Membership Committee Accomplishments 2003-2004

Carol Bergeron

Bill Evans

By Carol Bergeron, Bergeron Associates and Bill Evans,
WorkSense Consulting Group
Co-Chairs of IMCNE Membership

IMCNE, a professional association serving the New England consulting community, has accomplished a lot over the last year through active volunteerism. This article has three purposes. (1) Share the 2003-2004 membership committee accomplishments and how they benefit you. (2) Reveal the results from the Value Survey since they, coupled with IMCNE foundation (see below), are key drivers in setting 2004-2005 goals. (3) Inform you of our new goals that are focused on building relationships that lead to more and better business. Our goals, however, are achievable only through continued active volunteerism. We look forward to working with you over the next year to make our goals a reality from which we will all benefit.

2003 - 2004 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Here is a recap of accomplishments and the volunteers who made them happen.

VALUE SURVEY RESULTS

Jeff Govendo

The Value Survey has been instrumental in IMCNE’s goal setting for the future. Here are the summary level results of the survey. They put our 2004-2005 goals into context.

We had 48% of IMCNE members respond to the VALUE SURVEY. When asked their primary reason for joining, the three top reasons respondents gave are "grow your business" (42%), "network" (29%) and "build consulting skills" (21%). The prime motivation for attending a meeting is "professional skill building" (27%), "speaker" (24%), "networking opportunities" (18%) and "business growth opportunities" (18%).

Jim Simons

Note that "growing your business" places first among the reasons for joining, but only ties for third among the reasons for attending a meeting. A casual reader may be tempted to conclude that members are looking for a venue other than meetings to grow their businesses. Indeed, 71% of members responding to the VALUE SURVEY have never gained a client or additional business as a result of their IMCNE membership, at least for this snapshot in time. Our goal is to change that through initiatives like ACCELERATED CONNECTIONS and the CONSULTANT PROFILE, pilot programs designed to foster purposeful networking that leads to more and better business.

Pam Brown

We learned that 42% of members were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with IMCNE membership; 54% were either "somewhat satisfied" or "neither satisfied nor dissatisfied". 54% "rarely" or "never visited" the IMCNE web site and a whopping 82% "rarely" or "never used" the website’s member directory. The CONSULTANT PROFILE will eventually replace the web-based member directory.

In response to the question, "If you could make one change to improve IMCNE, what would it be?" the largest response was meetings (32%). One respondent’s suggestion: "Have dedicated networking events and/or forums (online or otherwise) for consultants with complementary skills to find each other." We also learned that evenings are the preferred time for events. Participants indicated that they are willing to travel a greater distance for evening sessions than morning or afternoon ones. Further, the center point of IMCNE respondents, based on their office locations, appears to be the intersection of Routes 128/90.

2004 - 2005 GOALS

Our goal is to keep growing membership while factoring in what we learned through the VALUE SURVEY. Our 2004 - 2005 goals revolve around three interdependent themes: developing a variety of consulting skills, building lasting relationships and getting more and better business.

ACTIVE VOLUNTEERISM WORKS

Active volunteerism produces results. To continue getting results, we need your help as we embark on our new goals. We have identified several future volunteer needs, so you can begin to contemplate which one most interests you. Think you could advance your business goals while helping others? Tell us about your interest now, or when we kick-off specific initiatives, and we will connect you with the right people at the right time and then get out of your way. All you need to get started is a clear goal, a few guidelines and a small group of motivated people who share your enthusiasm and interest.

We have had the pleasure to work side by side with other IMCNE consultants and learn first hand of their enormous talents. Without the experience of working with them on IMCNE projects, we may not have recognized their full talents. Get to know your fellow IMCNE members by volunteering. Feel good about making valuable contributions and expand your network of lasting, rewarding relationships.