Some context, please
A pet peeve of mine: A report about associations (e.g., marketing benchmarks report) where the report defines associations by the number of members, but fails to discriminate between trade associations and individual associations. In other words, the report will talk about "associations with fewer than 500 members" as if a trade association with 450 members is somehow the same as an individual membership organization with 450 members.
I have worked with trade associations with fewer than three dozen members that had a budget and staff three times the size of a professional society with 2,500 members. I think you see my point; the number of members without context makes for pretty useless comparisons or benchmarks.
Just something to keep in mind if you're ever creating or reading benchmarking reports.
![]()
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Newton’s First Law
Newton’s First Law Part of Newton’s First Law states that “…an object in motion stays […]
No System is Perfect
No System is Perfect While it may sound trite, it bears repeating that no data management […]
Data Accretes
Data Accretes One of my very first jobs in the association world was managing the production […]
Don’t be so lazy…
Don’t be so lazy… One of the things that attracted me to the software world […]
Don’t try to do everything at go-live
Don’t Try to do Everything at Go-live When implementing a new AMS, there is a […]
Make sure your system has broad support
Make sure your system has broad support An AMS vendor pointed out to me recently […]
You have to have the right people in place
You have to have the right people in place This may seem obvious, but I’ll […]
Ask “What” not “Why”
Ask “What” not “Why” As a consultant, one of my favorite questions to ask my […]
Engagement is measured by the customer
Engagement is Measured by the Customer I’ve written a bunch about measuring engagement in the past. (Click […]
Yes, you do have a process for that
Yes, you do have a process for that When I work with clients on pretty […]
