AAF Memphis has worked diligently over the past 12 months to improve not only the club member experience, but

Transcription

1 American Advertising Federation Memphis Club Achievement Competition Category of Entry Club Operations INTRODUCTION AAF Memphis has worked diligently over the past 12 months to improve not only the club member experience, but to also grow and strengthen the board, and to stabilize and organize the club financials, membership and organization. With the assignment of teams and specific responsibilities divided among the members, the board is able to work collaboratively within itself to achieve goals and present a strong leadership team to our members. Additionally, with a redefined role of Executive Director, the club seeks to solidify our place in the public eye for the future. LONG RANGE GOALS The long range goal of AAF Memphis is to inspire, empower and celebrate the work of advertising and marketing professionals in Memphis. To achieve this goal, it is important to build a strong club that endures over time by learning both where the club has been, who the future of the club is and ensuring the club remains relevant to both past and present members. Methods and Results Past Presidents Outreach In order to continue to inspire, empower and celebrate, it is important to embrace the history of the club and understand where the club has been, as well as look at what needs to change in order to secure the

2 success of the club into the future. Traditionally, Past Presidents were invited to be recognized at a fall membership luncheon and arrived 30 minutes early to get an update from the current president. After many one on one conversations with Past Presidents, however, we learned they still felt out of touch with the club. So rather than choose one month to reach out to them each year, we gave them a consistent role in the club in order to learn from their insights and inspire their continued support. Specifically, we: Invited Past Presidents to attend monthly board meetings and offer a bridge in the knowledge transfer between generations when the need arises. Hosted a lunch for those who were past Silver Medal recipients to discuss the process and nominations for selecting a new recipient. Included Past Presidents in our Silver Medal reveal cocktail party so they could meet a new generation of board and club members. Encouraged participation in our ADDY judging weekend, using their knowledge to help problem solve and expedite the process among our newer members. Sought their recommendations for speakers for upcoming events to ensure that we provided topics pertinent to a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Included their input on the search for a new Executive Director and had them sit in on interviews. Results: AAF Memphis currently has a dozen Past Presidents who are now actively participating with the board in decision making and knowledge transfer, as well as financial and legal advice. As a result, we now have a group of cheerleaders for the club in areas of the industry that we might not be touching otherwise, and are actively recruiting new members through their networks. Student Outreach The board made a step forward in communication with the future generation of AAF Memphis by assigning a Student Relations Team Lead that would work with professors at the University of Memphis, Memphis College of Art and other Memphis area schools to get students involved. This liaison plays an important role by focusing mainly on this relationship and helping it grow into a meaningful program that excites younger advertising executives and creatives about the club. We also moved the AAF Memphis office into a space in one of the

3 university s in order to increase our accessibility and proximity to both students and their advisors and professors. We offer tickets to our monthly membership luncheons free of charge for students, and encourage and recognize their attendance at our events. Results: Through this new effort, the Student Relations Team Lead was able to increase student American Advertising Award entries by 53% over last year, arrange advertising professionals to speak to classes to share their experiences, provide students with free tickets to our luncheons, and overall increase the communication between the club, students, agencies and the creative community. In February, advertising students participated with the club by helping with set up and tear down at the American Advertising Awards in exchange for the opportunity to attend the event free of charge and mix and mingle with the who s who of the Memphis advertising community. In March and April, after work mixers at locations close in proximity to the two main campuses will give juniors and seniors a chance to meet agency owners and their professors to meet club leadership. ANALYSIS OF MEMBER NEEDS For any club, it is always important to understand what drives your members and understand why (or why not) they continue to engage with the club, renew their membership, attend events, etc. This year, AAF Memphis set forth membership goals that included elevating the work of more agencies through event promotions, presenting worldclass speakers at luncheons to help inspire, and providing a company membership structure that helped provide value to businesses with more than one member. Methods and Results Elevating the Work of Local Agencies AAF Memphis has been spotlighting the creativity of local agencies in Memphis by inviting them to design promotional artwork for our events. This has allowed these agencies to take ownership and direct involvement in the club by showing off what they can do. Throughout the year, different local agencies have been directly involved with AAF Memphis, offering various creative for events and projects. This creative is used on social

