Alpana Singh Takes Center Stage 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Take the fear and guesswork out of selecting wine for one person or 1,000. Take
time to learn from one of the youngest females in history to become a master
sommelier. Alpana Singh is one of only 121 master sommeliers in the world. In
this male-dominated profession (there are only 14 female Master Sommeliers),
Alpana is a recognized expert on wine and food. She is the host of the three-time
Emmy Award-winning restaurant review television show, Check, Please!
which airs weekly in Chicago. In 2006, Singh published her first book, Alpana
Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships.
Alpana will share her expertise on wine and guide you through a journey to discover
your own taste, while blending stories from her life and adding her
reflections on leadership.
Born to Indian parents who moved to California from the Fiji Islands, Singh’s
family owned an ethnic grocery store in Monterey where she worked at an early
age; a life experience that she credits for her present day work ethic and ease with
people of all ages. After high school graduation, Singh attended college by day and
waited tables by night. It was during this time that she discovered her love for wine
and found that it combined her varied interests of geography, history and food.
Alpana serves as the director of wine and spirits for Lettuce Entertain You
Enterprises, Inc. Her duties include wine education and training, purchasing and
bar program development for the Chicago-based restaurant group.
Prior to her position at Lettuce, Alpana served as sommelier for Chef J. Joho’s
Relais Gourmand and Traditions et Qualité restaurant Everest. During that
time, wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. praised her in his publication the Wine
Advocate as “one of the finest young sommeliers in America today.” In 2006,
Bon Appetit named Singh “Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year.” She also has
been featured in numerous publications including Newsweek, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator,
Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times.
Speaker appears courtesy of Leading Authorities, Inc.
8:00 am. to 10:45 a.m.
Knowledge Lab: It’s About Time…
It’s about time…AND it’s about people…AND connecting. The way we connect changes almost every day and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But Showcase offers the perfect solution…the knowledge lab. Take time to learn at your own pace. All five stations will be available concurrently, visit one and stay or move around. YOU direct your own learning experience.
Station 1. Second Life - Presented by Donavan Vicha, Web Program Officer
ASCLA/RUSA, divisions of the American Library Association
According to Wikipedia, Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003. Users, called "Residents," interact with each other through motional avatars. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another. Learn how the American Library Association is creating its own virtual world.
Station 2. Social Networking – Presented by Lee Aase, Manager for National Media Relations and New Media, Mayo Clinic.
Social Networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace are quickly expanding beyond the land of high school and college students. See how grown-ups are creating their own pages and using these tools to expand their professional networks.
Station 3. MicroSites – Presented by Gretchen Hartke, Director of Instructional Design and Ed Duffy, Instructional Designer, TypeA Learning Agency, LLC
If you’ve never heard of microsites, you’re not alone! A microsite, also known as a minisite or weblet, is an individual web page or cluster of pages that function as an add-on to a primary website. Microsites add specialized information either editorial or commercial. Find out more about microsites and how you can use them!
Station 4. Text Messaging – Presented by Raoul Bhatt, Sales Director and Sonia Sunger, Director of Operations, FIRETEXT Text to Screen
Imagine if you could access the opinions of your audience, communicate directly to them, and get their immediate feedback – all using technology they already have! Everyone has a cell phone these days and almost everyone has sent and received text messages. Learn from the experts how this technology can enhance your next event!
Station 5. Syndicated Content – Presented by Amy Smith, MEd., President and Chief Learning Officer, Amy Smith Consulting, LLC
Wikis, YouTube, Blogs, V-logs. You’ve seen them, you’ve probably even watched, read, or listened to them. But are you using them for content delivery? Spend some time at this station to learn how associations are using a variety of asynchronous delivery tools to get more knowledge to their members.
8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Take Time to Understand
Decision to Join
Take the time to understand what motivates members. There are over one million active associations in the United States alone, and while they vary significantly in size, member demographics, and resources, they share a common mission: To advance their respective industries and enable their members to succeed by providing the best possible benefits and services. On a fundamental level, associations would not exist without the members they serve.
Imagine if you and everyone in your organization comprehended, on a deeper level, the influence of demographic, attitudinal, and other factors on an individuals’ choice to affiliate—or not—you could:
• Improve your association’s value proposition
• Create and execute a more effective strategy
• Target member and prospect segments, and tailor your offerings, in ways that most appeal to them.
Join your colleagues in a presentation on the findings in the latest research publication from ASAE & The Center – The Decision to Join: How individuals Determine Value and Why They Choose to Belong. Understand what the findings mean and how associations are applying the data as they set the course for membership recruitment and retention in the future. The study may have been only professional associations but hear how trade associations are using the results to direct their membership activities.
PRESENTERS:
Carylann Assante, Vice President, Development ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
Sheri Jacobs, CAE, Managing Director, Chicago, McKinley Marketing Inc.
Take Time to Teach
Coaching: The Lost Leadership Art
Leaders claim that they don’t have time to coach. The real truth is that you don’t have time NOT to! Coaching actually saves time in the long run. This session teaches you how to coach to promote member satisfaction, employee retention and sustainable performance improvement. This session provides the tools that you need to refine your leadership skills so that you can deliver the required results.
This interactive presentation is enhanced by case studies, assessments and other thought-stimulating activities. Additionally, Coaching Logs provided will give you a template for recording and reflecting on your coaching competencies. You will leave with tools that they can implement immediately. You will be able to test and track a variety of approaches which will bolster your leadership effectiveness. You will become familiar with the DRAW Coaching Model which provides a comprehensive framework for coaching, counseling and mentoring.
