#assnconsult

Are sharks circling your member base, eyeing bites for their next meal? Even if your association is trapped in a sea of competition, you can change course and sail toward possibility. Sharon Rice, .orgSource Managing Director of Business Strategy, is our expert for guiding associations through tough markets. At .orgCommunity’s Innovation Summit, Sharon explored how Blue Ocean Strategy can help…

For more than 20 years, I have helped associations lead change—first from inside associations and later as a consultant working alongside executives, boards and teams navigating digital transformation. The technology has changed dramatically during that time. We moved from early websites and databases to integrated platforms, cloud systems, data strategies, automation and now artificial…

What 20 years of helping associations navigate change has taught us about strategy, technology, growth, and leadership.  Most association leaders know their organizations need to change.  They know member expectations are different. They know technology is moving faster. They know AI will affect how work gets done. They know legacy revenue models are under pressure. They know younger…

The associations that thrive will be the ones that stop asking what members should value and start understanding what they actually need.  For decades, associations had a fairly reliable value equation.  Members joined for access. Access to information. Access to professional networks. Access to credentials, conferences, publications, advocacy, and expertise they could not easily find…

There is a pattern I see often in organizations that feel stuck.  Leaders know something is not working. They can see the strain. They can feel the drag. They know a process is outdated, a structure is too heavy, a team is overloaded, or a strategy has lost momentum.  And yet, they wait.  Not because they are careless. Not because they do not care. But because hard decisions are hard.  They…

By now, most association leaders know AI matters.  That is no longer the question.  The real question is this: what are you actually going to do about it?  Because right now, many organizations are stuck in one of two places.  They are either cautiously circling the topic, waiting for more clarity, more examples, more certainty. Or they are jumping into tools without a clear strategy, hoping…

Upskilling has always mattered. But right now, with AI evolving faster than most organizations can update job descriptions, a clear AI upskilling plan has become a survival skill, not a bonus. Here’s the part leaders rarely say out loud: AI is exposing the gap between people who learn by exploring and people who learn by being told what to do. And that gap is shaping performance, confidence, and…

What ChatGPT Health Means for Medical Associations For years, medical association leaders have debated: How much medical content should we share with the public? That question was just answered—loudly—by OpenAI and Anthropic. Last week, OpenAI announced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated experience for people to engage with AI around their health and wellness. The data? Astounding: 230 million users…