Committees

The FORUM Editorial Working Group plans and solicits articles for FORUM magazine, published nine times per year by the Association Forum. The goal for each issue of FORUM is to provide members with thought-provoking, timely, innovative and authoritative information regarding association management. Typically, more than 30 members volunteer each year and are divided into five topic task forces, which evolve year to year but generally include: staff management, budgeting/finance and professional standards/ethics; meeting planning and member education; marketing and membership; leadership/volunteers and strategic planning; communications/PR/publications/social networking and public affairs.

The working group:

• Determines the editorial direction and related policies for FORUM magazine.
• Advises on article topics and the editorial calendar for FORUM magazine.
• Identifies qualified authors and follows up on assignments to obtain articles for FORUM magazine.
• Works in teams to brainstorm, collaborate and determine new topics for FORUM magazine, as well as identify and approach high-caliber authors.
• Allows its members to author up to two optional articles themselves during the year.
• Is credited in every issue of FORUM.

The working group is recommended for members who:

• Are sssociation professionals or supplier partner members in good standing.
• Can support the mission of FORUM, which is to: Inspire association professionals with ideas and empower them with the knowledge they need to change the world.
• Represent a variety of organizational sizes and scopes.
• Represent a diversity of perspective.
• Have publishing experience (not required).
• Have attained their CAE designation (not required).

Time commitment:

• The Working Group strives to assign at least five members to each of its task forces, depending on the total number of member volunteers. Chairs of the five topic task forces serve as leaders of their teams and assist with identifying topics and authors, ensuring articles arrive on time and on topic, reporting on articles and authors during nine monthly conference calls that average 30 minutes each, and communicating with their individual task forces as necessary by phone, email and in person.
• The entire Working Group meets face-to-face two times per year for three to four hours, but and does most communication by email or conference call. 

Chair
Connie Arkus
connie76455@Comcast.net 

The Annual Meeting Working Group collaborates with Association Forum staff to plan the annual meeting. Held annually as part of Association Week — a weeklong celebration of the association management profession — the annual meeting attracts more than 400 attendees every year.

The Working Group:

• Makes recommendations on annual meeting content and programs.
• Makes recommendations on annual meeting networking activities, ensuring a positive networking experience for attendees.
• Volunteers onsite at the annual meeting as necessary.

This Working Group Is Recommended for:

• Members who are seasoned association executives interested in developing education topics of importance to CEO, Association Professional and Supplier Partner members.
• Supplier Partner members who have demonstrated an advanced understanding of association structures, issues and best practices.

Time Commitment:

• Attendance at face-to-face working group meetings (minimum of two).
• Participation in conference calls as necessary.
• Attendance at the annual meeting.

Chair (through June 19, 2012)
Steve Smith, CAE
ssmith@aahpm.org

Chair (June 20, 2012 - June 18, 2013)
Dale Gibbons, CAE
dgibbons@ena.org

The Awards and Recognition Committee works with staff to develop and promote the Association Forum Awards and Recognition program. Association Forum Awards honor the best and brightest in the Chicagoland association community. The committee is responsible for all Association Forum awards, unless specifically excluded by board policy. The committee is responsible for ensuring that award marketing and procedures encourage multiple qualified submissions.

The committee:

• Develops criteria for award nomination and selection.
• Abides by the committee’s nomination policy to not nominate colleagues or participate in discussions if committee members work at the same organization as the nominee.
• Develops/manages the award process to ensure nominations submitted by membership meets criteria of the committee’s nomination policy.
• Actively encourage other Association Forum members to nominate deserving candidates.
• Makes recommendations to the Board of Directors on honoree selections.
• Works with staff to celebrate honorees' accomplishments.
• Volunteers at the Association Forum Honors Gala.

This committee is recommended for members who are:

• Are familiar with awards programs within associations or organizations
• Are actively involved in the association community in Chicago
• Are willing to actively seek out and encourage nominations for Association Forum Awards 
• Are Past Chairs of the Association Forum Board of Directors, Past Honorees, Association Professional and Supplier Partner members

Time commitment:

• Attend at face-to-face committee meetings (minimum of two).
• If schedule permits, attend  the Annual Meeting and Association Forum Honors Gala.
• Participate in conference calls as scheduled throughout the year.
• Consider donating to the Association Forum's political action committee.

