Zooming out

A year has past since the world as we knew it ground to a halt and we were forced to adopt a new way of life based around remote working, not going out much, and something called 'Zoom'.

Associations were left wondering how best to engage their members in this Brave New World, and how to re-create the feeling - or buzz - of face-to-face engagement at their online events. It was exhilarating. And a bit scary.

Out of the chaos came virtual event technology with innovative capabilities that to most of us still seemed new and unfamiliar, even though virtual events, and the technology used to run them, weren’t exactly new.

The difference was we could no longer get away with just livestreaming a breakout session for those attendees who couldn’t attend in person. Now none of our attendees could attend in person! We had to stretch ourselves.

And so we found ourselves building speed networking experiences into our virtual conferences, for example, or creating online communities where none previously existed to provide a sense of belonging for our members during a time of isolation and disconnection.

Where online communities did exist, we enhanced our approach to engagement in these spaces and made sure we designed these experiences as holistically as we could to avoid losing our members during such a strange time.

Now the tide is beginning to shift again.

Organisations are looking at hybrid models to provide a live offering for their members so that we can all return to 'what once was'. But should 'once was' be our North Star?

The fact is, 2020 forced us to think differently about how we bring our members together. From chapter meetings to our big annual events, creativity and innovation was a must if we wanted to ensure we kept our members engaged.

And in doing so we looked toward digital enablement. We gave our members ways to come together, no matter where they lived, and ways to find each other. We gave them common ground across countries, languages, and cultural differences. We gave them community.

Now we’ve opened the door, the research suggests we ought not to close it again.

In a recent report published by CMX (a community for online community professionals), 80% of respondents stated that virtual events are becoming a more critical part of the organization’s business strategy. Additionally, 56% of respondents stated that community has become even more essential.

The reason for this is simple. We see that online engagement works, and yet there is a large rush to get people back into large conference venues in order to make up lost revenue.

While not an invalid reason, we can’t ignore the fact that online engagement must be a part of the future of these face-to-face events in order to keep members engaged.

Embed digital experiences into your strategy

While it’s true that we all had to make a pivot in 2020, you should be building digital experiences in your overall strategy anyway. Not just in terms of how people navigate your site and find your products/services, but also how your members can interact with one another.

And think really long and hard about WHY that digital interaction is important. Collect feedback to understand the effect that the enablement of more robust digital experiences has had on your membership and bake it in to how you do business. This goes well beyond creating hybrid events. Wherever your members have touchpoints (from volunteer and board meetings to item writing workshops), develop a strategy that makes it easier for your members to gather, collaborate, and connect long after the pandemic has ended.

Help your chapters harness the power of community building

Some of my association colleagues say their chapters are having a hard time figuring out how to engage their members without in-person meetings. To that I say, why don't they set up online communities for these chapters to give their members a space to come together? Hold your chapter meetings online! Hold new member orientation nights through Zoom! Leverage the same ingenuity that the umbrella association used to get members together for chapter success.

And chapter administrators should be guiding chapter leaders to think differently about what the future of their normal face-to-face engagements mean. If you can hold your normal chapter meeting online every other month, you save on meeting space and can use that for more robust programming, marketing, or member onboarding. Help them get creative so they can deliver greater value to their chapter members.

Think long-term

Whatever associations come up with, it needs to be for the long-term. These solutions absolutely must be baked into “business as usual” when it comes to engagement strategy long past the COVID pandemic. You’ve opened the door for greater collaboration, wider networks, and more possibilities for participation. The last thing you want to do is pull back on those tactics simply because it’s going to be safer for people to gather again. Continue to tie digital experiences into the many options that enable engagement for members ON THEIR TERMS, not just on yours.

Conclusion

Digital engagement is the future of engagement for all organisations. Face-to-face events and meetings will return, but they must return with an element of online participation for your members. These experiences can only enhance what was already working, creating a tremendous amount of value add, not just for existing members, but for prospective members and those just discovering your association. This will lend to more inclusive, innovative experiences that will not only serve your members and participants, but your organization well into the future. 

About the author

Marjorie Anderson is Product Manager, Digital Communities at the Project Management Institute, founder of Community By Association, and an AMI Expert Contributor on the subject of member engagement.