took at the counter.

Products 113

Products Process Conference Member Engagement 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 22, 2019

There’s a long subtitle here: “Strategy Deployment and Execution Process for Breakthrough Business Performance.” The book was given to be by the Board chair of the association I work for and, although clearly written for a manufacturing environment, there are some transferable ideas that could benefit those non-profit organizations. X Matrix is the name of the system the author describes in what is obviously a self-published and, unfortunately, typo-riddled treatise.

Examples 113

Examples Discount Process Analysis 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 17, 2019

There are two kinds of association executives. Those that come from the industry their association represents, and those that come from the field of association management. I am the latter. In my experience, executives that come from the industry their association represents generally know what to do, but have to learn how to do it. And executives that come from the field of association management, generally know how to do things, but have to learn what to do.

Strategy 113

Strategy Association Management Industry How To 113

Eric Lanke

MAY 27, 2019

This article on Forbes.com caught my eye this week. It's titled Why Companies That Embrace "Red Is Good" Get The Best Results , and it makes that very argument -- that companies that rigidly adhere to an honest and unflinching measure of their success, even if it means putting those dreaded red lights on their color-coded dashboards, do better than those that purposely or otherwise fudge their yardsticks to make sure their dashboards are always covered with those pleasing green lights.

Innovation 113

Innovation Review Resources Process 113

Eric Lanke

MAY 20, 2019

This week's blog post is partly inspired by this post on Seth Godin's blog. In it, he makes the case that the idea of "reach" is overrated. Why do you care if you can, for more money, reach more people? Why wouldn’t it make more sense to reach the right people instead? I agree entirely. Here's a specific case in point. My association has a website. There's a lot of good content up there, most of it intended for our members.

Newsletter 145

Newsletter Content Technology Industry 145

Eric Lanke

APRIL 22, 2019

I think I've written on this blog before about the Technology Roadmap that my association maintains for the industry we represent. If not, as a quick introduction, our Technology Roadmap describes an industry-wide consensus regarding the pre-competitive research and development needs associated with improving the design, manufacture, and function of fluid power components and systems.

Project 113

Project Technology Industry Resources 113

Eric Lanke

APRIL 15, 2019

I was on the road for much of this past week. I was attending one of my association's major workforce development programs in and around Denver, Colorado, but where I was and what I was doing is not really relevant for the purposes of this post. What is relevant is that I was away from my office, and that while I was away I was able to get a clear picture on several of the issues that have been vexing me of late.

Denver 113

Denver Colorado Course Leadership 113

Eric Lanke

MARCH 25, 2019

I had a day this week that defied logic. In the office at 7:00 AM, on the road at 9:30 AM, a conference presentation at 11:30 AM, back on the road at 12:30 PM, a conference call in the car at 1:00 PM, a planning meeting back in the office at 3:00 PM. And all throughout, checking and responding to emails, Tweets, and LinkedIn posts. I got it all done, and I did it with grace and skill.

Conference 124

Conference Products Tools Communications 124

Eric Lanke

MARCH 18, 2019

My association sponsors an outreach and education program for eighth graders. We call it the Fluid Power Action Challenge, and we've positioned it as it part of a series of programs to introduce the technology my association represents to young people and then to provide a pathway of activities through high school and college that brings them into careers in our industry.

Wisconsin 113

Wisconsin Course Video Industry 113

Eric Lanke

MARCH 11, 2019

There's an old saying among association executives. To be successful, you need to stay ahead of your members. but not too far. What most people mean by this, generally speaking, is that the association executive that doesn't act until his members make their collective desires known will wind up leading his association into either obscurity or oblivion.

Course 113

Course Conference Innovation Strategy 113

Eric Lanke

MARCH 4, 2019

My daughter plays the piano and the violin. She's an eighth-grader now, and every year for the past three years she has tried out for our state's Solo & Ensemble Music Festival, in which school children across the state prepare and perform a piece on their instruments, which is judged by a professional music teacher or instructor. Those judged worthy are then invited to participate in the festival, where they again perform their piece, are judged again, and can win ribbons and trophies.

Milwaukee 113

Milwaukee Committee Video Report 113

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Sometimes I feel exactly like the tightrope walker in the picture accompanying this post -- out on a thin and dangerous wire, leaving one position of safety with the hope of reaching another, alone, and with only the balance pole of my wits and my association's mission to stabilize me. The first position of safety? That's my current organization, where, although there are some strong winds buffeting us, things are working well and people are satisfied.