PRESENTER:
Joanne L. Smikle, President, Smikle Speaks
Take Time to Expand
Planning Multicultural Meetings
It’s time to expand the way you think about meetings. Go to any metropolitan city in America today, and pick out four people at random. Chances are three-out-of-four of these individuals will be from another culture or ethnicity!
So what does this mean to meeting professionals? It means that tomorrow’s meetings will require new methodology, new programming, new needs analysis, new understanding. Each culture brings unique requirements to meeting planning that must be addressed in order to ensure success. U.S. Multicultural emerging populations currently control over $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending!
This session will tell you what you need to know to prepare, execute and grow within America’s new demographics. Some of these emerging populations have higher discretionary spending than mainstream - a trait that has been overlooked by America’s largest corporate enterprises that sponsor many of these events and meetings.
What you will learn:
• The magical words that attract and retain multicultural groups
• The words that will guarantee you won’t get the business
• Gatekeepers and centers-of-influence
• Cultural nuances that will help you build relationships, fast!
• How multiculturalism differs with meetings abroad
PRESENTER:
Carlos Conejo, President, Multicultural Associates
Take Time to Share
Content Delivery
Associations are the keepers of the collective wisdom of a profession or trade. Associations exist to bring people together to share knowledge with each other and store it for future practitioners. Historically, knowledge has been delivered in one of two ways: synchronously, at face-to-face events, or asynchronously through publications or on web sites.
Times have changed and so has content delivery. This session will address the ways content is being delivered today. Synchronous delivery methods include Audio Only and Audio plus Web. Asynchronous delivery tools will include a discussion of editing and repurposing live content for delivery as podcasts, webcasts, etc.
You’ll hear from service providers of content delivery tools who will show you the many ways that knowledge can be passed to members and stored for the future. You’ll also hear from association professionals who have learned through experience how to deliver content in new ways to appeal to wider audiences.
FACILITATOR:
David W. Reid, Director of Information Technology, Society of Critical Care Medicine
PANELISTS:
Christopher R. Dean, Account Manager, KRM Information Services, Inc.
Tim Keelan, Founder & CEO, StoryQuest Inc.
Take Time to Change
Form 990: Changes and Implications
The times are changing for associations. The new Form 990 is will completely change how associations report financial data and much more.
The IRS has three goals in the re-designing this form: enhance transparency; promote compliance and minimize the burden on filing organizations. These goals will have a significant impact on how associations do business. The proposed changes will require associations to disclose sensitive information about the private business relationships between and among board members. The proposal also will require associations to disclose the compensation of staff department heads in addition to that of the CEO and CFO. Further, the IRS proposes detailed reporting on transactions with individuals, companies and organizations outside of the United States. Since the IRS plans to make the 990 forms available to the public via the Internet, the disclosure of previously private information will have a substantial impact on every 501-C organization.
Hear from the experts how this will impact your association, how you can start now to be ready for your next audit, and what you’ll need to do to prepare your elected leaders for the change.
PRESENTERS:
Samuel J. Erkonen, Esq., Partner, Howe & Hutton, Ltd
Rose G. Doherty, CPA, Partner, Legacy Professionals LLP
8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Breakfast roundtable discussions
CEOnly Breakfast
Compensation and Benefits: Defining Competitive
As part of the non-profit sector, associations are enjoying ‘microtrend’ status. Defined by Microtrends author, Mark Penn, as counterintuitive trends that are shaping the current and future landscape, there is a microtrend toward people choosing jobs in the non-profit industry. How can associations build on that trend? How can you stay competitive in a shrinking labor pool?
Join your fellow CEOs for a discussion of the current trends in compensation and benefits for association professionals and gain insight from the experts in this area.
FACILITATORS:
Carole Z. Badger, JD, CAE, Managing Member, Management Solutions LLC and Associate, Tuft & Associates, Inc.
Jed R. Mandel, Partner, Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
CFO Roundtable Breakfast
Liability and Volunteers: Take the Time to Protect Critical Resources
Do you know what your volunteers are doing? Are you comfortable that they understand policy and procedure? Join your peers to obtain tips and insight on how to protect your association from liability and risks that volunteers may present. One wrong move by an enthusiastic volunteer could cost the association time and money! Learn how to better safeguard your association through policies, volunteer orientations, and more! We will discuss ways to protect your association while maintaining volunteers.
FACILITATOR:
Paula Cozzi Goedert, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Make the Most of Your Membership
Take advantage of all the resources and benefits available as a member of Association Forum – or, if you’re not a member yet – come and see what you’re missing! Learn about Forum resources, networking and leadership opportunities, and have the chance to ask questions and give your feedback.
Facilitator: Jetaun Mallett, Director of Membership, Association Forum of Chicagoland
9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Professional Practice Comment Sessions
Help define the leading practices for your profession. Association Forum’s Professional Practice Committee is working on three new professional practice statements to be added to the association profession’s only set of standardized practices. These statements are used by CEOs and other top-level executives across the country when they need to know the best way to approach an issue or solve a problem. The topics currently under development are: Business Continuation, Foundation/Association Relationship, and Nomination Process (Role of the CEO). Each topic will have a separate comment session in its own room. Participants in the sessions will be presented with a draft of the statement to review, comment on, discuss, debate, and enhance. For more information and to see current Professional Practice Statements, please visit www.associationforum.org/resources/pps.asp.
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