Strategic Issues.

If your members don't find or can't find what they're looking for from your association, they might look elsewhere. And it might only take them seconds to decide to do so. And guess what? Courtesy of the Internet, they'll find plenty of options. If those statements don't characterize the environment of competition and dynamism in which associations operate, I don't know what does.

Pamela Hemann, CAE, president of Association Management Services in Pasadena, California, gets the attribution for the ideas expressed in the opening sentences of this column. She's one of several marketing-astute executives who in this issue's cover story offer their perspectives on integrating the marketing function into association operations and marketing well in today's competitive environment. Says Hemann, "The problem today is that the marketplace is so jam-packed with competing commodities that once again associations must clarify who they are and what they stand for. Associations must identify what they bring that no one else can, whether that be trusted knowledge or relationships within a network of people who need one another. The role of marketing in this process is communicating these messages of identity with consistency and clarity. It requires us to create a closer connection to our mission and engage people in the vision."

Ahh...Mission. Vision. The stuff of thinking and planning strategically. Things ASAE Chairman Jeffry Raynes, CAE, knows a lot about. Having had firsthand experience with the strategic planning process at ASAE and at APICS--The Educational Society for Resource Management, Raynes speaks knowledgeably of the importance and impact of strategic planning and a strategic governance process. At Alexandria, Virginia-based APICS, where he is the executive director and chief operating officer, Raynes says board members "are now in the position of talking about what's going to happen next, so they have an opportunity to be far more strategic and address much bigger-picture issues." In his ASAE role, he sees himself as a steward of the planning process, creating an environment that allows the board to be strategic. "My job is not to be in the spotlight," he says. "My job is to operate the spotlight and keep the people who are doing the heavy lifting in the spotlight." Read more in the interview that begins on page 54 abou t Chairman Raynes, the strategic governance process, and opportunities ahead for ASAE.

More than a little strategy drives the financial management practices of the American College of Emergency Physicians. In "No Surprises," Executive Director Colin Rorrie, Jr., CAE, and Controller Phyllis Edans, CAE, describe the partnership and philosophies that help ACEP avoid financial surprises. As Rorrie noted during an ASAE Financial Management Symposium, it's essential "to charge the CFO to think beyond the traditional role of finance and begin to explore in a more expansive way what finance can bring to the future-focused deliberations of the organization."

Strategy of another sort--the kind that focuses on keeping good staff--was behind the decision by the Newark, Delaware-based Produce Marketing Association to create an alternative working arrangement with director Cindy Seel, CAE, when she decided to relocate to Richmond, Virginia. Today Seel directs PMA's produce divisions and supervises a staff of four from 240 miles away from headquarters. Read about how and why the telecommuting arrangement works in "An Out-of-State Experience," by Seel and her supervisor, Terry Humfeld, CAE.

There's plenty more to read in this issue of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT. In "Site on a Shoestring," Executive Director Debra Wentz outlines the cost-effective ways in which the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies has created a useful Web site. Jeffrey Rasco, of Team Tech International, explores associations' use of on-site cybercafes to enhance their conventions. And, finally, Graham T.T. Molitor continues his series about approaching eras of economic dominance with a discussion of the atomic age and its likely impact on associations. I hope you'll explore--and enjoy--the issue.

Editor

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