Achieving professional goals to meet member needs now and in the future
As we head into the last few months of 2021, I've been reflecting on what I set out to do, both for VACEP and myself, this year.
Those of you who know me know I'm a big nerd when it comes to the association management industry. Last year, I completed a year-long course on leadership. It gave me a lot of practical skills and inspired me to set big goals. So in January, I decided to tackle two of the big ones: to get my Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential, and to give my first lecture in association management.
I passed my CAE in June and gave my lecture (on the perils of generational marketing and the benefits of being an association anthropologist) in September.
I've read A LOT. Through the CAE and beyond, I've read a dozen non-fiction books this year (a rarity for someone who loves epic adventure novels) on associations, leadership and emotional intelligence. I've got six print books sitting on my desk and five in my Audible queue with hopes to finish them all by December 31.
I've also been returning to in-person education both for the education itself and to learn best practices for in-person events during a lingering pandemic. One of my next events will be a weekend retreat with about 20 of the brightest minds in my industry. I'm committed to the future of this industry and the lessons I can bring back to VACEP.
On that note, I started this year wanting to make the kinds of changes and innovations I had planned in the pre-COVID times — of which I’d only had a few months on this job. VACEP’s digital infrastructure has improved in many ways, from our legislative bill tracker to our conference platform to our new and improved website (coming soon).
I'm working on the reporting we do to our members and our leadership team so it's easy for all our members to keep tabs on the work we do. We're working on new ways to get members engaged and meet them where they are; engagement should be rewarding, and it should be easy. Our leadership team has done incredible work to step back and think about what's truly important for our future. Don't get me wrong, we still respond to every crisis as quickly and as effectively as possible, but at the same time your leaders are doing the hard work of creating an organization that will meet your needs now and in the future.
You can talk to any of those leaders and they'll tell you that we're more involved and more active than ever before. Every month, VACEP grows just a little bit stronger — and I try to grow a little bit stronger, too.
Sarah Marshall
VACEP Executive Director
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