GSAE Learning Culture Focus Group II

GSAE Learning Culture Focus Group II

September 17, 2003

Participants
Tony Callaway
Terry Dougherty
Susan Fort
Richard Kadzis
Gale Macke
Lisa Mayo
Teresa Fitzgerald Ogden
James Pace
David Scharf
Samantha Spears
Lois White

Facilitator

Wendy Kavanagh

Observers

Beverly Black

David Haag

Ragan Morrow

This focus group was conducted with selected GSAE members who responded to a survey regarding professional development issues and indicated they could be contacted for more information on their views. This session was one of two conducted for the Learning Culture Task Force to inform its discussions about possible changes to GSAE’s professional development offerings. Participants in this focus group represented a range of experience levels (less than 2 years to 20 years) and areas of professional focus (CEOs and staff specialists).

The focus group was not recorded, and the “transcript” that follows was recreated from notes taken during the session. Comments are identified by the length of time the individual has been in the association management business.

Where do you turn for professional development or education?

3 years: I’m also an ASAE member, and they offer a wealth of knowledge on their listserves. I stay so busy; it’s hard to get out of office for professional development activities, but I get new ideas all the time from the listserves of ASAE.

2.5 years: I do, too. Even when I can’t call a GSAE peer, I can get the answers from the listserve digest.

18 years: I’m also an ASAE member, and I participate in 2-3 of their online seminars each year. I also attend thier CEO symposium with my president every year. Other than that, I go to GSAE events since they’re in the state, close and easy to go to. I take advantage of every opportunity to earn CE hours since I’m working on my CAE. Hours are important to me.

20 years: For me it was very important after the number of years spent in the business to validate that investment by getting the CAE though you must have a lot of hours to qualify for the exam. That just makes you more well-rounded, though. The more you understand about the bigger picture, the better contributor you’ll be. It seems to be good partnership when ASAE brings stuff to us locally. Their virtual seminars also good. For awhile, my life revolved more around Institute (for Organizational Management), and that was important to me at the time. Now I look to ASAE more, the only place the profession is really focused. Other groups like PRSA or the American Marketing Association provide good information for communications professionals like me. I also attend Atlanta Press Club seminars. But it seems like the core education we need as association professionals is right here at GSAE.

18 years: ASAE does offer more opportunities for professional development. I’d like to see GSAE offer more. It’d be easier to get to.

2.5 years: Of course, now you don’t have to go to an ASAE course to get points. GSAE stuff counts, too.

18 years: But time is the issue. For me to get points through GSAE would take 5 years at the rate at which they’re offered. Combining the two (ASAE and GSAE opportunities), I can get them in a year and a half.

10 years: Maybe I don’t take advantage of as many online resources as I should, but there’s nothing like going places. Getting out of the office separates me from the daily problems that would otherwise demand my attention. I hope we don’t abandon face to face opportunities. As for where else I go, the American Medical Association offers its society execs a great professional development opportunity each year. I came in with one idea I wanted to surface today: I’d like to see GSAE offer tracks throughout the year organized by the five CAE exam domains (administration, governance, communications, leadership and programs). That would provide a clear roadmap for everyone preparing for the CAE exam or recertification and would be positive reinforcement for others. It would be important to offer the sessions in multiple formats. Some education could be offered online. Others could be conducted face to face.

20 years: Some people like to do case studies, and we should be encouraged to submit those for CE points. A lot of times you can spin something right out of direct experience. Do it on your own time. On the other hand, professional development does require a commitment of time. I’ve been more sporadic since I’ve gotten certified. Maybe you could help us understand how to pace ourselves for recertification.

3.5 years: The Georgia Center for Nonprofits offers professional development opportunities, though I’ve never been to any of them. Our organization is grappling with professional development for our members, and we are developing a peer mentoring/technical assistance network. A challenge with tracks is that people have a wealth of experience, but they’re at different places in their careers. The challenge is a program that offers a format that allows people to enter in at various points and be meaningful for every participant. I’ve taken several GSAE/ASAE seminars and I always leave them feeling that I needed more. Is the number of offerings right? I don’t know. But it would be worth it to think about how to plan programs for various levels. Do so in a predictable way, too. GSAE’s professional development calendar is sporadic. I can’t plan my year because the opportunities aren’t predictable. We definitely need to get out of the office for professional development, and we do need more offerings. If I’m in the office, people need my attention.

Does anyone not do professional development?

4 years: I’ve never done any with GSAE. Our national organization has an annual leadership meeting, but that doesn’t fill all of my needs. The reality is that we have a staff of two. My problem is that I’m always in crisis mode, and when I need to know something I need to know it now. That’s why I’m a member. Jim Moody came to my rescue once, and I’ll be indebted to him forever for that. Right now I need info about personnel law in Georgia. I don’t know where to go for that. For me, I need more about what’s available instantaneously, within the next month and then throughout the year. And what’s in it for me? It’s got to meet my needs. Right now I’m just stamping out fires. When you’re on the wheel, sometimes it’s hard to see how to get off.

Would you call a GSAE colleague?

4 years: No, I’d call my counterpart in another state. But on an issue like Georgia personnel issues, yes, I’d call someone here if I knew who to call.

3 years: My barrier to doing that is that I just don’t feel like I know anyone well enough to call and ask for help.

1.5 years: I would be very interested in a peer-to-peer mentoring program.

