Associations often possess a wealth of untapped data that remains underutilized. It’s like having a dream vacation destination on your bucket list but resigning to not travel at all due to budget constraints. However, just as a short weekend trip to a nearby location can be as rewarding as a long-distance journey, we shouldn’t underestimate the potential of exploring data that is readily available. This data, which is closer to home, holds the power to rejuvenate and unveil hidden opportunities that may have been overlooked, even during busy seasons.

Let’s suppose for a moment that you’re looking for new insights on your conference and attendees. Gaining insights on conferences and attendees can greatly benefit your association when it comes to planning future events. By exploring these key aspects, you can gain a deeper understanding of your event and participants.

Here are a few areas to investigate more closely:

Asses online community engagement

First, take a close look at your online community. Your association may be tracking member engagement based to a certain extent on activity in this space. Do you know your top 50 most engaged members on the platform? Can you determine a similar list of 25 or 50 participants from the past year? How many of those are already registered for your upcoming conference?

Now that you’ve got these answers, let’s determine what else you want to know:

• How many of those who are already registered are presenting at the conference or are involved in a planning committee or have a similar responsibility that’s prompting them to attend?
• Which of these engaged members is seen as a leader or an influencer in your profession or industry?

Align your content and amplify engagement

From here you may want to extend personal invitations to the most engaged online community members to attend the annual conference. You could highlight sessions, panels, or presenters related to recent discussion threads in the online community to increase their interest. Select some of these members to post or moderate threads on topics in advance of the conference to highlight areas of great interest, create buzz about the conference, and give these members a more visible platform. Additionally, consider hosting an exclusive networking event for this group at the conference. Many will jump at the opportunity to meet other highly engaged members, whether it’s a reception, activity, or designated tables at a luncheon.

Nurture Professional Development

Similarly, a second area to investigate closely would be continuing education. How many members are in the process of completing or have recently completed coursework toward credentials or a certification?  Are there conference sessions that are related to these topics? Sending very personal emails along the lines of “We noticed that you’re working toward _____ certificate, and we thought these 3 sessions at our upcoming conference would be of interest to you:” can be very effective- particularly if they’re genuine and truly relevant. Otherwise, your members will be able to see through a marketing ploy.

If you have a way to determine the correlation between completing a given certification and increased member attendance and engagement at your conference, then it may be worthwhile to focus follow-up efforts on encouraging members to complete their final modules or to guide them to the next logical certificate that will result in a higher conference attendance rate among those pursuing continuing education.

Another approach would be to ask these members to evaluate certain conference sessions to determine if the content can be incorporated into existing or developed into new online courses. Many members will appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the association and the profession, and will become more engaged attendees in the process­­–sometimes for years to come.

Embracing data means tapping into a wealth of information that can drive informed decisions and propel your association and members forward. We may need to simply ask, “What information is it that I want or need or would be useful?” 

By leveraging data effectively, associations can unlock insights to elevate strategies and benefit members.. At times this can be done incrementally, so don’t let the limitations deter you. Instead, direct your attention to the data that allows you to focus on individuals and increase member engagement, and you’ll find small victories has the potential for remarkable dividends.