Chair
Louise Ristau, CAE
lristau@connect2amc.com

The Certified Association Executive Working Group is comprised of members who have earned their CAE, who convene in order to develop best practices for encouraging and preparing candidates for the CAE exam. Members of this group will work with staff to ensure that the format and content of CAE study groups helps candidates successfully achieve the CAE designation.

The working group:

• Suggests, trains and monitors evaluations of facilitators for CAE Study Groups.
• Conducts CAE orientation sessions (two per year).
• Selects CAE scholarship recipients.
• Provides input to the Content Committee 

The working group is recommended for members who:

• Have attained their CAE designation.
• Are interested in promoting the designation as a sign of commitment to the association management profession.
• Are willing to review CAE study materials, develop a facilitator training program and make suggestions on the Association Forum’s CAE study program.

Time commitment:

• Attendance at face-to-face committee meetings (minimum of two).
• Participation in conference calls as necessary.
• Participation in CAE orientation sessions.

Chair
Kerri Leo, CAE
kleo@soa.org

The content committee works collaboratively with Association Forum staff to review and update Association Forum’s educational strategy, and to identify, analyze and recommend potential educational products. Although they guide the overall educational strategy, the Content Committee is not directly responsible for Annual Meeting or Holiday Showcase program development.

The committee:

• Recommends revisions, updates and amendments to Association Forum’s educational strategy based on organizational goals, market and membership research, industry trends and guidance from the Association Forum Board of Directors.
• Identifies, analyzes and recommends potential educational products based on the Association Forum’s educational strategy.
• Assists in the creation of the annual educational calendar.
• Recommends strategies for creating a complimentary suite of SIG and non-SIG programming.
• Develops educationally-focused scenario plans to proactively identify potential changes in Association Forum’s marketplace.

The committee is recommended for:

• Seasoned mid and senior-level association professionals and supplier partners interested in influencing the strategic direction, selection and development Association Forum’s educational programming (not including Holiday Showcase, Annual Meeting or SIG programming).  

Time commitment:

• Attendance at four, half-day, face-to-face committee meetings (one per quarter).
• Online interaction between meetings.
• Participation on conference calls as necessary.

Chair
Philip Puckorius
ppuckorius@associationlaboratory.com

The Association Forum has devoted both money and staff to its diversity program and the goal of increasing the diversity of the Chicagoland association community. The Diversity and Workforce Development Committee plays an integral role in monitoring the impact of the programs put in place to raise awareness of the importance of diversity to the future of the association management profession.

The committee:

• Provide the Editorial Working Group with at least four diversity-related topics for articles in FORUM magazine.
• Select up to six scholars and six mentors for the Workforce Diversity Scholarship program.
• Evaluate the Workforce Diversity Scholarship program using the metrics previously established by the committee and provide a written report to the board.
• Launch a program to match association employees with mentors.
• Provide advice on other workforce development outreach efforts. 

The committee is recommended for members who:

• Are a current Association Forum member in good standing.
• Actively participate in Association Forum events.
• Are passionate about increasing diversity and workforce initiatives in associations. 

Time commitment:

• The committee’s three sub-committees meet face to face bi-monthly.
• The entire committee meets face-to-face four times a year.
• Participation in conference calls as necessary. 

Chair
Nicole Harris
nicole.harris@agd.org

Holiday Showcase continues to be the Association Forum’s largest annual event, not to mention Chicagoland's No. 1 meeting sites and business services exhibition. Because it consistently receives high marks for bringing together association professionals and suppliers, the Holiday Showcase Exhibitor and Sponsor Advisory Group is charged with making sure the event continues to meet and exceed expectations.

The advisory group:

• Provides insight and makes recommendations to continually enhance value on the tradeshow floor for both exhibitors and attendees.
• Develop initiatives to improve the return on investment for exhibitors and attendees.
• Provides feedback on official show rules and regulations.
• Includes task forces that manage special interests.

