Focused on professionalism.

Bradford W. Claxton, CAE, ASAE's new chief elected officer, plans to promote the professionalism of association executives and encourage ASAE members to "go beyond Z."

If you don't recall the expression "Go beyond Z" from the days when you were learning to read, you may need an explanation. The words are from a classic Dr. Seuss story about the student who learns the alphabet, can recite A to Z, and says, "Now I know everything anyone knows." Then the mentor comes along and points out that you can't stop at Z; you have to learn beyond Z.

"That's applicable to association management," says Brad Claxton, executive director of the American Academy of Dermatology, Schaumburg, Illinois. "It's simplistic, but nonetheless it does drive home a point."

You'll be hearing "Go beyond Z" from Claxton, a certified association executive who became ASAE's 75th chairman at the end of August, as he promotes a theme of professionalism this year. "In the public's eye, professionalism means that you possess a specific knowledge level," Claxton comments. "As association professionals, how do we maintain and advance our knowledge levels and competencies?

"It's somewhat fundamental," Claxton acknowledges, "but sometimes it's good to go back to basics." He poses a series of self-assessment questions: "Why am I in this profession? Why was I selected for my job as a chief executive officer? If I were to compete for my job today, would I have the knowledge base to be the successful candidate?"

Support for education and technology

The qualifications Claxton brings to ASAE's helm are rooted in education. With a master's degree from Philadelphia's Temple University in industrial and educational psychology, he was appointed to a position at a pharmaceutical firm in which he designed and conducted training programs and developed teaching films. He moved on from there to become associate executive director and director of continuing education for the American College of Chest Physicians, in Park Ridge, Illinois, the first and only other association he has worked for.

Now in his 20th year at the reins of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), which was founded in 1938, he has helped grow the organization from a mostly domestic membership of 2,500 to one of more than 10,000, including approximately 1,200 international members. He currently manages a 65-person staff that numbered 5 when he began. And he administers an annual operating budget that has grown during his tenure from $850,000 to in excess of $12 million.

In reviewing this impressive growth, Claxton is quick to point out that physicians ordinarily seek membership in societies offering the crucial continuing education opportunities necessary to stay current in the field. He understands that to keep members and attract new specialists, the academy must offer educational programming of the highest caliber.

Particularly noteworthy among AAD programs and services is the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, one of several products available on CD-ROM. [For more information on AAD's venture into CD-ROM see "Publishing a Compact Disc" in ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, June 1994.] Claxton explains how the publication came into being: "When I first came to the academy, it did not have a journal, and the first proposal I made to the board of directors was that they establish one. The response I got was that the American Medical Association had a publication called the Archives of Dermatology, and that was the unofficial 'official' publication of dermatology. My response was, 'It doesn't do you any good, because all revenues go to AMA and you have no control over the educational component.'"

Still, the board turned down his proposal. But when he persisted for some type of a communication to the membership, they approved the start-up of a bulletin to deal with socioeconomic issues, which today is titled Dermatology World. What the board didn't pass was a budget for the bulletin.

"I had to see that it covered its own costs," Claxton says. "Well, that was the easiest sell I ever had. I called a couple of pharmaceutical companies and got immediate single sponsorships, and we were off and running." Four years after Claxton's first proposal, the board established the scientific journal.

Compile Claxton's accomplishments at the academy, and it's easy to see how AAD positioned itself as a critical center of education for the field. Establishing educational programs to advance member knowledge and skills. Creating a certificate program to recognize continuing education. Incorporating advanced technologies into academy operations. Combining his passion for education and his intuitive feel that technology would change the delivery of education, Claxton encouraged his staff to develop a program where physicians can call into AAD and have 24-hour access to databases of literature, self-assessment programs, and more.

Pushing education at ASAE

Paralleling his push for continual improvement of AAD educational offerings will be Claxton's educational advancement efforts with ASAE during the next 11 months. He describes an urgency about these efforts: "The type of education that ASAE offers is not lifesaving in the sense that education in medicine is, but it most certainly is lifesaving if you want to maintain your competency level in your job.

"What concerns me about some members of the association field," Claxton continues, "is that they don't crack the books. They tend to do what they've done in the past that's gotten them by so far. But as we read the social science literature and we deal with diversity and generational gaps, we have to make applicable adjustments to the way we run organizations.

"Also, as government becomes more and more intrusive into association management, as we've seen in this past year, it behooves members to use ASAE to find out about those laws and regulations and how they apply to associations."

