Members looking to associations for professional development opportunities
Along with the COVID-19 pandemic comes shifts in priorities for some association members. Now, more than ever, members are looking to associations for education. This can come in the form of webinars, podcasts, recorded sessions, certificate programs, and more. Associations at AH are taking advantage of some of the "down time" people are experiencing by packaging their education in different ways to adjust to the way members want to consume it.
An interesting trend we've seen in professional education is... increasing the amount and type of online education, as well as relying more heavily on social media to keep folks connected.
Our association has embraced and/or adapted to this trend by ... more than doubling the volume of our online educational programs. Prior to COVID, we released a monthly podcast episode and targeted monthly bite-size learnings. Since April, we’ve released three additional podcast special episodes, five bite-size learnings, and kicked off a webinar program.
COVID-19 caused us to reevaluate our educational offerings by... increasing production and figuring out how to leverage the existing staff and resources to increase the volume of the offerings without increasing the cost to the members.
Our association has embraced and/or adapted to this trend by… utilizing virtual networking and industry connections to unite our members in this tumultuous time. We have put on a handful of education groups and membership "Happy Hour" networking calls to unite our members across the globe while our in-person international events are on hold.
We created a new opportunity using existing educational content by… forming 101 Learning Paths using archived micro-learnings, webinars, and live-recorded sessions available on our Resource Library. The inability to hold in-person seminars has allowed us to remind our members of the valuable and relevant recorded material we already have available.
COVID-19 caused us to re-evaluate our educational offerings by… offering CLE and CE credits to our members online via our webinars and eLearning courses, something we previously only offered in-person. This is very valuable, especially now, for some of our members!
An interesting trend we've seen in professional education is... potential members seeking opportunities to upskill or take a leap into something completely new, like someone changing careers to pursue a career the organizing and productivity profession.
We created a new opportunity using existing educational content by... developing a free toolkit of relevant classes to offer to members as they incorporate new virtual offerings into their business model. We want to continue to support and engage members while they learn to pivot and adjust to the changing economy.
An interesting trend we've seen in professional education is... an increase in the desire to provide educational content from JPMA associate members and industry partners, which, in many cases, we have been able to host and promote on their behalf, to the benefit of our regular members.
Our association has embraced and/or adapted to this trend by... evaluating the platforms and content offerings that are most attractive to, and work the best for, our members and promoting all these opportunities in various ways.
We created a new opportunity using existing educational content by... creating an education logo, updating our webinar resource library and adding a standing section on new and “In Case You Missed It” (ICYMI) educational offerings in our weekly newsletters.