Leadership 140

Leadership Organization 140

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

On the day this posts, my association's Board meeting and Annual Conference will be two short weeks away. This has traditionally been my time to enter what I call my "Annual Conference Mode." What does that mean? Well, the simple rule I try to start following is that if it isn't related to pulling off a successful Board meeting and Annual Conference, then it's going to wait until after the conference is over.

Conference 147

Conference Project Report Strategy 147

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

This week we had a planning meeting for our upcoming Annual Conference. Because our Annual Conference is popular with members this year, and because we ran out of sleeping rooms at our conference hotel, we've moved our staff to another property about a mile and a half down the road. This, I think, appropriately prioritizes the sleeping rooms for our members attending the conference and avoids the awkwardness that can arise if a member, having been turned away from the conference hotel, discovers

Conference 113

Conference Organization Leadership 113

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

This past week brought the Polar Vortex to the Midwest and with it record-breaking temperatures well below zero. In my neck of the woods it was immediately preceded by a massive snowstorm, which dumped up to a foot of snow during what we would normally consider our morning and late afternoon commutes. It was a kind of one-two punch, and it caused me to first rethink and then abandon my association's "office closing" policy.

Milwaukee 113

Milwaukee System Video Project 113

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 28, 2019

As a kind of follow-up to last week's post on the differences between strategy development and strategy deployment (at least in the way that my association's Board are working to define those terms), I had another conversation on the same subject this week with another Board leader, and this one had a decidedly different feel to it. I was talking to this Board leader about a piece of our next meeting agenda that he was going to lead.

Strategy 113

Strategy Review Resources Process 113

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 21, 2019

Couple of conversations this week with members of my association's Board on the differences between strategy development and strategy deployment. I probably need to provide some background first. My Board recently decided to change our cycle of strategic planning. When I first came into the organization (12 years ago!) I put it on an annual cycle of strategy development and deployment.

Strategy 113

Strategy Proposal Resources Course 113

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 14, 2019

This post in Associations NOW recently caught my eye, arguing, as it does, for association conferences that span a fewer number of days in recognition of the increasing desire for "work-life balance" among association members. I've got a different take. Don't shorten the number of days that your conference spans. Shorten the amount of time I spend in educational sessions on the days that I am there.

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Education Conference Project Tools 113

Eric Lanke

DECEMBER 31, 2018

As we end another year, here's a look back at the five posts on this blog that received the most page views in 2018. 1. Stop Calling It Strategic Planning This has been on every year-end list since it was originally posted in January 2012, and keeps getting a ton of traffic, including as the page through which the highest number of people enter my site.

Guidelines 100

Guidelines Course Team System 100

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 1, 2018

As we end another year, here's a look back at the five posts on this blog that received the most page views in 2017. 1. Stop Calling It Strategic Planning This has been on every year-end list since it was originally posted in January 2012, and keeps getting a ton of traffic, including as the page through which the highest number of people enter my site.

Guidelines 100

Guidelines Course Team Process 100

Eric Lanke

DECEMBER 22, 2018

The subtitle here is “A Personal Guide to Leadership and Career Fulfillment in Association Management.” How it came into my possession I no longer remember, but my copy is signed by the author himself. Sept 25, 2013 Eric - Thought you might find this of interest. Best regards Paul Belford Did I meet Paul somewhere, at one of the many conferences I attend?

Handbook 113

Handbook Leadership Conference Industry 113

Eric Lanke

DECEMBER 17, 2018

I've been thinking this week about metrics for the marketing and communications function of my organization. Specifically, what's the best way to measure the contribution of our marketing efforts in the achievement of our program goals? Maybe I need to explain that. In my organization there are program goals. We want to recruit new members. We want to increase the number of members attending our conferences.

Marketing 113

Marketing Newsletter Conference Recruiting 113

Eric Lanke

DECEMBER 10, 2018

My association sponsors an undergraduate education program we call the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge. Essentially, it challenges undergraduate engineers to design and build a human-powered vehicle (typically a bicycle, but not always) that uses my industry's technology (i.e., hydraulics) as the method of propulsion. It's awesome. Responding to the distressing lack of fluid power education in our nation's undergraduate mechanical engineering programs, we now have a way to engage students with a h

Innovation 113

Innovation Team System Recruiting 113

Eric Lanke

DECEMBER 3, 2018

I flew in and out of LAX this week. It's not a frequent airport for me -- I can't even remember the last time I was there. But something happened there that I thought was worth blogging about. When I arrived for my return flight home I didn't at first recognize anything as unusual. My Uber driver dropped me off curbside, I got my boarding pass from the automated machine, I found the TSA pre-check line and went through security.