3.5 years: Right, you can’t just look in the directory and just because you see an ED know that they’re an expert in a particular area. At my association, we’re putting member profile information on the Web site that will help people know who to contact for what. I want my CAE, but I also want to know things when I need to know them. What’s challenging is knowing where my opportunities lie throughout the year. We need to be able to see what’s happening.

Would it help if we matched professional development opportunities to domain topics?

3.5 years: Maybe, but I don’t need so much coddling. One thing my association is doing is having someone in our office who is going to help people chart professional development for themselves. I’d be wiling to have someone develop a personal professional development audit for me, and I’d pay for that. It would be something to help people chart their course.

How many people who don’t have the CAE are interested?

(Almost everyone indicated in the affirmative.)

4 years: I don’t know if I’m interested. I know what I know but I don’t know what I’m supposed to know. I’d be interested in a self-assessment tool that would help me identify my areas of weakness.

3.5 years: Like an online self-assessment?

4 years: Exactly. And then some suggestions about CE opportunities. I don’t know what a CAE really does.

10 years: The CAE test gives you no feedback on what areas you did well on. I’d take a self-assessment because no one told me where my weak areas are. I’d do that even though I have a CAE.

18 years: For me it’s also planning my time and money. In June, Jim couldn’t tell me what we’d be offering next year. I wanted to attend everything but couldn’t budget for it because GSAE didn’t have their year planned in time for my budget development.

In addition to time, the need to fight fires and this planning aspect, what are other barriers to getting professional development?

3.5 years: Variety.

1.5 years: Cost.

4 years. None of that matters to me as much as knowing whether it’s going to do me any good. I need to know whether I need it. To me it’s more the content and how it relates to my learning needs.

What kind of content would you like to see?

18 years: In depth. I’ve been to several where I’m getting summaries. It’s a waste of time.

4 years: Hands on.

3.5 years: It’s nice when presenters give you more resources to go to after the program.

4 years: We’ve done facilitated roundtables in the past, and it really was helpful.

3.5 years: That’s one of the most important things any association can do: facilitate networking and information sharing. We have an open mike event once a month. An ask-the-expert kind of thing.

18 years: I want deeper. I may not know what questions to ask. I’m looking for a lot of answers because I’m having issues in a certain area. For example, the session on legal issues and contracts at Chattanooga was the best I’ve ever been to; the presenter went into great detail about the topic.

10 years: Maybe you could kind of scale them. There are people just getting into profession who need a different kind of information. Differentiate among the levels of the topic.

Why haven’t you attended a GSAE annual meeting?

3.5 years: Time. My calendar sometimes fills up a year or two ahead; there are other competing meetings and needs going on that same time. I’ll be making it a priority in the future to attend if possible even though the time of year is bad.

19 years: Right when school’s out is a bad time. Also it conflicts with another meeting I need to attend. Plus it seems like the emphasis is more on social events than on learning. Hospitality sales are too heavy at the annual conference.

4 years: That is so true even at these luncheons.

19 years: Oh yes, these luncheons are the same way. I’ve gotten up and left the table before because there were so many hotel people just sitting around gossiping.

3.5 years: If I did go to a GSAE meeting and it was just social, I’d never go again.

2.5 years: I’ve had completely the opposite experience. In Biloxi, I got so much info plus a great chance to network in the evenings. I don’t sit with hoteliers at the luncheon. Badge colors make it easy to see who’s who. I got a lot more face to face time with execs at the conference. And the hoteliers were also helpful and provided some good inside info that will help me negotiate contracts from a more informed position in the future.

18 years: Once you’ve been a member of MPI you’d find this wonderful. Their meetings really are overrun with salespeople. This is much, much better. I’ve been to two GSAE conferences. I was a bit disappointed in the overall content of what I got. I felt like I sat in workshops getting an ad for the presenter’s association (case studies). What works in one place doesn’t work for me. There was nothing for me.

4 years: I don’t know if it’s the number of members or the number of staff that’s most important. At my groups’ annual leadership meeting, they divided the members into groups according to staff size. We could relate to each other.

2.5 years: We have within GSAE the small staff SIG, and I’d pay my dues 10 times over for the benefit I’ve gotten from that. It’s great to be able to sit around a table with people who do exactly what I do and understand my problems.

7 years: And it’s usually just association people.

2.5 years: A SIG for senior levels might be a new need.

19 years: Has GSAE ever thought about doing listserves? That would be the most helpful thing to me. If you put a problem out there at 9:30, by 10:15 you have 6 responses.

(There was more support expressed for listserves from several participants.)

Does anyone have anything more to say about GSAE’s annual meeting?

4 years: I don’t go because my other staff member attends, and we can’t both go at the same time.

Will those of you who have gone before go again?

1.5 years: No, it’s a week after my own association’s convention. In Chattanooga, I went in the leadership track, and the last 10 minutes of a two-day session, I gained a lot of information. It was otherwise a waste of time. The group was EDs with much larger staffs, and we didn’t find that out until the end.

2.5 years: We had that same kind of problem. That’s why I don’t go to ASAE events.

1.5 years: That’s why I won’t miss a luncheon. The information I gain here is invaluable from people with expertise in particular areas.

18 years: I know very few people. If you don’t have someone to introduce you around, you may not meet anyone at these things. Wendy introduced me to a lot of people this last year. That’s how I found out about the SIG.

10 years: Isn’t that what orientation does?

18 years: It didn’t work for me.