IAC Meeting Highlights December 2009

Industry Advisory Council
Chicago
December 13, 2009

Present: Moyra Doyle; Steve Higgins; Rachel Hutchisson; David Lotz; Kathleen E. Pavelka; Tony Rotondi; Fred Weiss; Cynthia Woolbright

Not Present: Bob Brock; Craig J. Leach; Charles G. Shelley; Ed Sirianno; Dan White; Fred Wilson
Volunteer Leaders: Cassie McVeety

CASE Staff: John Lippincott, Lori Woehrle

I. Call to Order and Welcome

Mr. Lippincott called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. and welcomed members, who introduced themselves. He noted the Nov. 28, 2009, death of incoming member Joe Rudy of 1157 Design Concepts.

II. President's Report

Mr. Lippincott reported on the state of CASE. Highlights:

• As of Dec. 1, 2009, CASE has 3,383 institutional members, up from 3,372 on July 1, 2009.
• As of Dec. 1, CASE has 19,715 professional members, down from 21,659 on July 1.
• As of Dec. 1, CASE has 177 Educational Partner members, down from 197 on July 1.
• Conference attendance dropped 30% last year and is budgeted for another 20% drop in FY10.
• New initiative: CASE on Your Campus (customized training created from standard CASE conferences brought on-site to educational institutions.
• New initiative: Simulcast broadcasting of select conference programming.
• New initiative: Partnering with related organizations on conferences.
• New initiative: CASE board approved a legislative agenda to allow organization to respond quickly to key legislative developments.

Mr. Lippincott noted that the drop in Educational Partners was primarily at the Bronze level, and primarily among small organizations. He asked for ideas on how CASE might better retain Bronze-level Educational Partners, and a wide-ranging discussion ensued.

Highlights:

• Mr. Weiss asked whether CASE would entertain a combination membership of CASE and another related organization, such as ACE or AFP. 
• Mr. Lotz recommended that CASE benchmark Educational Partner fees against those of similar organizations to ensure that Educational Partner program pricing is in-line with the market.
• Several members encouraged CASE to view its relationships with Educational Partners more as a community, making Educational Partner companies equal partners. They pointed to policies at the District level that require conference speakers who are EPs to sponsor the conference as an example of where Educational Partners are treated differently from institutional members.
• Members encouraged CASE to study whether it should create an Educational Partner level that is less costly than Bronze that would be available to one- or two-person consulting firms.
• Ms. Pavelka noted that at other organizations she is a member of, companies volunteer to solicit sponsorships, and asked whether the group would be willing to make calls to Educational Partners that drop to solicit their return. The response was mixed.
• Council members discussed ideas for keeping in touch as a group more frequently than twice a year via conference calls or Web-based conferencing. They also discussed asking former members of the IAC whether they would like to be involved in such calls.
• Ms. Woolbright recommended as an action step that IAC members each reach out to 5 -10 Educational Partners to inform them of IAC discussions and CASE developments.
• Ms. Hutchisson noted that CASE is facing increasing competition for company resources, and said by way of example that the Association of Advancement Services Professionals is growing.

III. Adjournment

Mr. Lippincott adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m.