What Scares Association Execs

You've felt the major changes facing your association. (For one, with Breaking Bad off the air, people, employees actually have to talk about their day.) Bisnow gathered a handful of association execs at PJ Clarke’s to talk it out. Here's Part 1 of the conversation:

The regulatory environment has been tough, and many associations are joining forces to addresses certain pain points. National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay says his organization is part of a coalition working on the Affordable Care Act. It’s focused on the number of hours that defines a full-time employee. The coalition supports 40 hours rather than 30 as the definition of a full-timer, which affects healthcare costs and hiring decisions.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ members are traditional drug stores, food and grocery stores, and mass merchants. And CEO Steve Anderson says they’re becoming “disruptive innovators” in the delivery of healthcare. How? They’re providing expanded services to make up for a shortage of primary care physicians; pharmacists are coming out of pharmacy schools with a doctorate; 98% of the population is within five miles of a pharmacy; and the Gallup Honesty/Ethics in Profession Survey recently ranked pharmacists as No. 2 behind nurses and before grade school teachers.

The way associations get info to their members has also changed. Electronic Retailing Association CEO Julie Coons says her organization, which represents 450 direct-to-consumer companies, started concentrating its communication through its blog. The challenge is to constantly curate its content and determine the best information to send and when.

To gauge the economy, look at how much consumers are spending. Consumer Data Industry Association CEO Stuart Pratt, whose organization represents companies that collect data from consumer transactions, is just seeing incremental spending in an economy that's bumping along. Membership at the association is stable and there's some M&A activity among members. He predicts the consumer data industry will be more highly concentrated in the next five years. 

Big thanks to Heidrick & Struggles for helping us host Monday’s lunch. Tune in next week for the second half of the discussion.