{"id":640,"date":"2012-11-26T21:21:21","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T21:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/?p=640"},"modified":"2012-11-26T21:21:21","modified_gmt":"2012-11-26T21:21:21","slug":"from-the-corner-office-dr-bob-hassmiller-nacas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-dr-bob-hassmiller-nacas\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Corner Office: Dr. Bob Hassmiller, NACAS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/span> Association Adviser staff<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span> This month, the Corner Office spotlight shines on Dr. Bob Hassmiller, recently retired CEO of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS)<\/a>, which serves nearly 800 institutions that provide non-academic support services to colleges and universities worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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    \n
  • Technology is a process, not a product or service into which you keep pouring money.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • “Management by Walking Around” is a great way to take the pulse of your organization.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • Great CEOs accept blame and give away the credit.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • Keys to a great staff: people who\u2019ve been successful at other places and people who always want to learn more.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

          Association Adviser: <\/span><\/span>Bob, you\u2019ve been a hard guy to track down since Hurricane Sandy slammed into your home state of New Jersey last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Dr. Bob Hassmiller: <\/span>I\u2019ve been a Red Cross volunteer for a long time and my wife is a nurse. This storm has been especially tough on the elderly. You have severe cold on top of the normal destruction and power loss you see from a hurricane. I\u2019m working with Meals on Wheels right now, delivering food to the elderly who can\u2019t get out of their homes\u2014often they\u2019re alone or are living with someone who\u2019s not very mobile. In Charlottesville, Va., where I commuted to NACAS for many years, I was a disaster deployment volunteer. We set up shelters, counseling programs and emergency management systems. It\u2019s stressful sometimes, but very rewarding.
          \n<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: Tell us a little bit about NACAS. Many of our readers are not familiar with the scope of services your members provide to keep higher education institutions running.<\/span><\/p>\n

          BH: <\/span>We\u2019ve been around since 1969 and have about 800 institutional members and 220 business partners that deliver $14 billion worth of services a year to colleges and universities. It could be anything from the campus bookstore, food services or housing to transportation, child care or the physical plant. There\u2019s an awful lot going on outside the classroom to keep a college running.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: Do you have a background in auxiliary services?
          \n<\/span>
          \nBH:<\/span> I have a Ph.D. in higher education as well as a CAE credential. I came to NACAS in 2002 after more than 25 years in association management. Within my own firm, I managed several associations at the same time. Not easy to do. This gave me great insight into dealing with a wide variety of people, volunteers and staff on different projects. However, without the CAE, I never would have gotten exposed to things like government affairs, which is so important to what we do.
          \n
          \nAA: What are some of the biggest issues facing your members? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> We get a double whammy in a tough economy. When times are tough, college enrollment tends to go up, since people want to advance their skills to get ahead in a competitive job market. Unfortunately, it\u2019s also a time when endowments are down and funding goes down at both the state and federal level. There\u2019s tremendous pressure on auxiliary services to increase revenue and become more efficient while serving a larger student body. Technology is a big part of that.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: So it\u2019s fair to say NACAS is ahead of the tech curve?
          \n<\/span>
          \nBH:<\/span> I\u2019d say we\u2019re ahead of many other associations, but we\u2019re certainly behind our members and the institutions we serve. Ideally, you want to be with your members, not ahead of them. At NACAS, we have a lot of task forces for this purpose. We have a lot of volunteers on the cutting edge who can tell what we need to do in terms of technology and what we need to know. <\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: What is it about technology that\u2019s so difficult for many associations to understand?
          \n<\/span>
          \nBH:<\/span><\/span> Technology is a process, not a product or service that you keep pouring money into. You\u2019ve got to use technology smartly as a means of increasing value for your members. Let me give you an example. Every association seems to have a Facebook page and Twitter account. So what? If you\u2019re investing lots of resources just to show you can do social, but you\u2019re not really using it to cement relationships between yourself and your members, then it\u2019s just a big distraction and waste of resources. <\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: So you\u2019re saying social media isn\u2019t worth the effort?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> Not at all. If done well, it can be tremendously valuable. Our online communities\u2014which are private social networks and semi-moderated\u2014are a real member benefit. That\u2019s where members can ask (and get answers to) some real tough questions. About 30 to 40 percent of our members are taking part in our online discussions. We also allow our vendors to participate in the discussions as long as they\u2019re member and they keep it above board.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: Can you give an example of a hot discussion topic right now?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:Sure. College bookstores are really struggling with how to deal with the demand for electronic books and the impact of textbook rental programs.<\/p>\n

