The Power of A

This guest post was written by Bob Benedict, CAE, Executive Director of the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors of Nevada.  Bob is an annual fly-in participant and wanted to share his view on the importance of American Associations Day.

Last year, I was new to Nevada and so when I attended the fly-in I was prepared to visit with the staff members of each of the three Members of Congress from our new state.  I am a realist since I worked on the Hill for many years as a staffer myself and I fully expected only to see staff members.  The power of ASAE resulted in my visiting with all three of our Members for several minutes each.  We got the ASAE message across and I established relationships that will last for many years.

Later in the year, I visited these same Members for my own association and was warmly received in each case because of the previous visit.  At the meeting with Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) this past spring during the fly-in, she indicated that she had an avid interest in education and I was able to relate information about our apprenticeship program to her.  She took an immediate interest and I indicated we would consider it an honor if she would attend our graduation exercises in the spring and she readily agreed.  This will form the basis for a continuing relationship in the future.

Both ASAE and PHCC benefited from the Power of A.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association represents 135,000 members and affiliates who are speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists in the United States and internationally.  ASAE is pleased to present this guest post by Joseph Cerquone, CAE, Director of Public Relations

A powerful collaboration is at the core of a major effort of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). I am talking about ASHA’s Listen To Your Buds public education campaign www.listentoyourbuds.org which features alliances with leading parties in the world of health and science (the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders); the consumer electronics industry (the Consumer Electronics Association) and children’s media (Parents’ Choice Foundation), not to mention a committed coalition of leading children’s musicians, plus ASHA grassroots members, the very pulse of ASHA’s national network.

These parties have joined together to save the public the pain and trouble of having noise-induced hearing loss, and to spare society the costs that come with caring for those who develop the condition. Moreover, they all see the value of getting a head start on a potential health problem. The Listen To Your Buds campaign aims at teaching very young children about their hearing and about good listening habits to keep them from ever joining the ranks of those whose misuse of personal audio technology such as MP 3 players puts them potentially at risk of developing hearing loss.

The prevention focus could not be timelier given where the nation is with budgetary and health care matters. What’s more, the joint effort of these collaborators is producing very effective message delivery. Grounded in hearing expertise, encouraged by industry support, and equipped with connections to quality children’s entertainment, ASHA’s campaign has wrapped its messaging in an attractive invitation, one that offers schools free educational field trips to Buds Safe Listening concerts featuring coalition musicians and their very engaging ways of communicating with the young. The response has been enthusiastic, the impact considerable. Children are not just getting the message of ASHA’s Buds campaign-survey results show that they are embracing it.

Meanwhile, if there was a contest for best at growing important health messages at the grassroots, a title contender might be ASHA’s “Early Warning Signs” public education campaign. The very name of this outreach suggests its value, for it, too, is aimed at prevention, focused on helping parents monitor their children’s speech and language development, and encouraging them to seek professional help if they suspect that something is awry.

It is tempting to hold up the strong media response to this campaign as the primary evidence of its power, for in some of the biggest broadcast markets nationally, parents are getting the campaign’s valuable tips, commonly via prominent spots on local news broadcasts and morning talk shows.

Yet, right behind the coverage lies a story which underscores the inherent power of associations and collaboration. Its main characters are ASHA’s own grassroots members who have volunteered in droves to be the media subject experts for the Early Warning Signs campaign. Easy for them to do?  Not exactly. Live television can be nerve-wracking and inconvenient. Some volunteers have media experience, but others do not. Sometimes, too, at the very last minute, our members have to adjust their busy schedules in order to participate.

However, working together with ASHA’s national office, ASHA’s grassroots members have come through, proving themselves again and again to be very good in their campaign role. In addition, this particular collaboration promises to reap results exponentially, for members are making themselves known as helpful information resources in their own communities, establishing themselves to be contacted by the media for other stories in the future. Today, speech and language development is the topic-tomorrow, it could be another area of human communication that profoundly affects millions of Americans.

The point is that through the “Early Warning Signs” campaign, a coast-to-coast health messaging delivery system is being  built that can stave off a lot of public pain and expense, with the grassroots members of an association cast as the lead story tellers.  Any way one looks at it, that’s promising-and that’s power.

In its efforts to educate the public about the important role played by accreditation, and the need for potential students to understand this complicated topic, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) developed this brief video which ran on PBS stations around the country in 2005-2006.

CAAHEP Spot

The Louisiana REALTORS represent 10,000 real estate professionals in the state of Louisiana.  ASAE is pleased to share this guest piece by Mr. Norman Morris, CAE, of the Louisiana REALTORS.

As Congress debates very complex and life changing issues it becomes even more imperative that all associations stay focused and engaged on behalf of its members.  Many associations employ various methods in their grassroots programs trying to persuade Congress to agree with their side of the issue.  Many of these programs include mail campaigns, letter writing, calls to action, email responses, and even face-to-face meetings in Washington, DC with elected officials.

While all of these programs are needed and can be very successful, the Louisiana REALTORS® over the last several years has added an additional tool to its arsenal.  This tool is called the Congressional In-District meetings whereby key leaders in the association meet one on one with their elected congressperson in district to discuss issues.

The Louisiana REALTORS® find that this one on one meeting back home in the district creates a much better environment for a political exchange of ideas than do other types of communication. The congressperson is more relaxed, with no roll call votes set, or other common distractions they face while doing their jobs in Washington DC and they can really focus in for thirty minutes to an hour on the issues.

Associations must plan these events with a great deal of detail so the goals and objectives can be accomplished.  Staff needs to make sure that association leadership is in attendance and has received the issue talking points well in advance of the meeting and in some cases designating who will speak on specific issues.  Congressional staff must also receive a summary of the issues that will be discussed prior to the meetings.   Association staff must ensure that the meeting runs according to schedule and that the congresspersons time is respected.

In a time when grassroots involvement is needed more than ever, associations must look to adapt and consider other programs that will give them the best chance of succeeding in today’s political environment.

Norman Morris, CAE

Senior Vice-President & Chief Lobbyist

Louisiana REALTORS®

(800) 266-8538

Norman@larealtors.org