As promised IAVM members, the plan is to take you all along for the journey this year as the board tackles several items that are instrumental to the future of IAVM. With that in mind, we wanted to update you on some helpful information that was shared on the October Board of Directors call so that you have as much insight into the happenings of our favorite association as the board does.
The three most pertinent items of interest:
- 2nd Vice Chair Selection Criteria – The Governance Committee chaired by Mark Mettes, CFE, was given the task of developing a fair, transparent 2nd Vice-Chair selection criteria and process that will carry the IAVM into the future. The goal was to ensure all members know and understand the necessary accomplishments needed to be considered for 2nd Vice Chair thus the ascension to the Chairman of the Board role for IAVM. The results are challenging as they should be, but we found them to be fair and easily transparent. We encourage you to read the criteria and share them with other members. The application will be made available on Nov. 20, 2015 and can be found on the IAVM website. In addition, the Leadership Development/Nominating Committee chaired by Kim Bedier, CFE, will help roll out the information in several ways to ensure our members have the criteria and a complete understanding of the process prior to the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline.
- Conference Structure – This past July, the team at IAVM headquarters presented some very relevant information to the board about the challenges we are facing with the continued decline of attendance at VenueConnect. It was a fact-based, data-driven presentation in terms of attendance numbers and revenue dollars over the last 15 years. In addition, the team shared some “big picture” ideas of what possibilities might be worth considering to help turn the numbers around. They were and still are just potential ideas to get us all thinking about where we want to go with our conferences and trade show. The largest revenue producing event that accounts for 33 percent of the overall IAVM operating budget is indeed VenueConnect. Over the next two months, a tag-team of one of our Executive Committee members along with a team member from headquarters will share the same information with all of our sector committees, the VenueConnect Program Committee, and our Allied Committee, just to name a few. We are also going to have a webinar to share this information so that all members may have the opportunity to see the data. Stay tuned for dates and times. We need and very much want all of your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. Please participate, as you just might have the perfect idea! The Executive Committee and staff want to gather as much feedback as possible so that when the board re-groups in January we will be able to share the members’ feedback with the entire board. After the board meeting, we will contact all the committees again to share updates and gather additional input for whatever might be the next step we agree to.
- Board Structure – Last year, we started the conversation at the board level with regard to challenges in how the board is currently structured. We shared this information with all the members through various listening exercises throughout the year to gather your input and thoughts. In January, the board is going to re-group and share the feedback so we can understand what is critical in the make-up of the board to all of us as members. The idea on this item is to delve into what structure can best sustain IAVM well into the future, while ensuring there is continual input and feedback from representation of all our members.
As a board, we are representing each one of our members so it is important to us and to the future of IAVM that our members are part of the decision making process. Please check out the 2nd Vice Chair criteria and share it with others who might be perfect for the role! Continue to give feedback and ideas to any board member to bring to our January mid-year meeting, and know I am an email or phone call away.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
