I truly hate to bring this up again. Truly. But once again, VAR’s future participation in the Regional AE Conference (the annual event we’ve co-sponsored for the past few years with Georgia and North Carolina — and South Carolina, too, though 2008 is their final year as a sponsoring state) is being discussed, and I want to apprise you of the situation and (gulp!) get feedback.
There are two reasons for raising this issue again:
1. The Core Competencies WG has made a PRELIMINARY (as in, not yet final) recommendation to eliminate our sponsorship of the regional conference, suggesting it’s not a core service, and citing concerns about:
> The small number of Virginia AEs and staffers who who attend relative to the $4500 we pay to be sponsors. The WG notes, for instance, that if 15 of you attend, VAR is subsidizing your participation to the tune of $300 apiece. It would be cheaper, they note, to simply not sponsor, and let VAR pay your entire registration fee. And even at that, some of you who attend would benefit while others do not. In these times of scarce dollars — which many of you are dealing with just like VAR — there’s a sense that this is not the best investment of VAR funds and, in the years in which we host the event, significant staff time.
> Doubts about the overall quality of the program. Some of you love it, but others of you also believe it’s not a high-quality program, and thus (at least half or more of you) don’t attend. Even those of you who are supporters of our continued sponsorship acknowledge that the caliber of the program is at best, uneven session-to-session and year-to-year. It’s been suggested that VAR would be more effective in providing training and professional development for local AEs by funding and hosting our own instate event for local AEs…and we could do it more cost-effectively. Another (less popular) suggestion is simply to increase the AE Scholarship to fund more folks to go to NAR’s AEI. Overall, the point I’ve heard in the WG is that if the regional conference is worth going to, more of you would be doing so, and so they’re not convinced the regional sponsorship should be a VAR core service. Simply put, if helping enhance the skills of local association execs is a strategic goal for VAR, they think there are better, more effective ways to do it.
2. Apparently, since South Carolina is dropping out of the rotation, VAR is slated to host the event again in 2010, so we must make some decisions fairly quickly.
The WG understands that some local AEs do find value in the event. The question they’re grappling with is, is it enough of you to justify the expense, and is it the best approach to supporting local AE professional development? My sense at this point is that they’re MUCH more amenable to VAR hosting AE development activities at the VAR headquarters and/or in conjunction with our two major conference each year.
Laura Benjamin is your representative on that WG. She may wish to add perspective to what I’ve said here (or correct any impressions of the WG’s views that I’ve inadvertently misstated).
I understand the rationale of the WG and I am less dismayed about the lost of funding for the Regional Conference and more pleased that they understand the importance of funding some Professional Development for us. As long as there is something of value availabe to us we should be pleased. I do find it interesting that they are getting so far into the nitty gritty of the budget and programs. I have a line item AE Professional Development and it is my choice how I use it, but if they want to call the shots I think we should be happy that we get something and who know we may be able to use those funds to provide a benefit to all of us rather than just a small number who attend the regional conference.
We just finished our 2009 budget and times are certainly tough. In an effort to cut costs, I cut the AE Regional completely out of our budget, so I will not be attending. I may put it back in for 2010, depending on value for the $, etc.
I like the idea of Virginia AE workshops that would be less expensive to attend and more widely attended. Any Professional Development opportunities that VAR makes available to us would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in! Rebecca
Question/concern:
“The Core Competencies WG has made a PRELIMINARY (as in, not yet final) recommendation to eliminate our sponsorship of the regional conference, suggesting it’s not a core service…”
Are you/they suggesting that it is not a core competency for VAR to develop the professionalism of the local AE’s? I am not married to the Regional conference as the “best” way to accomplish AE training, but I do think that this should be a core cometency of VAR. Frankly, it is in VAR’s best interest to have good local AEs.
If I have misinterpreted this statement, please explain what you meant.
Dave: Tried to make that clear in the penultimate paragraph: “The question they’re grappling with is [ ... ] is it the best approach to supporting local AE professional development?
They support helping enhance AE professional development as a tool for serving/strengthening locals (not just because they just happen to like the idea, but because the objective is rooted in the strategic plan). They don’t think, however, the regional conference is the best way to do it, particularly when dollars are scarcer.
Please excuse the two cents from a non-AE, but has it been considered to do AE and staff development at one of the Virginia conferences.
Scott, I hate to sound like a broker record, but I think there is a lot of value, at least once per year, getting all the Ed directors (or AE’s for associations without a Ed director) together to do a class on ….social media, record keeping, online podcasting of classes, profitable marketing techniques, how-block-visions-of-stabbing-your-president-with-a-near-by-letter-opener etc…
I can only imagine that the AE’s have a list of training that they would like to get and for each topic there is probably one source of local talent that could do a two hour session on whatever it is the group desires.
Surely there is time at the State Convention and maybe the L and E conferences. I’ve attended a few of the AE meetings, and it seems much of that information could be distributed here on this blog, or in a memo for the more antiquated modality.
Why not use that time to develop new skills, or sharpen the old ones?
BTW: If children (non-AEs) are to be seen and not heard on this blog, let me know…. I’ll read quietly to myself.
I am sure that Pat would allow me to help on a project like this and maybe Dave and I could come up with stuff. His experience and my naivety may come up with something good…. (Of course I’m speaking for he and Pat without asking first)