Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Attracting and Retaining Young Professionals Members

Every month ASAE's Component Relations Council produces a Virtual Lunch teleconference about a topic of interest for Component Relations professionals (a.k.a. people who work with membership groups). I just came from this month's call and once again I feel flush with ideas and inspiration from all of the participants sharing helpful ideas.

This month's call focused on "Attracting and Retaining Young Professionals Members."

Samantha Whitehorne, who just published an article for the GW Network Now titled "Young Professionals Unite," was a panelist on the call and shared the Top 6 Benefits Young Professionals are looking for from their associations:

Unique opportunities. Meaning that he mixes the fun with the educational. Hold a leadership event that is also a cooking class or host a networking reception in a cool venue that they do not usually have access to.

Networking. It’s important for Young Professionals to have older mentors, but it’s also important for them to network in their own age group, since they will work their way up in the organizations at the same time. It gives them the ability to foster relationships now.

Sounding board. They can discuss the problems they face in the workplace with their peers, but also talk about career issues like pay or advancement.

Leadership. Some YPs may think they don’t get to display enough of their leadership skill in the office. But by joining these groups, they have the opportunity to do so, which will translate back into their days jobs.

Make it personal. Make them feel invited. Keep communicating with them.

Keep YPs top of mind. For example, the economy. Most have never dealt with a recession. Hold a career or financial management seminar.

For more information on future Virtual Lunch seminars (they are free!), visit the ASAE calendar of events.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tagged! Volunteer Jobs for Minimal Commitment/Time

I've been tagged by the effervescent and hugely popular Maddie Grant (part of the "A-List Bloggers Network") to comment on one of Peggy Hoffman's meme challenges!

Peggy asks:

"To get the conversation going, I’m tagging the following bloggers to help answer a nagging question – how can we create volunteer jobs that don’t require being on a committee, a long-term commitment or gobs of time? So, share five short-term, ad-hoc volunteer jobs you’d love to have and then tag five more bloggers".

Hmmm...interesting! I like to be involved, but I must admit to being a person who tends to wait for someone to ask me (according to the Decision to Volunteer study, I am not alone!). My answers below are the kind of thing I would respond to:

1. Guest blogger
2. Regular blog commenter
3. Author an article
4. Provide regular and thorough feedback on programs
5. Attending a council meeting as an invited participant (not a regular member)

While I am definitely active and look for opportunities to get involved in volunteer activities, I tend to wait sometimes for people to approach me. The idea that the community wants me appeals to me, although I have had the most success with taking matters into my own hands.

Here are my tags!

Sandra Giarde
Dave Sabol
Beth Ziesenis
Sarah Grace McCandless
Lynn Morton

Friday, February 13, 2009

I am a 2009 Bride's Choice Awards Winner!

The Press Release they sent me:

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that DC Makeup Artist KiKi L'Italien has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means KiKi L'Italien has been recognized as one of the region's very best makeup artists!


Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

From me:

I would like to thank past clients for speaking on my behalf and helping me win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

The Award:


2009 Bride's Choice Awards presented by WeddingWire | Wedding Cakes, Wedding Venues, Wedding Photographers & More