FORUMThe ‘Association for Associations’ and the ‘Association for Association Management Companies’ Partner to Collect and Analyze Industry Data
CHICAGO (April 30, 2014)—Association Forum is pleased to announce a partnership agreement with the AMC Institute that is aimed at gathering and making available to its’ members important data on annual meetings and IT department practices within associations.
As associations face the rapid evolution of membership, sponsorship, governance and other factors affecting how they are managed, it’s critical decision making is well informed by rich data that includes benchmarks and key performance indicators. To build this robust data repository, AMC Institute will market Association Forum’s InSight Data Comparison and Benchmarking Tool to its’ members to build the economy of scale.
In response to member feedback, in 2011, Association Forum contracted with Dynamic Benchmarking to build its first cloud-based benchmarking platform to collect and compare data on association’s meetings practices. The platform, dubbed InSight, was launched in May 2012 and provides participating organizations with the ability to compare key data points of its meeting planning activities against those of similar organizations.
Two InSight Platforms
In February 2013, Association Forum expanded the InSight platform with the launch of the Information Technology survey to compare association’s IT department policies and practices. Again in response to industry feedback, in January 2014, Association Forum continued the expansion of InSight with the launch of the InSight EZ platform.
The InSight EZ benchmarking tool gives users the ability to quickly compare their association’s IT and annual meeting practices to those of other associations. A targeted set of data points in the InSight EZ platform (43 for IT and 38 for Annual Meeting compared to 155 and 122, respectively, through the InSight platform) narrow the focus and pinpoint areas of significant difference. Association professionals who want to participate can do so in either platform at no cost.
Using either InSight platform will help associations improve their understanding of the real opportunities as well as prioritize, minimize resistance to change, garner support for action, foster enthusiasm to exceed the external benchmark, and promote discussions based on data rather than assumptions or emotion.
“We’re really excited about this partnership because it provides an excellent opportunity to get more data populated, which will make the comparisons much more valuable overall,” says Keith Bura, CPA, CAE, Association Forum’s Chief Financial and Operating Officer and interim CEO. “While our individual association members continue to use the tool, we’re certain association management companies could benefit from InSight data to support their clients’ business needs,” Bura added.
“AMC Institute is pleased to partner with Association Forum on this data sharing opportunity,” says Tina Wehmeir, CMP, AMCI’s Chief Executive Officer. The AMC community has the unique ability to populate a tremendous amount of information across a broad spectrum of industries. We see this as a true collaboration for the association industry.”
Participate in InSight
To participate in the InSight or InSight EZ Annual Meeting and/or IT survey, association professionals first gather their own data and then input their information into an easy-to-use, web-based survey. Once InSight data has been entered, users can select peer group organizations to which they want to compare their performance (e.g., total members, budget size, type of organization, compliance requirements, or any combination, etc.) and view their performance across each key performance indicator in customizable, instant reports.
About the Association Forum
The mission of the Association Forum is to “advance the professional practice of association management.” Founded in 1916, the Association Forum serves 47,000 association professionals whose efforts serve more than 37 million members and generate $22 billion in global annual expenditures. Visit www.associationforum.org.
About AMC Institute
AMC Institute (AMCI) is the trade association that represents the Association Management Company (AMC) industry globally. AMCI provides accreditation, education & networking opportunities as well as expert support and resources to drive new business to our members. Our members represent over 1,800 associations and 2.8 million association individuals. Visit www.amcinstitute.org for more information.
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For More Information:
Jemilah Senter
(312)924-7030
senter@associationforum.org
Tonya Richardson
(571)527-3108, ext. 114
trichardson@amcinstitute.org