By Norman E. Wallis, Ph.D. President, PAI Management Corporation Bethesda, Maryland, USA (from A&A: Assembly and Association
Stale program
Research in the US has shown that the major stimulus to attendance is the quality of the educational program and what can be learned by attending. Members and non-members will travel significant distances and will pay reasonable fees if the program is recognized as an investment in their professional or personal development. However, for many business and trade associations the annual convention is seen principally as an opportunity for social interaction, with the quality of the program a secondary consideration.
 
Similarly, many scientific and professional societies ignore the potential for informal or unstructured education, and tend to overschedule formal presentations. The phenomenal growth of ‘poster’ sessions at scientific meetings demonstrates that more informal methods of presenting complex information can be readily accepted.
 
The program content of the meeting must be on the cutting edge of the discipline. While scientific meetings can usually retain the same format for a number of years, since the main stimulus for attending is to learn about the latest research or clinical findings, featuring the ‘same old crowd’ of speakers each year will eventually drive away bright newcomers, who will move on to develop their own meetings. And an annual meeting of a trade association will attract a larger attendance if keynote speakers who can ‘draw’ are engaged.
 
However, a balance must be established between paying for a ‘name’ and the quality of the rest of the program. A well-known authority or exciting plenary speaker can be an attraction at a food function. And recognize that breakfasts are fast becoming more attractive than heavy lunches or boring ‘banquets.’ Small break-out sessions and workshops providing an opportunity for personal expression and ‘hands-on’ experience are also sure-fire attendance boosters for all associations. No one likes to listen to other people talk all the time. Also, carefully planned social events provide ideal opportunities for informal ‘networking’. Meeting others who are willing to share ideas to improve a member’s business or hobby often will
be remembered as a valuable part of a meeting. So allow plenty of unstructured time between formal sessions. 
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45 Ways to Grow Membership Revenue 

1. Offer More Diverse Services
   Understand member expectations, wants, and needs and then introduce new and valuable services available for additional fees.
   
   
2. Sell Sponsored Advertising
   Businesses will appreciate gaining access to a smaller and more focused demographic of potential customers than traditional advertising can reach.
   
   
3. Pre-Negotiate Discounts for Members
   Provide access to discounted products and services members regularly purchase to save them money and makes membership and renewal fees affordable.
   
   
4. Refer Customers to Members
   Promote businesses owned by members to the association to incentivize the owners to remain members and deepen their engagement.  
   
   
5. Don’t Overlook Membership Retention
   It is generally much less costly to retain a member than acquiring a new member to replace a one that declined to renew their membership.
   
   
6. Change Membership Fees
   Consumers have choices at different prices when considering a product or service so they expect a similar experience when selecting memberships.
   
   
7. Modernize Websites and Materials
   Ensuring the websites and materials members rely upon incorporate contemporary designs and features projects professionalism.
   
   
8. Create Micro-Sites and Landing Pages
   Organizing information into easier to find and use micro-sites and landing pages reduces the amount of time members require to find the information they seek.
   
   
9. Introduce Self-Service Options
   Allowing members to directly access member services, without involving other members, improves user experiences.
   
   
10. Market Where Members Gather
    Understanding where your members gather, online and offline, can help to reveal places where visitors are more likely to consider memberships.
    
    
11. Host Events More Often
    When events are popular among members, it is possible that members will prefer attending smaller events held more often than fewer larger events.
    
    
12. Add Different Types of Events
    Experiment with different types of events beyond periodic meetings that may drive greater engagements, especially from members infrequently attending meeting.
    
    
13. Organize Membership Drives
    Give your members and fans the opportunity to become involved in recruiting new members and retaining current members.
    
    
14. Incorporate Feedback from Members
    It is important to communicate the results of surveys and other forms of feedback among your members, highlighting what was learned and incorporated.
    
    
15. Keep Current Members Happy
    People that become displeased with their membership decisions are likely to share their opinions with others, potentially decreasing renewals.
    
    
16. Distribute Personalized Membership Cards
    While membership cards may seem antiquated, they are tangible proof of membership that merit personalization with names, member levels, and more.
    
    
17. Begin Renewals Earlier
    Members might only require a few minutes to pay their renewal fess, but they will need significantly more time to decide to continue their membership.
    
    
18. Involve Members in Recruiting Others
    Find the biggest fans among members and involve them in recruiting others by allowing them sharing their experiences as members.
    
    
19. Complement Online and Offline Presences
    Make it as obvious as possible for prospective and current members to know they are at the right place by keeping logos, designs, and other information consistent.
    
    
20. Don’t Overlook Publicity
    Opportunities to promote associations and members to the public are often available at little to no cost, especially locally within the community.
    
    
21. Recognize and Reward Members
    Show members they are important by recognizing extraordinary accomplishments and rewarding those with the highest levels of engagement.
    
    
22. Participate in Community Service
    People care about their community and many seek chances to contribute their time to the benefit of others so make it easy for these members to help.
    
    
23. Organize Member Committees
    Some members appreciate the opportunity to share their leadership, organizational, and other talents by regularly participating in a formal committee.
    
    
24. Membership Reciprocation Programs
    There are probably associations in your area that strongly complement your mission and seeking them out to form a partnership will mutually increase memberships.
    
    
25. Prospective Member Tours
    Invite the community and prospective members to visit your members-only areas so they can directly experience the benefits of future membership.
    
