Once again the leadership of NCBTA was well represented at this year’s NBTA Chapter Leadership Summit. This year’s Summit saw 182 attendees from all around the country. This is the largest number ever to attend the event. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors beyond our board members control, our chapter’s attendance was limited to five attendees; Kari Bigot, Denise Truso, Bernie Fautch, Seth Ryan, and myself.

We were lucky this year that one committee chair was able to attend this year with very little notice. One of the outcomes from this year is the need for the Board to begin developing a leadership development program for our members. The end result would be to have a greater number of individuals ready to step into Committee Chair and Board roles. We are only in the early stages of discussion on what this program may look like. However, one item I’d like to see us include in the program is attendance at the Leadership Summit.

A few have asked about the agenda, goals and expected outcomes from attending this event to help justify the ROI for their company. The Summit is a combination of lectures, group and round table discussions, and networking events aimed at helping the chapters tackle common problems and providing industry updates.

On Friday this year, most of the day was spent with Mark Levin, CSP, CAE. Mark is a professional speaker who specializes in leadership training, membership development and strategic planning. The time he spent with us was both educational and entertaining. He provided some great insights and thought provoking comments regarding the challenges associations in general are faced with, as well as the solutions some have attempted. Some have experienced a great deal of success while others have failed miserably. A few important takeaways for me are the need to spend more time, and possibly money, on a few critical areas to ensure the continued growth and success of our chapter. These include such things as; technology, brand and image, succession planning. And possibly most important is providing educational and development opportunities for current and future leaders of the organization.

After an update from Douglas Andrew Smith, Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector of the Department of Homeland Security, the balance of Saturday was spent in breakout sessions. Nine sessions were conducted targeting common chapter issues. Sessions included such topics as Legal and Tax Issues, Education Programs, Succession Planning, and Technology. These sessions are designed to have attendees share the challenges, obstacles, and successes each have faced. While not every strategy works in every market, I can say that we did get a few ideas that we’d like to put into place over the coming year.

Lastly, while chapter elections are still several months away, I’d like to encourage each of you to start considering running for a board position or possibly taking on a committee chair. The time spent is well worth it, both personally and professionally. Remember the old adage that “You will only get as much out of your membership as the effort you put into it.”

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