Los Angeles 113

Los Angeles System Conference Leadership 113

Eric Lanke

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

I'm not much of a sports fan, but one sports analogy I use pretty consistently is the term "inside baseball." I use it to describe a situation when I'm going into too much jargon and detail in front of an audience that doesn't understand or doesn't need such an in-depth explanation. I'm even self-conscious about doing it, often warning people before plowing deep into the picayune that what I'm about to say may be too much "inside baseball" for them.

System 113

System Industry Technology Examples 113

Eric Lanke

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

This book was handed to me at a recent WSAE event I attended -- handed to me not by the authors (who were also there) but by the WSAE staff executive, and with a specific request. “Eric, you like to read. Will you please read this book and write a review of it.” “Sure,” I replied. “But only if I can be brutally honest.” The WSAE staff executive’s response?

Innovation 113

Innovation Technology Recruiting Recruitment 113

Eric Lanke

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

Two unconnected things got connected this week in a fun and interesting way. First, at the beginning of the week I was in Texas for another one of the conferences I've been talking about. And as I often do when I travel, I built some extra time into my schedule so that I could go visit one of the members of my association that was in the same general vicinity.

Texas 113

Texas Maine Products Conference 113

Eric Lanke

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

Something interesting happened this week. The office building where our association is located had a Halloween door decorating contest. For some of my staff people, Halloween is their favorite holiday so, with my full blessing and support, a small group came together and decorated our office door, intent on bringing home the prize. And they did a great job.

Course 113

Course Team Products 113

Eric Lanke

OCTOBER 29, 2018

I was asked to facilitate one of the breakouts at the last conference I attended. (If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that last week I said I had six more conferences and workshops to attend before the end of the year.) The conference organizer reached out to me, I assume primarily because of my position as the President/CEO of the trade association that represents the technology that would be the focus of the breakout, and asked me to take on this role.

Conference 138

Conference Maine Course Project 138

Eric Lanke

OCTOBER 15, 2018

It worked. There's not much more to say than that. Last week, in Behaviors Are a Necessary Part of Values , I wrote about an upcoming discussion on values at my association's Board meeting. I said then that, in my experience, when it comes to values statements, there is actually something more important than choosing the right top-level words to describe your values.

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Proposal Team 138

Eric Lanke

OCTOBER 1, 2018

I had lunch with a colleague this week and our conversation turned to staff bonus plans. In prefacing my description of the bonus plan I've put in place for the staff at my association, I described it (with a bit of tongue in the cheek) as "needlessly complicated." This, frankly, is based on some feedback I've received from my team. After explaining it to her, however, she said she didn't think it was complicated at all.

Team 113

Team Strategy Organization 113

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

I attended a trade show this past week. It's something I haven't done in a while, and I was surprised by how little things have changed. Aisle carpet, booth numbers, giant computer screens, shiny products on lucite display stands. And, of course, booth personnel. Except booth personnel come in several varieties. Forget for a second about the suit-coated or polo-shirted legions that scramble across the big island spaces like ants on a picnic basket.

Course 145

Course Products Leadership 145

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Last week, in When Decisions Get Made , I talked about when a member's decision to renew or not to renew their membership in an association gets made. Using a cautionary tale of my own experience as an association member, I confirmed that the timing of this decision typically occurs well in advance of the delivery of the association renewal invoice in the member's mailbox.

System 113

System Member Engagement Course Tools 113

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 27, 2018

Amanda Kaiser at her Smooth the Path blog gave me a good reminder this week about association membership dues notices. The most interesting result from the member research on renewal notices is that these letters, emails, and phone calls do not serve to change most member’s minds about renewing. Instead, renewal notices merely remind them to renew. The decision to renew is made far ahead of the renewal period.

Newsletter 159

Newsletter Member Research Resources Conference 159

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 13, 2018

I attended a conference last week where one of the sessions was on the Hermann Whole Brain Model. Not familiar with it? It's another one of those HR assessments that labels the innate characteristics of individuals in an organization and, primarily by giving people a common language for discussing and understanding these differences, promotes better communication and collaboration.

System 100

System Communications Team Process 100

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 6, 2018

It's not always obvious. In fact, sometimes it feels like you're not making any progress at all. But then, something happens that allows you to see what you've accomplished from an outsider's perspective, and suddenly, you realize that you ARE actually making a difference. What am I talking about? Eleven years ago the association work for launched an affiliated charitable foundation to help raise money to support outreach, education, and research initiatives in our industry.

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Newsletter Social Media Industry Review 100