Research suggests associations have an oppurtunity to grow membership by targeting non-member attendees at conferences.
An analysis of five national and international meetings by professional conference organisers, ICMS Australasia, held between 2022 and 2023, has revealed the potential for membership growth
for host associations.
For example, 48 per cent of delegates that attended the 20th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
(ICSMGE) in 2022, weren’t members of the associations; and 49 per cent of
attendees at the 58th International Association of Forensic Toxicologists
Annual Meeting (TIAFT) 2022, were non-members.
ICMSA owner and MD, Emma Bowyer said the findings
demonstrate that associations could be putting further effort into attracting
their own members to their meetings and converting the non-member event
attendees into new association members during the event.
“These non-members are keen to play a wider role in their
sector as evidenced by their participation at these meetings and they should be
converted to association member status at the conclusion of each.”
Strong student attendance Ms Bowyer said strong student
participation at these meetings also provided opportunities for associations to
broaden their membership, increase revenue and grow key sectors.
“These student delegates are attending these meetings at
heavily discounted registration rates,” Bowyer said. “Priority should be made
to convert this next generation of specialists to sector-specific association
membership status at the conclusion of the meeting.”
Bowyer suggested that host bodies could do more work at
their meeting to achieve this by offering a discounted association registration
fee only valid for the duration of the Conference.
