10 Association Trends You Need to Pay Attention to in 2023
The last few years have had their challenges, but I think it’s an exciting time to be part of the association community. The team and I have pulled together a list of topics we’ve been talking about or hearing and reading about in blogs, social media, webinars, and conferences—the topics rising in our collective association consciousness.
AI for Normal People
AI tools are becoming more accessible, relevant, and entertaining. OpenAI recently released its AI chatbot ChatGPT for public testing and it’s been the talk of Twitter, just like the AI art engine DALL-E was upon release.
You can easily imagine the eventual impact of these tools. Already rerouting deliveries when storms or strikes interrupt supply chains, curating newsletters, and helping people write marketing copy, design logos, and do homework.
How might your association use AI tools? How might your members use them? Check out Futurepedia’s directory of AI tools and imagine what’s possible.
Walking the DEI Walk
During the pandemic, the switch to virtual events resulted in an overdue realization that in-person events excluded many groups of people.
- People who can’t afford the registration, hotel, and travel expenses of in-person conferences—students, young professionals, people in between jobs, and people whose employers don’t provide a budget for professional development
- Parents and caregivers, usually women
- People with physical disabilities
- People who cannot travel from other countries
- People whose professional or personal schedules don’t allow them to take time off
If you don’t offer virtual events, who are you excluding?
Rethink governance practices that exclude people who can’t afford to dedicate several years to “climbing the leadership ladder.”
Analyze your data to understand who is and isn’t participating, and which groups are underrepresented in membership, leadership, volunteers, attendees, and speakers/instructors.
Match Event Place to Purpose
When designing programs, think about how people want to spend their time at in-person and virtual events. People who attend in-person events want to connect with others, so that’s what you should give them—opportunities to combine learning and connecting. If they only care about passively sitting there and absorbing content, they’ll opt for watching live and on-demand videos at home.
Don’t forget the people who cannot go to in-person events. They want to meet and interact with other attendees too, so your virtual events should provide those social learning and networking opportunities.
Gamification at Events
Don’t make assumptions about gamification. I’ve seen never-gamers enjoy it. When you add a leaderboard to your event, you can reward attendees for going to sessions, making exhibitor appointments, serving as conference buddies for first-timers, or volunteering. Award a prize—free membership or registration—to the top scorers.
A Fresh Approach to Non-Dues Revenue
Thanks to sponsorship consultants and the popularity of programs by Non-Dues-A-Palooza and Professionals for Association Revenue, the non-dues conversation has been elevated in the association community.
Many associations are now benefiting from their sponsors’ expertise. They treat sponsors like educators, not just salespeople. There’s less reliance on logos and more on content, and less emphasis on one- or two-day events and more on year-round partnerships.
Remote/Hybrid Culture
The Economist’s word of 2022 is “hybrid work” because “it will reshape cities, careers, family life, and free time.” They left out culture. When you have a hybrid workplace, assess what cultural intangibles you want to preserve, improve, or do away with. Culture can help you attract and retain staff, but it can also repel staff.
Figure out how to help new remote/hybrid employees assimilate and keep conversations, camaraderie, and relationships going when colleagues sit far apart from each other.
Hybrid work presents new opportunities for associations. In-person conferences can serve as meetups for remote/hybrid workforces. Offer team registration rates, facilitate meeting space, and allow downtime in the schedule for company activities. User conferences are another place for co-workers to meet.
Social Flux & the Human Touch
Social media is unpredictable as ever. Will the government ban TikTok? Will Twitter survive? Know which platforms different membership and market segments actively use. Things can change quickly. Who’d ever thought LinkedIn would get so popular? Stay aware of industry participation on Discord, Slack, Mastodon, and Reddit. Does your industry have outposts in the metaverse?
I’ve noticed an upsurge in discussions about community. As more of our lives become automated and virtual, human interactions become more precious. Put your efforts into fostering a community on a platform you own where you get to keep data, like an online community, not Facebook. Consider giving non-members limited viewing privileges to lure them into membership—Substack does a great job with this model.
Amateur Data Analysts
It’s surprising—and disappointing—to hear about associations who aren’t taking advantage of their data beyond simple reporting. Next year, next year, they say. There’s so much to learn from engagement and behavioral data. You have access to this treasure via reports and dashboards. With the tools available now, anyone can be an amateur data analyst.
But too often, staff don’t trust and use the association’s data because it’s not clean. To prevent data integrity issues, a small team must take ownership of data governance and develop a strategy to ensure data serves association and department objectives. This team must enforce data management and entry practices and use quarterly data integrity reports to assess their progress.
Best-of-Breed Tech Ecosystem
More than ever, I’ve been hearing consultants, technology providers, and association professionals talk in favor of best-of-breed systems that leverage horizontal integrations. The all-in-one, customized AMS is going out of favor. I have no doubt this conversation will continue in 2023.
To take full advantage of the best-of-breed ecosystem, you must understand the importance of API and integration so you can connect systems directly or through middleware.
Future Proofing the Association
The pandemic caught everyone off guard. As associations were adjusting to remote work, they had to quickly figure out how to deliver value to members in a virtual world. Nearly three years later, we’re still living with the pandemic and economic uncertainty.
How do you ensure your association will continue to deliver value to your members and market, meet (and exceed) their expectations, and help them succeed? Many of the trends I’ve highlighted above will eventually become part of your blueprint.
But will your AMS keep up with your association as you take on new strategies and invest in new programs? Make sure you know what technology can do for you. Request a demo to see how MemberSuite AMS performs for future-ready associations.