4 media, in print, on the aafmemphis.org website, in marketing and anywhere else promotion for the event may be needed. Results: The creativity of local agencies has helped AAF Memphis achieve its goal of using engaging artwork to generate more interest in attending our luncheons and special events. The creative is both eye catching and thought provoking. In addition, the local agencies have enjoyed taking ownership of these specific events using it as their own exposure for what their agency can do and submitting the artwork to the ADDY awards for greater recognition. Exhibit 1: Event Creative Samples World Class Speakers This year, AAF Memphis has enjoyed being able to bring some world class speakers to Memphis to talk about everything from millennial research to music and film creation. This provides great value to our members, allowing them to hear those who are experts in their fields, without having to leave town. While our budget doesn t allow us to pay large speaking fees, our AAF Memphis board teams have been able to negotiate fees, leverage partnerships and sell sponsorships to make this all possible. Some out of the box speakers have even allowed us to give a donation to their charity of choice or a simple honorarium in order to cover their travel expenses and remain in budget. Results: AAF Memphis has seen improvements in event attendance with the high level of speakers the club is bringing into Memphis. In addition, since some of these special guests speeches go beyond the advertising community, promotion outside of typical membership communication of these top notch speakers to nonmembers has helped increase awareness for the club. Exhibit 2: Event Speakers LEADERSHIP ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT A strong club starts with a strong board. A strong board consists of various teams dedicated to achieving their team goals set by their president and collaborating together to create a smoothly operating club which offers tremendous

5 value to its members and the creative community. AAF Memphis has worked to clearly define roles within the board and set an expectation of accountability, which in return has created stronger leadership and a stronger overall club. Methods and Results Defined Team Roles Over the past 12 months, the AAF Memphis president has worked to create defined board teams and assign each team their own set of responsibilities. By creating this defined structure, it ensures everyone sitting at the table knows what they should be doing and spreads the responsibility throughout the board. There were seven board teams for the year: Membership, Club Achievement, Talent, Events, Sponsorship, Communications and Student Relations. While some of the teams were one person machines, others yielded many members taking on various roles within. The Communications Team was the largest team formed and contained specialized appointments within it of Lead, Social, Website/ and Promos. One additional team, American Advertising Awards, was also added to the list with the responsibility falling to everyone on the Board no exceptions. Results: Over the past 12 months, the AAF Memphis board has functioned well and successfully with teams working collaboratively to present the best member experience we can. Clearly defining roles for each of these teams has given them direction and insight into what they are bringing to the overall success of the club. The Team approach, over a director approach, has also created greater affinity for serving among our member population since each board member knows they will have team support and fun at the same time. Board members have asked to stay on, have asked for executive committee roles and those outside the board have asked to participate. Exhibit 3: Team Responsibilities Board Kick Off With the new board appointments in July, the incoming AAF president invited board members to a Board Kick Off Meeting in which the new roles, responsibilities and overall goals for the upcoming year were presented. The agenda included reviews and discussions surrounding AAF Memphis 101 and Club

6 Membership Guide; Bylaws; Calendar of Events; Responsibilities of Board Members and Team Assignments; and Club Goals and Team Planning. However, in true AAF Memphis fashion, the Board Kick Off was not all business. The meeting took place in a suite overlooking the Redbirds baseball stadium, complete with hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts and yes, beer. After the meeting, the board members enjoyed a game with all the fixings from our private balcony overlooking the stadium. Results: The Board Kick Off helped the new board start off on the right foot by making sure everyone knew their role, the goals and mission of AAF Memphis, and what the rules are of the club. In addition, adding some food, drinks and baseball to the agenda, ensured all those on the board that they could look forward to a fun year as part of the leadership team of AAF Memphis. Exhibit 4: Board Kick Off AAF District 7 One of the goals set by the new AAF Memphis president was to increase board engagement with AAF District 7. Increased engagement would allow Memphis to learn from other AAF clubs and leadership within District 7, which in return would help us build a stronger club at home. The board answered the call when it sent seven board members and our new Executive Director to Chattanooga in August to attend the AAF District 7 Leadership Conference. In addition, one of the board members appeared as a presenter at the round table discussion on programming during the conference. Results: The team that attended the AAF District 7 Leadership Conference came home with innovative ideas, AAF updates and new contacts from within District 7. In addition, it allowed those members in attendance together to continue to work on team building as the board was just getting started. Exhibit 5: AAF District 7 Leadership Conference

