Beyond the Chicken Meal, How I'd Change Trade Organizations
So, I put my name in for some post at International Association of Business Communicators. If they’re open to having someone who’s not a traditional business organization-type of gal, maybe I have a chance.
Why don’t I join trade organizations? There are a number of reasons:
- The lunches bug me – I have to drive something like 30 minutes to get to a rubber chicken luncheon where you spend most of the time making small talk with the public relations assistant for some company you don’t know. Then, by the time the speaker comes on, you’re worrying too much about how the cheesecake staring you in the face will wreck your diet. Inevitably, your cell phone rings mid-presentation and you have to rush back without hearing the entire spiel from the speaker.
- The vendors bug me – Most communications-oriented organizations are filled printers and SWAG purveyors. Not that I don’t like these guys. They’re some of my best friends. But that’s just it. By this time in my career, I have vendors I trust. No, I don’t want to give your printing company a try.
- I’m not a good committee member – I either like to do something or forget about it. I’m impatient with organizations that quibble over name tags.
My suggestion is that those of us who are ah-hem more seasoned in our profession create sub-groups in these trade associations. I’m all for flinging around some “big ideas,” as long as you don’t subject me to rubber chicken and that evil cheesecakey-type thing that probably doesn’t taste very good after all that torment.
