Repurposing Associations for Survival: A Conversation with Terry Howerton, CEO of TechNexus

This year has brought rapid change and innovation to the association industry. Organizations who don’t evolve and innovate in our new reality are destined to fail. That’s why we invited Terry Howerton, Founder and CEO of TechNexus, to share his expertise with us.

He shared best practices around Repurposing Associations for Survival as part of our Conversation Series, a live webinar series where we gather insights from industry experts and thought leaders. You can get free access to watch the full replay of our conversation with Terry Howerton on-demand here.

Here are a few actionable insights from the conversation:

1) Understand How Rapid Change in Our World is Changing Associations’ Value Proposition

The world is rapidly changing and so is the value proposition of associations. People have numerous ways to network with others in their industry that didn’t exist 15 years ago. We all have so much more access to high-quality content. Because of these changes, leading associations are examining their value propositions to prepare for the future. Listen to Terry Howerton:

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2) Align Your Organization’s Mission to Meeting Your Members’ New Needs

The reasons why your members need to be a part of your association are probably very different from the reasons they needed to be a part of your association twenty years ago. Align your mission to meeting these new needs. For example, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is critical to many organizations and associations can help their members achieve DE&I in their own organizations by leveraging the collective experience of the industry. Listen to Terry Howerton:

3) Deliver a Common Purpose for Members To Collectively Define and Work Toward

Advocacy is an important part of many associations’ missions. But, simply advocating for the things that aren’t important to your industry doesn’t deliver a common purpose to your members. It’s too transactional. Instead, bring your members into the conversation and leverage them to define why and how your association should advocate for specific causes. Whether its advocacy or something else, make sure you give your members the opportunity to become a part of your organization’s purpose. Listen to Terry Howerton:

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