7 Executive Director The first six months of 2016 were spent without someone at the helm of our organization, in the manner that it had been for twenty years prior. We used this time, working with our new full time accountant, lawyers, Past Presidents and current board members to rethink this position and how the right person would function as an arm of the Executive Committee and help sustain our future growth. We wrote an entirely new job description for this person, and set into motion a system of checks and balances that would allow the Executive Committee to maintain strategic control without having to manage day to day finances, and to put a consistent name and face to our membership as the go to person for all their needs. Specific changes included: Creating a Dropbox with all files to be shared among the board, including monthly financials, agendas, meeting minutes, budgets and creative executions. Creating a login list for all financial accounts from Stripe and Square to banking and investments and shared with Executive Committee. Creating a cloud account for the accounting software with our CPA so that both parties share constant access to all the books. Created new accounts in Quikbooks for all existing members with rostered member names, contact information and membership renewal dates. Set weekly office hours between the President and the Executive Director to review receivables and payables, sign contracts and checks (all require two signatures) and outline upcoming financial needs and budget actuals to date. Set monthly deadlines for invoicing members. Acquired a first ever AAF Memphis credit card to help track expenses related to convention travel and office supplies. Made our Executive Director our Membership lead, with the rest of the board as her team, for her first year with us so that both rosters and accounting files can be thoroughly scrubbed while making personal connections.

8 Gave online permissions to both the President and the Executive Director to all social media accounts, website CRM and enews database so that hot changes could be made with executive level approval if Communications Team members were traveling or otherwise out of pocket. Results: Our new Executive Director is the icing on the cake. Not only has she become the consistent face of the organization for our members, but she has helped overcome the financial realities that former EDs left the club in with thoughtful, careful research, planning and oversight. The relationship between the President and the Executive Director has never been stronger, and is built on mutual trust and understanding of all facets of the organization. This relationship is also shared with the Executive Committee and the rest of the board, and will prove to be a great asset in knowledge transfer year to year with different Presidents and Boards. Financially, the club has been able to stop leaning on our investments to float through tough times, and get back to a more sound position of balanced books. We no longer are paying national dues on members who aren t actual members anymore and we proactively seek to bring in as members those who have been visitors to our functions. The Executive Director is actively supporting each board team in their efforts to reach their team goals for the year and is an asset in achieving overall success. Exhibit 6: Executive Director CONCLUSION AAF Memphis has been able to assemble a strong leadership team that understands what it takes to operate a successful club. Board members want to serve because they know they ll be supported and they serve with fervor towards achieving their goals. Past Presidents are reconnecting and becoming active again. Policies and procedures have been enacted to ensure the club remains strong, relevant and responsible to its members long into the future.

9 Exhibit 1: Agency Event Creative

10 Exhibit 1: Agency Event Creative

11 Exhibit 1: Agency Event Creative

12 Exhibit 1: Agency Event Creative

13 Exhibit 1: Agency Event Creative

14 Exhibit 2: Event Speakers

15 Exhibit 2: Event Speakers

16 Exhibit 2: Event Speakers

17 Exhibit 3: Team Responsibilities

18 Exhibit 3: Team Responsibilities

19 Exhibit 4: Board Kick Off

20 Exhibit 4: Board Kick Off

21 Exhibit 4: Board Kick Off

22 Exhibit 4: Board Kick Off

23 Exhibit 5: District 7 Leadership Conference

24 Exhibit 5: District 7 Leadership Conference

25 Exhibit 6: Executive Director

26 Exhibit 6: Executive Director

27 Exhibit 6: Executive Director