{"id":725,"date":"2013-01-04T21:02:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T21:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/?p=725"},"modified":"2013-01-04T21:02:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-04T21:02:03","slug":"from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Beth-Brooks1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-774\" style=\"margin-right: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border: 1px solid black;\" title=\"Beth Brooks\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Beth-Brooks1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"108\" height=\"132\" \/><\/a>Association Adviser: Beth, tell us a little bit about\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tsae.org\/\">TSAE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Beth Brooks:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019ve been around since 1928 (since 1956 under our current name) and serve more than 1,000 association professionals who represent Texas-based associations and societies, as well as their service providers and suppliers. Members range from CEOs and membership directors to marketing and communication people. We also serve many international associations who have offices in Texas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: How has membership fared up during this tough economy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Membership\u2019s held steady throughout the economic downturn. Even though Texas hasn\u2019t been hit as hard as many other parts of the country, we put an awful lot of work into retaining membership. Fortunately it\u2019s paid off. I\u2019ll get to that in a minute.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/10\/takeaways1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-176\" title=\"takeaways\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.naylornet.com\/associationadvisor\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/10\/takeaways1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"47\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<table style=\"background-color: #dcdcdc; margin: 5px; width: 95%; border-collapse: collapse; border: black 1px solid;\" cellspacing=\"3\" cellpadding=\"3\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: black 1px solid;\">\n<ul>\n<li>You can\u2019t underestimate the power of meeting members in person, learning about their office culture and making their jobs easier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Great association leaders are effective communicators, transparent about their finances and deeply cognizant of their board\u2019s goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>One of the best things SAEs can do for members is let them know, &#8220;You\u2019re not in it alone.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Pay close attention to demographic and technological changes. If you don\u2019t, you may not have an association much longer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>AA: How did you get into the association profession?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0I lucked into my first job with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tda.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Dental Association<\/a>\u00a0after graduating from college. Within a month, I knew that I loved the variety and the members, but I really had no idea what a complex business associations were. I was at the nation\u2019s third largest dental association, and I don\u2019t think I really understood the whole picture until I studied for my CAE.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: And now you\u2019re running one of the larger state societies of association executives?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0{laughing} It took a few years to get there. At the dental association, I started in public relations and eventually worked my way up to communications director. In that role, I really had to sharpen my multitasking skills since was overseeing a large staff, plus all of our meetings, publications and membership efforts. That kind of broad-based leadership equipped me well to be an executive director, first for the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.texaspest.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Pest Control Association<\/a>, then at TSAE, which I joined 11 years ago.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Was it hard to go from running a traditional member association to running an association for association executives?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0I got to know TSAE as a board member first. That helped, but it still wasn\u2019t easy when I first came on board. Things were in decline. We were down to about 400 members and had about $20,000 left in the till. Staffing had dropped from 11 to two, and morale was low, as you might expect.<\/p>\n<p>In order to keep the doors open, we reached out and called members for help. We obtained $75,000 and slowly started getting things turned around. We introduced the Toastmasters (public speaking and leadership training) program for members and then the Lunch &amp; Learn sessions focusing on best practices. It\u2019s been a lot of reaching out and talking directly to members. That has probably been the biggest catalyst.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Speaking of your members, what are their biggest issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Three things. Membership, technology and HR. Our associations have a lot more competition from private companies for the attention of their members. They also need to get better at segmenting their membership universe so they can customize offerings more efficiently for each member. Older members are retiring, and the associations we serve are not connecting with younger members.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of technology, they\u2019re all asking, &#8220;How do I keep up with all the changes in mobile apps, social media and member databases?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Third is HR. They all want to know how they can keep morale up when they\u2019re laying off staff, freezing salaries and asking a smaller number of people to handle more and more work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Going back to technology, can you tell us about TSAE\u2019s forays into mobile and social media?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0The mobile app that Naylor developed for our annual conference has been very popular with attendees. I love the personal scheduling feature and the speaker contact info. I also love the immediacy of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TexasSocietyofAssociationExecutives\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/profile\/view?id=15513842&amp;authType=NAME_SEARCH&amp;authToken=XPlK&amp;locale=en_US&amp;srchid=83f9e0be-30a3-4795-90a7-482a13c7c9a6-0&amp;srchindex=6&amp;srchtotal=250&amp;goback=%2Efps_PBCK_*1_Beth_Brooks_*1_*1_*1_*1_*2_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*1_us%3A0_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&amp;pvs=ps&amp;trk=pp_profile_name_link\">LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and especially\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fprofile%2Fview%3Fid%3D15513842%26authType%3DNAME_SEARCH%26authToken%3DXPlK%26locale%3Den_US%26srchid%3Dba87883d-583b-40d2-9b8a-bd63920f8d8e-0%26srchindex%3D6%26srchtotal%3D250%26goback%3D%252Efps_PBCK_*1_Beth_Brooks_*1_*1_*1_*1_*2_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*1_us%253A0_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2%26pvs%3Dps%26trk%3Dpp_profile_name_link&amp;screen_name=BBrooks_tsae&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;varia\">Twitter<\/a>. We\u2019re also looking into developing our own private community platform.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: What\u2019s the key to recruiting and retaining members?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Show \u2018em you get it. We know how busy they are. We want them to know they\u2019re not in it all alone. They don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel every time a new challenge or assignment comes up. We have great templates, best practices, how-to articles and RFP guides that they can use any time to solve a problem or bid for new business. Our new website will make it easier to find these resources. But a TSAE membership also gives you access to a great group of people who know exactly what you\u2019re going through. They\u2019re very generous and willing to help. That\u2019s probably our biggest member benefit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: You remain a strong advocate of face-to-face interaction, even in this digital age.