For nearly 30 years, I have specialized in membership development and retention rising through the ranks to executive levels of both professional and trade associations. All of these organizations achieved record-breaking membership growth during my tenure. The size of these organizations ranged from 1,200 members to 175,000 and operating budgets of up to $60 million. My experience includes leading membership development, constituent relations, customer service, and direct sales teams. In several cases, I pioneered and championed the use of social media and online meeting platforms for membership development purposes. I regularly took on the role of change agent for the culture within these organizations always advocating for membership to be at the core of the overall business model. When working with any organization, my primary considerations have always been to enhance the membership experience, improve and refine the membership value proposition, stimulate engagement among members and nonmember prospects, and collaborate with content developers to ensure benefits and services remain relevant to members and constituents. This has led to the development of the In It ForEVER Principle (https://thenextstepsllc.com/initforeverprinciple/). In 2017, I started the In It ForEVER Podcast (www.initforever.com) with my wife and business partner Nicole. We have also developed educational experiences for membership professionals called Meminars™ (meminars.com) that help membership programs and professionals grow. I am a proud practitioner and professional and my expertise is in membership and business development in the field. I like to infuse fun into the day-to-day work and look for the wow factor in what we do. I’ve been called creative, innovative, and even “clever” but I don’t consider those compliments unless my efforts result in positive outcomes.
Listed skills include Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Membership Marketing, Membership Sales, and 29 others.