Industry associations are naturally a great source of support from your community and serve as an excellent way for you to get involved and showcase your talents in front of like-minded professionals. Additionally, association groups provide educational opportunities on all aspects of business, event trends, and more. When you're an established member, you start to create professional partnerships that can transform your business and even become close, personal friendships.
While membership is always beneficial, it’s in times of crisis that industry associations truly shine. Your associations can be a source of solidarity, emotional support, and crisis-related education for managing your business through tough times.
As someone who has co-founded two associations and served in multiple committees for others, I can attest to the support provided by a group of people who share in your professional interests. We all want to grow our businesses and the wedding industry at large, so collaboration is a far better alternative to competition.
With that said, here are 3 ways you can become an influential member and serve your association in times of crisis and beyond.
Sign up for committees
You don't have to be an experienced member to join a committee. When I attended my first industry association in 2005 (hello, Association of Bridal Consultants!), I signed up for every single committee. That one decision opened up countless opportunities for me to meet everyone involved and form long-lasting relationships that went beyond the association.
In times of uncertainty, like the current coronavirus pandemic, expect associations to go into high gear to ensure they can support the educational and emotional needs of their member businesses. If you haven’t been contributing before, now is the time to raise your hand and step up to help others. When you do, you’ll no longer be just another face at a meeting — you’ll be the person who came in to serve when it was needed most.
Contribute your products or services
Association meetings are a great time to showcase your work in front of potential creative partners, so reach out to leadership to see if you can contribute your time. If you’re a caterer, this could mean providing the food and beverage service for the evening. Designers can offer décor and styling, content creators can design marketing promos, and so on — you have a specialty, so use it to your advantage!
When a crisis strikes, you may be a good candidate to provide educational resources. Offer to be a speaker on a relevant topic, send helpful PDFs to members, or let the group know that you’re open to letting them vent about what they’re feeling. We must come together during a crisis and, if you’re leading the charge, you’ll be remembered for your contributions.
Apply for leadership positions
If you've been an active and engaged member of an association for some time, it may be time to consider applying for a leadership position. Maybe you're ready to take over as committee chair, or perhaps you have your sights set on becoming president one day. Whatever your goals may be, filling a leadership role is an extremely rewarding experience; however, it is a lot of responsibility, so you need to be prepared for the extra work.
As a leader, you are expected to communicate with members regularly, oversee programming, navigate situational threats, and support the group in times of crisis. Natural disasters, global pandemics, a major loss in the community — there are lots of things that can impact event businesses on the ground level. Hence, leaders need to be adaptable and ready to steer the ship in the right direction.
When it all boils down, industry associations are about building a community. During a crisis, your community is where you can turn to for professional and emotional support (and vice versa). So it's well worth the effort of carving out your role and becoming an influential member of your group.
Jennifer Taylor is the principal of Jen Taylor Consulting, a consulting firm that works with creative businesses of all sizes to implement streamlined workflows and organized systems to find more time and space for business growth and personal development. She is also the owner, and founder of Taylor’d Event Group, a leading event planning company that serves local and destination clients in Washington State and Maui, HI.