In Claxton's opinion, an excellent way for executives to advance their knowledge and test their competency is by going through the CAE program. His term of office coincides with the work of the CAE Commission responsible for updating ASAE's certification program. "Because this is a great interest of mine, I'll be sitting in on their discussions and probing them to make changes," Claxton says. "This will be a critical year for the CAE program's direction for the future."

Additional priorities

ASAE's new leader feels strongly that "any chairman can only address two or three issues during a term and have any influence over them. You can scatter yourself around by addressing too many issues, and never accomplish anything."

Among his select priorities for the year is, of course, ASAE's lobby tax lawsuit against the government. "There's currently a good group in place to address this issue," Claxton comments. "The task force is superb, and we have good legal counsel, so that's going forward on its own momentum. I'm an advisory member to the task force, and where I can motivate or provide a helping hand, I most certainly will."

Also on his agenda are plans to oversee a peer review of ASAE. A team of association executives will evaluate ASAE with an eye toward strengthening internal operations.

In addition, Claxton plans to use the extensive public relations experience he's gathered at AAD. Just one of the many activities he has directed in this area is an award-winning public-awareness campaign launched by the academy in 1984 to enlighten people about the dangers of too much sun exposure. The expertise Claxton has developed by drawing attention to dermatological issues should translate well in promoting ASAE's primary message that Associations Advance America.

The AAA Committee has several charges this year, which Claxton will oversee. Among them is enhancing the direct marketing campaign designed to encourage associations to use ASAE resources in developing programs that benefit society. This directive is of particular interest to Claxton, who speaks frequently of the vast informational offerings available from ASAE. He strongly encourages members, particularly those running small associations that may have extremely limited resources, to take advantage of all the assistance that ASAE can provide; help is only a phone call away. "ASAE has information about so many different programs by all kinds of groups of various budget sizes," Claxton reminds members. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel."

Joining forces

Beyond calls to ASAE, Claxton promotes the use of coalitions to achieve program objectives that might seem out of reach because of lack of staff and funds. "If you can't do it by yourself, get together with other associations," he advises, citing an example from his experience. "With health care reform, 100 organizations in the medical field formed a coalition and developed a message that they all signed. Certainly, 100 signatures is more impressive than the efforts of one association."

Claxton considers the multiple public relations fronts on which associations must fight, not only individually but also as a group for the good of the association community. "All of a sudden, associations are seen as the high rollers with the lobbying budgets doing all kinds of bad things," he notes. "And yet, the preponderance of the things we do promote the public good."

The problematic public perception came to Claxton's attention again recently during a gathering of the Chicago-based Associations Economic Council. Claxton, a member of this group of about 25 senior executives who meet monthly, asked what the group would like ASAE to do for them and for their associations. High on their wish list was getting help with the profession's "identification problem."

Association executives, Claxton says, are "as good as the executives in industry, but get few kudos for management innovations. Many of the council members manage associations with multimillion-dollar budgets. It takes a good manager to be able to handle that type of operation, and yet there's no community identification of what associations are and what they do."

Turning around lackluster, if not completely negative, public perceptions of associations remains on ASAE's agenda as Claxton assumes leadership, and he intends to address this challenge with renewed vigor. Between pushing past Z and turning up the volume on ASAE's positive messages about members, the chief elected officer is determined to make progress in elevating the image of the association management profession.

Leading by Example

Brad Claxton conducted a self-assessment years ago when he first entered the association field. He questioned whether he had the knowledge necessary to succeed in association management. "I needed to learn about membership, publications, meetings, and conventions," Claxton recalls, "so I studied for and took the CAE exam, and I got involved very early on with both ASAE and the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)."

His leadership within ASAE began in 1978 with membership on the Committee on Education. Since then he has served as chair of the Planning Committee, as a member of ASAE's Board of Directors, and as ASAE vice chairman, secretary-treasurer, and chairman-elect.

Claxton served Birmingham, Alabama-based PCMA as president in 1987, which makes him the first ASAE chairman ever to have been chief elected officer of both associations. PCMA also had Claxton's leadership on the board of directors, on the PCMA education committee, and in planning the annual meeting.

The Chicago Society of Association Executives elected Claxton president for the 1986-1987 term. He also served as a member of CSAE's board of directors and as chairman of the CAE Committee. In recognition of his contributions to the profession, Claxton was the 1994 recipient of CSAE's Sam Shapiro Award.

Gerry Romano, CAE, is senior editor of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT.