Think back to the last association meeting you attended. Chances are the majority of members in attendance were over the age of 45 and paying dutiful attention to the general session speaker. And I’m sure you also remember a few younger members peppered through the back rows, eyes down on their smart phones.
This is the scene at all too many association meetings—an obvious division in membership demographics that threatens the future of organizations as a whole.
“There’s no question that we have a graying audience,” says Tom Bolman, CAE, executive vice president of IACC.
According to John Graham, president and CEO of ASAE, the truth is in the numbers.
“In today’s professional associations, about 6 percent of members are 65 years old or older, 39 percent are 55 to 64 years old, 30 percent are 45 to 54 years old, 18 percent are 35 to 44 years old, 3 percent are 25 to 34 years old and only 1 percent are under the age of 25,” he says. “If you take the distribution out another 10 years, you are going to have about 39 percent of association membership over 65. This fact really requires associations to focus more on the younger demographic than ever before.”
And in addition to an emphasis on diversity of age, associations also need to pay attention to racial and ethnic changes in membership, Graham says.
“Look at the U.S. population. Right now, one in seven Americans is Hispanic,” he says. “That number is getting bigger every decade, and by 2050 one in three American will be Hispanic.
“Associations need to pay attention to this and grapple with programming that is not only multigenerational, but also multicultural,” he says. “They need to be more culturally competent with age, race and diversity, and evaluate programming through a different lens than in the past.”
These facts and figures can be a tough concept for association leaders, primarily because associations by definition have long been groups of like-people coming together, Graham explains. “Diversity is the opposite of that idea—it is juxtaposed,” he says.
Associations in action
So how are associations currently attracting a new generation of members?
PCMA has a very specific plan. At the organization’s annual meeting in January, Susan Katz, chairwoman of the board, unveiled its New Professional Task Force as a way to bring in a younger membership.
“Our task force is made up of people—suppliers and planners—who’ve been in the industry for less than five years,” she says. “They help to inform the board on the needs and wants of new professionals.”
So far, Katz says the task force is coming up with great ideas, including the addition of video vignettes on PCMA’s website that explain the various duties that go into executing a successful meeting. In addition, two members of the group have the opportunity to sit in on the organization’s board meeting.
“Our board loves interacting with the younger people; it’s been a big success,” she says. “PCMA really wants to be seen as the organization for lifelong learning in this industry, and we need to be developing the next generation of leaders. This task force really helps us with that effort.”
IACC has a similar plan. About four years ago, the organization launched its Board Associates Program.
“This is a program where conference centers nominate someone under 30 years old to sit on the board of directors and give us a Millennial perspective,” Bolman says. “It is a 15-month program. They are selected in the fall and begin serving in January. They end up going through four board meetings.”
In addition, the designated Board Associate heads up IACC’s Emerging Trends Committee, which includes professionals under the age of 30. Bolman says the committee is tasked with developing initiatives for the organization, and so far has created an internship program for conference centers nationwide and is currently looking into a project on communications technologies.
“It has worked really well for us,” he says. “We would like to have even more people in the Board Associates Program and may do that in the future. It’s nice to have the associate at the board meeting because they usually bring up things that we just haven’t thought of.”
The Flip Side
The push for a younger and more diverse association membership has some feeling left out.
“Every association is creating a young professional committee, but I think long-term members are feeling taken for granted,” says Joan Eisenstodt, meetings and hospitality consultant, facilitator and trainer for Washington, D.C.-based Eisenstodt Associates. “I’m part of several groups of planners and some are asking, ‘What about us? Why are we not regarded as the people who’ve sustained an organization for years? What do we mean to you?’ The bottom line: I’m not sure if organizations have a strategic plan about how to deal with very diverse memberships.”
Bolman has a different impression of the interaction between young and veteran association members.
“I haven’t noticed the older generation feeling left out when there are younger people participating in activities,” he says. “I think they really enjoy the interaction.”
Katz agrees, and says mature PCMA members are also benefiting from the cross-pollination of ideas—partly thanks to a reverse membership program that was launched a few years ago.
“We started this mentorship program where a group of younger members and a group of seasoned professionals share ideas,” she says. “It created a dialogue between them and they reported the things they learned.”
Possible Solutions
Attracting a younger and more diverse membership starts by looking at what populations really want and changing old ways to suit new needs, Graham says.
Take pricing as an example. The pay-once-a-year-membership pricing model of the past no longer works for some members.
“Now, members are looking for mass customization—with pricing, too,” he says. “The under-35 crowd is looking for an al a carte model. Kind of like if you going to buy a subscription to the opera, you may want to choose one show over the other. Today’s associations and now looking at new pricing models to allow members to pay for what they want. It is one way to attract that younger demographic.”
Another idea is segmentation. As Graham points out, segmented meeting discussion tracks geared toward a diversity of persons—early career, mid-career and senior career professionals—can help with the mass customization feel of a meeting.
“Especially for the millennials, they are looking for career development more than anything, which isn’t a priority for some senior level professionals,” he says.
Eisenstodt isn’t so sure.
“If you segregate people in any fashion, it can make them comfortable, but you lose the spark that happens when you are encouraged to have a conversation,” she says.
Advice for associations
So what are associations to do?
“I think members of association leadership need to take time to observe how their members interact and participate in meeting,” Eisenstodt offers. “I really don’t think there is an easy answer to this, but I think it would be great if we stopped and looked at our members and how they are talking to each other.”
Katz says that being in tune with your association’s membership is crucial.
“I think it is important to know your membership and what they want,” she says. “Knowing members’ hot buttons and what their needs are is vital. It is also really important to stay relevant.”
More than anything, mentorship programs can help facilitate conversation across generations, she adds.
“Formal mentorship programs are important,” she says. “They give senior planners an opportunity to work with a new generation of professionals and help them in the industry. Both sides end up learning a lot from the experience.”
How does IACC’s Bolman think associations can bridge the young/mature member gap?
“It’s like a marriage—it will only work with communication,” he says. “Make sure both demographics feel welcome and comfortable in a room when they are together. If you have that, you won’t have a problem attracting new members and retaining current ones.”
Katie Morell is a Chicago-based freelance writer and former Meetings Focus editor. www.katiemorell.com
