10/10/2019

The Merging of Two Educational Offerings

Why we blended the Association Leadership Forum and the Shane Yates Aspiring Leaders Institute

Last fall, discussion was held at the OSAE Board of Directors Q4 Board Meeting on how OSAE could drive attendance to two of our flagship educational offerings: the Association Leadership Forum and the Shane Yates Aspiring Leaders Institute. Both events - while successful - had experienced years of stronger attendance prior to 2018. Given this, board directors were seeking some ways that OSAE could boost attendance at both.

It was quickly obvious that the two events were often drawing attendees from the same pool of candidates. Some seasoned members of OSAE were interested in the leaders institute, but they expressed that it seemed many of the courses were skills they already possessed while some of the younger leaders in the industry were already in the c-suite and wanted access to the topics discussed at the Association Leadership Forum. Given this feedback and input from the board, the decision was made to merge these two programs into one for 2019 and judge their success following that event.

The Shane Yates Association Leadership Forum

These conversations and input received through the 2019 OSAE Member Needs Assessment Survey led to the formation of one education-packed, information-rich event: the 2019 Shane Yates Association Leadership Forum. Following the death of Shane Yates in 2016, the Board and members wanted to create a program to pay tribute to his commitment to lifelong education. Thus, they, under the direction of then Chair Holly Dorr, MBA, CAE, created the Shane Yates Aspiring Leaders Institute. The first two years of this program, the organization witnessed fluctuating attendance and noted that many of the program participants also expressed an interest in learning from seasoned peers. 

The Association Leadership Forum, which is in its ninth year now, has seem attendance grow and shrink based on the information being presented during the 4-hour program. In order to drive more attendance this year, OSAE has expanded the program to provide five hours of in-person education on Nov. 1 and two additional hours via a webinar in November and one in December. This will allow people to gain access to more information but not implement the dreaded "brain drain." 

To continue to pay tribute to Yates, the board elected to re-name this year's forum The Shane Yates Association Leadership Forum (SYALF). We hope that our members will appreciate the tribute and share the insights they take away from the forum by using the hashtag "#SYALF" in their social media posts on Nov. 1. 

Details About The Shane Yates Association Leadership Forum:

"We really struggled with what price to charge for this year's forum," said OSAE President & CEO Jarrod A. Clabaugh, CAE. "We know that education dollars must be used wisely. Given that members who attend will receive a total of seven hours of education, a great luncheon service and access to best-in-class observations and peer networking, this is an extremely affordable one-day educational offering. It comes down to less than $36 an hour and that doesn't include the great lunch the property is planning." 

To learn more about the forum, please select this link to access the agenda. To register, please select this link.