          AA: Speaking of member communications, are print publications still worth it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> In general, I\u2019d say don\u2019t scrap them, but be selective. We\u2019re finding that members under age 40 and certainly under age 35 are doing everything online and are much more used to it. It comes naturally to them. The Baby Boomers are also consumers of online, but it doesn\u2019t come as naturally to them. For instance, they\u2019ll go to Amazon to buy books, but they still want to read them in hard copy. Our biggest dues payers tend to be the longer standing members, and they seem to like the combination of both hard copy AND electronic.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: You\u2019ve gotten a lot of acclaim for your leadership style. <\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:I\u2019m a big believer in MBWA (Management by Walking Around). You\u2019ve got to get out of your office and walk around and meet people as much as possible\u2014your staff, members, volunteers, vendors. Everyone. That\u2019s how you take the pulse of your organization and find out what\u2019s really happening.<\/p>\n

          AA: What would you say is the most important responsibility for an association leader today?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          BH: <\/span>Easy. It\u2019s the CEO\u2019s job to accept blame and give away credit {chuckling}. It\u2019s only a problem when you get it reversed.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: How about hiring and motivating people?
          \n<\/span>
          \nBH:<\/span> I was always pretty demanding of my staff, pushing them to be the best they can be. But you have to keep it positive. I\u2019m all about collaboration, innovation and the pursuit of big goals. The two main things I look for are people who\u2019ve been successful at other places and people who always want to learn more.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: And if they\u2019re not?<\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> If they\u2019re just not buying in to your philosophy, then it\u2019s your obligation as a leader to help them be successful someplace else {laughing}. In all seriousness, I\u2019ve helped many people find success at other organizations and many of them still stay in touch with us. <\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: What\u2019s your philosophy on promoting high achievers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> We only have 10 staff positions. You can\u2019t always promote people, but you can keep giving them more responsibility and greater challenges to tackle.
          \n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: For those seeking long-term careers in the association world, what have you found to be the most gratifying part of your work? <\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:<\/span> You get to work with great people (members) in an area where you can make a real difference. Where else can a small not-for-profit impact a for-profit industry that generates $14 billion a year?<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: As you get ready to hand over the reins of NACAS to your successor (Ron Campbell), is there anything you would have done differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n

          BH: <\/span>Younger leaders seem to have a better work\/life balance than the generations before them. And they know how to use technology to their advantage. They seem better at handling family versus career commitments and don\u2019t feel obligated to work 24\/7 to get ahead. I wasn\u2019t always as efficient with my time as I could have been. I\u2019ve noticed women of all ages bring more of that balance to the table as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

          AA: So, what\u2019s keeping you up at night?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          BH:Actually, I\u2019ve never slept better {chuckling}. They found a great person to replace me. I\u2019m busy with Red Cross and our chapters, and now he\u2019s the one staying up at night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          By Association Adviser staff This month, the Corner Office spotlight shines on Dr. Bob Hassmiller, recently retired CEO of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS), which serves nearly 800 institutions that provide non-academic support services to colleges and universities worldwide.     Technology is a process, not a product or service into which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,87],"tags":[121,122,123,124,57],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leaders-table","category-association-leadership","tag-leadership-2","tag-membership-management","tag-nacas","tag-staff-management","tag-technology-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the Corner Office: Dr. Bob Hassmiller, NACAS - Association Adviser<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-dr-bob-hassmiller-nacas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the Corner Office: Dr. Bob Hassmiller, NACAS - 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