Inside The Mix
As we gear up for the 2012 Marketing, Membership & Communications Conference (MMCC), we want to bring you behind the scenes of the efforts we are putting together around the conference. With this new series, Inside the Mix, we'll share with you some behind-the-scenes insights, lessons learned, and best practices gathered from our preparation.
How did ‘the mix’ come to be?
Author: Megan Denhardt, CAE, senior manager, learning, ASAE
Today, you may be familiar with what is known as MMCC. But if you are a long-time member, you may remember a time when the conference name was shorter, and known as the Marketing & Membership Conference.
In the association world, marketing and membership have always worked in tandem, so combining the two was a natural fit in terms of educational content. As time passed, the ASAE Learning team began noticing a trend of education sessions being proposed that included a blend of communications topics, and the volunteer Communications Section Council also suggested their content topics be incorporated into this event.
Additionally, we also noticed a shift in job titles where these three functional areas were starting to merge. From marketing and communications managers to director of membership marketing and communications, several attendees’ job titles included marketing and communications or membership communications – or a combination of all three.
So, in 2011, ASAE introduced the Marketing, Membership & Communications Conference. This left the planning team with a new challenge—how to promote a conference with a new name and an entirely new functional area to place focus on.
Marketing took on this task by developing messaging that is reflective of our environment—in association management, it requires a mix of marketing, membership and communications to get the work done of engaging members. With that, “the mix” came to be and this new focus was very well received with a sold-out conference and positive feedback overall.
In your workplace, do you also see a ‘mix’ of marketing, membership, and communications? What changes have you made to your session content or marketing strategy after dissecting your market and attendees?
Post your responses on the Facebook page.