Membership myths and realities
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report April 2018
What’s the No. 1 reason why people join organizations? The answer might surprise you!
A recent research report from Kaiser Insights LLC reveals that 80% of members join an association because someone said they should.
© Can Stock Photo / michaeldb
STLE, like almost every association, puts considerable effort into providing members and potential members with reasons to join the organization. Some are tangible such as program discounts or access to valuable information. Others are intangible and have to do with peer networking or a desire to be part of an organization that’s the leading authority in the field.
All of these things offer great value and encourage people and companies to continue supporting an organization. However, there’s also a very different school of thought about what makes people join associations in the first place. A chief proponent is Amanda Kaiser (Kaiser Insights LLC), who calls herself a “qualitative member researcher.” One of her latest projects was focused on asking hundreds of association members why they joined. What she found is surprising.
“I estimate that of all the associations where members join at will, my guess is around 80% of members join because someone said they should,” she wrote in a recent blog post. “This means the most important thing you can do is delight current members and make sure they know the reason the association is thriving is because members like them recruit more members.”
Using the Kaiser formula, STLE should be a beneficiary of this referral dynamic. When we conduct satisfaction surveys, STLE members give us a 90% positive rating. Our membership growth rate stands at 5% overall, with corporate membership increasing at an above-average 10% rate.
Traditional products and services continue to be the foundation for this level of support. TLT, now in its 14th year of publication, retains its status as STLE’s top member service. Similarly, the STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition has seen steady growth in the number of technical presentations and exhibitors during the past five years. Average attendance at the conference has grown by double digits.
We also are enhancing membership value by providing new perspectives and services that answer the proverbial question: What have we done for members lately?
STLE places a major emphasis on exploring how the field of tribology fits into the bigger picture of business and economic trends. For example, the keynote speaker at the 2018 Annual Meeting (May 20-24 in Minneapolis, Minn.) is Dr. Robert W. Ivester, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. Ivester is a key player in efforts to bring innovative manufacturing technologies and materials, such as additive manufacturing, to full-scale industrial use.
The second area of emphasis is to provide continuing professional education opportunities to individuals working with the development, production, marketing and use of tribology-related products and lubricants. During the past few years STLE has bolstered its education programs by adding numerous resources that the industry can utilize as training options.
Topping the list is the Learning Pathways, an online resource library that helps technical professionals align and target their education and career-development needs. The Learning Pathways include content resources from hundreds of articles in TLT magazine, in-person courses, Webinars, short courses and books. They are organized into two job classifications: lubrication specialist (involved with evaluation and selection of proper lubricants as well as troubleshooting lubrication problems) and oil analyst (responsible for oil sampling, review of oil analysis reports and overall care of equipment).
You can access the Learning Pathways at
www.stle.org. Much of the material is available at no charge, but there are portions restricted to STLE members only.
Assuming Kaiser’s research is correct, all these great products will only get us so far when it comes to organizational success. We still need your help.
If you’re part of the 90% satisfied with membership, I hope you’ll encourage people in your network to experience the benefits of STLE membership. Membership growth makes this a better organization for everyone involved.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.