Five months in.. Recently, I really questioned whether or not this role was right for me since it's A LOT more networking/socializing than anticipated. For those who know me in person, I know many would say I'm pretty extroverted, but on the other hand man was I drained and I'm constantly questioning do I even want to go to these events? (Tho everytime I do, I leave feeling refreshed and excited for what comes next)
Last week, was fucked.
Friday-Sunday - Work on product launch
Monday - Conference that I was helping run
Tuesday - Integral part of a conversation that involves many different stakeholders (cue: imposter syndrome - seriously who let me in on this convo)
Wednesday - Boothing at WebSummit Vancouver Day 1 + visit from regional leaders to talk about my industry (Mayors, city councillors, etc) (cue: imposter syndrome)
Thursday - Boothing at WSV Day 2 + Running a Masterclass with a Federal partner
Friday - Boothing at WSV Day 3 + Running a Masterclass at WSV in front of 200 people (cue: imposter syndrome)
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, I had probably 2 hours of sleep as I had to finalize updates for a product launch for DAY 1. Wednesday night I had 0 hours of sleep as I had to deal with some damage control things. All in all, that week alone, I had only 16 hours of sleep, ate two meals, survived on London Fogs (courtesy of another booth) and water LOL. On Thursday, I went to go buy a sandwich and I stared at it for 20 mins before gathering the energy to eat haha. I'll take tips on week long dress shoes, suits, etc.
I met with my bosses who flew in from QC for the first time in-person. They were really impressed at my dedication for work and so were every other stakeholder involved in anything I was doing - which is shocking because I just got the job done. Nothing special, just whatever it took. I'm more shocked that everyone's standards are so low, because I would have thought corporate standards would be a lot higher compared to small business standards, but it was the opposite. Or maybe its because of all that BCIT drown you in work + abuse from last job, that makes this all feel very .. light work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eff-1
(Post 9156031)
From my experience, member relations is essentially a sales role. The goal of every B2B business association, say from the Vancouver Board of Trade all the way down to the your local Crackerjacks Association, is to generate membership dues and maintain renewals.
Something to keep in mind that selling these memberships isn't easy. The dues can be high, and in a bad economy (like now) this is very much a discretionary business expense that is at the top of the list of something to cut (unless the business is paying the dues for politcal reasons, etc). |
Something that popped up into mind while I was pitching at my booth was that I never wanted to be in a sales role, yet somehow this is technically a sales role but it doesn't feel like it. I don't have KPIs for membership and member retention is more important than onboarding new members. So ultimately for me, it's how do we deliver value with membership?
One thing that I'm exploring nation wide is community driven events - how do we ensure that all SMBs (incl. mom + pop shops) have the basics they need to execute ___ level of standards in ____. I plan on doing this by having member companies in their respective regional areas speak about the 101 to our industry, hoping that it can give regular folks some sense of security in a digital world full of threats.
I also realize a large part of my background is small business advisory. I'm allowed to continue those efforts as part of my day job and it's really nice to be doing something fulfilling (and getting paid for it). Speaking of pay, since I'm full remote with the exception of meetings, events, etc, despite my pay being only $70K, my TC with reimbursements cover a lot more than anticipated. I do two meetings in DT and it covers a full tank of gas. Obv theres the wear and tear component that they're factoring in, and I'm not, but it's still a nice perk that I didn't originally anticipate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tapioca
(Post 9155835)
Larger ones can be valuable, particularly if they actually have the ear of government. That's the main value proposition for members - the associations are effective at lobbying for change that serves their industry. |
We aren't officially lobbyists, but yes I would say that we have the ear of the government and seeing that side of things has been an eye opener to how politics works.
Anyway, I think I'm happy? My bosses told me not to do any more late night / all nighters to deal with client damage control and instead we'll send a cease & desist next time (in my defense this was necessary as it was a very public post that had several major stakeholders tagged on it, with a pending announcement for the next morn). I'm feeling mixed up about all the networking, events, and LinkedIn posts (acting like a LI influencer lol ugh), but in both good and bad ways. In one way, it feels artificial, but on the other hand I really did see how everything fell into place this past week and could feel the energy in the city - haven't felt this way since 2010.
Oh yeah.. I'm meeting with my previous coworkers (none of which who are still at the previous employer) tomorrow evening to catch up. We'll see what TEA comes out bahaha.