    
26. New Membership Categories
    Match membership desires, and their availability, by offering a selection of membership categories with unique requirements, benefits, and fees.
    
    
27. Shared Memberships
    Offering shared memberships supporting a member and guest will result in more people experiencing meetings and events with some guests becoming members.
    
    
28. Upgrade Membership Categories
    Provide premium membership levels that will suite people who demand luxurious experiences or prefer exclusive levels of access.
    
    
29. Introduce More Technology
    There are early adopters of technology everywhere and these perspective and current members value using technology in their daily routines.
    
    
30. Invitational Referrals
    Exploit the qualitative difference between a member telling someone about their associate verses handing them a special invitation available from members only.
    
    
31. Guest Advantages
    Creating unique or improves experiences for invited guests will help to make them feel more appreciated and is sure to encourage them to become members.
    
    
32. Marketing Partnerships
    Capture new revenue opportunities from sources beyond your membership by forming partnerships with others to market their products and services.
    
    
33. Optimize Event Frequency
    It is more important to increase the total number of engaged members than the number of members at each event, so try different event schedules to find the best results.
    
    
34. Open Events to Non-Members
    Those events that would benefit from increasing the number of participants are excellent candidates for allowing non-members to attend at a higher fee than members.
    
    
35. Inviting Experts to Speak
    Even large associations eventually suffer the consequences of repetition so consider adding experts, celebrities, leaders, and other non-members to agendas.
    
    
36. Provide Specialized Information
    Reinforce the similar interests among your membership by offering specialized information, or training, that is accessible to members only.
    
    
37. Networking Events
    More people will understand the value of your membership when they participate in networking events associated with business, community, or leisure. 
    
    
38. Host Conferences
    Conferences, whether they are small or large, will create genuine value for presenters, participants, members, and non-members.
    
    
39. Host Award Ceremonies
    Your members can nominate people that have provide a worthwhile contribution, vote to select those most meriting recognition, and host an awards ceremony as a fundraiser.
    
    
40. Webinars and Webcasts
    Creating useful content can be challenging, but coordinating a webinar that is recorded for future on-demand access as a webcast is simple and effective.
    
    
41. Local Events
    Monitor your community for scheduled events your members can attend to promote your association, recruit candidates, and sign members.
    
    
42. Workshops
    Support interested members with sharing their expertise with others to increase the value of memberships and recruit new members.
    
    
43. Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
    There are shared interests among your members that offer opportunities to create groups operating as segmented potions of your association.
    
    
44. Members-only Dinners
    Capture additional revenue for the association by providing social gatherings that serve as alternatives to member’s customary dinners at local restaurants.
    
    
45. Take Meetings Online
    There’s no reason to limit events to physical gatherings given the availability of technological solution for online meetings and events.

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Some associations that could capitalize on industry support, either from an exhibition or educational grants, believe it is beneath their dignity. Unless there is a clear conflict of interest for either the association or its members, the financial support available from industry suppliers can often be the difference between a surplus and a loss. Even a relatively small conference of 200 scientists can usually interest 15 to 20 industry suppliers, particularly if the group is influential and/or very specialized, and the cost of setting-up an exhibition is usually minimal.

The industry representatives benefit from the contacts made and the members and guests benefit from another informal educational experience. However, make sure that the exhibition is an integral part of the conference and schedule liberal exhibition hours that do not conflict with the program. One method of gaining industry loyalty is to serve food functions in the exhibit hall, which creates more opportunities for additional industry support. With a special sign at the buffet station, a breakfast can be sponsored by a company.

Even the cost of a sit-down lunch can be covered for little more than an opportunity for an industry representative to be recognized and thanked during the meal, or by table cards announcing the name of the sponsor. Another source of industry support is the sponsored lecture; but insist on picking the speaker and the topic so that both will be consistent with the quality of the program.

‘Too little, too late’ sums up the marketing and promotion of most poorly managed conferences. Both characteristics invariably occur because the program committee did not set, and/or did not abide by, agreed deadlines. Along with setting the meeting dates and location at least 12 months in advance, a definite time table for program development and marketing must be established and agreed to by everyone involved.
 
Constant reference to the meeting site, dates and topics should be made in all association literature, including letters (e.g., print the conference dates and location on the letterhead!). As the program takes shape, keep members informed through the newsletter and other communication pieces. This will build expectation, so that members will be mentally prepared to receive the main promotion piece. Direct mail to members and non-members should be done at the lowest cost and with maximum frequency, consistent with the adopted budget.
 
The main brochure with complete program and registration information should reach members three months before the meeting. Follow-up reminders, such as specially printed postcards (which are very cost-effective to print and post), should arrive two months and, ideally, one month out. (Note: since this was published the availability of blast emails has replaced the post cards). Reach non-members by obtaining mailing lists in label form from other associations with similar interests, or from list brokers who will help with the selection.

As with membership marketing, always measure the response from all lists. This will give you data for selecting commercial lists in future years. Discount the meeting fees significantly for early registration, which will reduce the number of on-site registrations. The emphasis must be on rewarding the early birds rather than penalizing with a late fee, the member who registers one week before or on-site. The cut-off date for the discount should be one month before the event.

Registration's received by this date will provide a good indicator of the final attendance (needed
for accurate and therefore less costly food estimates).