The advisory group is recommended for members who:

• Are current exhibitors or sponsors at Holiday Showcase.
• Are seasoned association professionals who can provide insight into the attendee perspective.

Time commitment:

• Four committee meetings (two face-to-face, two conference call).
• Task force meetings as necessary.

Chair
Casandra Matej
casandra.matej@visitsanantonio.com

In addition to being a very successful trade show, Holiday Showcase provides outstanding educational content in a variety of topic areas for both association professionals and suppliers.

The advisory group:

• Helps develop programs to ensure a positive learning and networking experience for attendees and exhibitors who participate in education at Holiday Showcase .
• Makes recommendations for program topics and assists in identifying speakers for education sessions.
• Volunteers onsite during Holiday Showcase.

The advisory group is recommended for:

• Seasoned association executives and supplier partners who have a broad understanding of their colleagues’ educational needs.
• Members who have attended and plan to attend Holiday Showcase education sessions.
• Members who are willing to volunteer at Holiday Showcase as needed.

Time commitment:

• Two face-to-face meetings.
• Conference calls as necessary.
• Individual task force meetings and conference calls as necessary.

Chair
Burt Blanchard
bblanchard@cscmp.org

Responsible for nominating candidates for Board officers and directors, per bylaws.

Chair
H. Stephen Lieber, CAE
slieber@himss.org

• Advance the legislative agenda of the Association Forum by electing leaders who value associations.
• Support relationships with elected leaders and aspiring elected leaders.
• Inform policy discourse on association issues.
• Ensure an integrated relationship between public policy and political action that effectively maximizes the resources of the Association Forum.

Chair
Adrian Hochstadt, JD, CAE
ahochstadt@avma.org

The Professional Practices Committee is a policy and strategy recommending body that reports to the board of directors. Its primary function is to review and provide updates to Association Forum’s Professional Practice Statements and to develop new statements.

The committee:

• Reviews Professional Practice Statements older than five years to determine if the statements should be reaffirmed, revised or retired.
• Updates those statements in need of review by revising the scope statement and submitting a final draft of the revised statement to the board of directors for consideration.
• Develops new statements on issues/areas not currently addressed. This requires drafting a scope statement for consideration by the Board of Directors first and then once approved the full statement is drafted and submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration.
• Is subdivided into task forces to work on revising and creating statements based on the workload defined above. 

The committee is recommended for members who are:

• Seasoned association executives who have proven governance and leadership experience.
• Seasoned supplier partners who have proven leadership and understanding of association management issues.

Time commitment:

• Full committee meeting.
  • Face-to-face meetings (one to two).
  • Conference calls as necessary.
• Task force meetings.
  • Conference calls (at least two).
  • Face-to-face meetings as necessary.

Chair
Thom Freyer, FACHE, CAE
tfreyer@ache.org

The Public Policy Committee is a policy- and strategy-recommending body that reports to the Board of Directors. The focus of this Committee is aligned with the "Freedom of Practice" goal. The Committee guides development of the Association Forum's government relations activities, advocacy efforts and public policy positions.

The committee:

• Updates the Association Forum’s legislative and regulatory agenda.
• Advises the CEO on other matters of public policy, particularly at the state and city level.
• Assists in grassroots advocacy efforts as appropriate.
• Monitors the environment for public policy-related trends and issues, then brings them to the attention of the CEO.
• Develops and recommends to the CEO and Board other initiatives that may be from time to time required by circumstances.

The committee is recommended for members who are:

• Familiar with public policy, government relations and public affairs programs within associations.
• Actively involved in Chicago’s association community.
• Willing to actively seek out and encourage participation in Association Forum public policy activities.

Time and responsibilities commitment:

• Attend face-to-face committee meetings (a minimum of two).
• Participate in conference calls as scheduled throughout the year.
• Participate in lobby days (if scheduled) in Springfield, Ill.
• Donate to the Association Forum’s political action committee.

Chair
Kimberly Pendo
kpendo@clpchicago.com