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0True, and perhaps more so than before. It\u2019s all about reaching out and touching someone. I answer the phones. I make member outreach calls myself. I meet personally with two members every month\u2014at their offices. I just ask for 20 minutes of their time. Sure, I could do it by phone or invite them here to our building. But, it\u2019s important to see members on their home turf and get a feel for what their culture is like. I keep a log of each member organization\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: What have you learned from your one-on-one visits that you might not have learned from a survey, focus group or online forum?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>BB:\u00a0It boils down to four things: 1) They don\u2019t know about us; 2) People are busier than ever\u2014they don\u2019t have time for anything that\u2019s not 100 percent relevant to them; 3) They don\u2019t know what they don\u2019t know; and 4) They\u2019re certainly not reading all the emails we\u2019re sending.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: How do you tackle the\u00a0&#8220;don\u2019t know what they don\u2019t know&#8221;conundrum?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s about making members aware of everything they need to know in order to run an effective organization. For example, you may be a great engineer, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily qualify you to run an engineering society. Members look to us for industry standards and best practices are. For example, when they come to our annual convention, they not only get great networking and presentations; they get to see how you run a meeting correctly. Everything from the registration desk and materials, to how you introduce speakers, to how you set the agenda and how you run the social events.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: What are the most important skills for today\u2019s association leaders to master?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Three things: 1)\u00a0Understand the board; 2) Be transparent about your finances; and 3) Be an effective communicator.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Can you elaborate on those skills?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0When it comes to the board, you really have to understand their goals and whether or not you\u2019re delivering them. With finance, it\u2019s important that every member and staff person sees exactly how your money\u2019s being spent. As for communication, it\u2019s essential to write and speak effectively. Not everything can be communicated in short text bursts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: How about your hiring practices?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0One\u00a0thing we might do differently from other organizations is test people out during the hiring process. If they say they\u2019ve been a receptionist before, we really like to see how they make and receive phone calls. If someone claims to have a writing or communications background, we give them four minutes to write a critique of or member magazine. Is their critique forthright? Are you going to tell me what I need to hear, or what you think I want to hear?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Sounds like things are going pretty well. What\u2019s keeping you up at night?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Simple. We need more members. We also have to get board members more engaged with potential members. We need a leadership plan for future leaders. And we\u2019re still grappling with our social media standards since our forums are un-moderated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AA: Any other takeaways for our readers?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BB:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. Read Harrison Coerver\u2019s book,\u00a0The Race for Relevance.\u00a0You really need to be aware of how profoundly technology and demographics are changing associations. If you\u2019re not paying attention to those changes, you won\u2019t have an association for much longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month, the Corner Office spotlight shines on Beth Brooks, president of the 1,000-member <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tsae.org\/\">Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE)<\/a>.<br \/>\n<em>By Association Adviser staff<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leaders-table","category-association-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - 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-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/\" \/>\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: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This month, the Corner Office spotlight shines on Beth Brooks, president of the 1,000-member Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE). By Association Adviser staff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Association Adviser\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Beth-Brooks1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"147\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Association Adviser staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Association Adviser staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/\",\"name\":\"From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - Association Adviser\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/3295b0ebb50ab785127c67672b4314ed\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/\",\"name\":\"Association Adviser\",\"description\":\"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/3295b0ebb50ab785127c67672b4314ed\",\"name\":\"Association Adviser staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f7e76e81b8889e72914d716a351e4d63befe852d7f6fca38b3fea98b9b84212?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f7e76e81b8889e72914d716a351e4d63befe852d7f6fca38b3fea98b9b84212?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Association Adviser staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/author\/association-adviser-staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - Association Adviser","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - Association Adviser","og_description":"This month, the Corner Office spotlight shines on Beth Brooks, president of the 1,000-member Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE). By Association Adviser staff","og_url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/","og_site_name":"Association Adviser","article_published_time":"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":120,"height":147,"url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/Beth-Brooks1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Association Adviser staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Association Adviser staff","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/","name":"From the Corner Office: Beth Brooks, CAE, Texas Society of Association Executives - Association Adviser","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-04T21:02:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/3295b0ebb50ab785127c67672b4314ed"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/from-the-corner-office-beth-brooks-cae-texas-society-of-association-executives\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/","name":"Association Adviser","description":"Leadership Strategies &amp; Best Practices for Association Professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/3295b0ebb50ab785127c67672b4314ed","name":"Association Adviser staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f7e76e81b8889e72914d716a351e4d63befe852d7f6fca38b3fea98b9b84212?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f7e76e81b8889e72914d716a351e4d63befe852d7f6fca38b3fea98b9b84212?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Association Adviser staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/author\/association-adviser-staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}