A thought about the CAE

I came back buzzing from the ASAE annual meeting in Chicago, where everyone who wasn't already one was talking about their plans for getting the certification (CAE, certified association executive credential). I want to get mine too, and this blog is partly to document this process for myself, but I am at the very beginning of this and just getting a feel for what it's going to involve.

I just took an online marketing course at ASAE - I learned some interesting things and met some interesting people, but the big lesson was actually this (this is me talking to myself) - "honey, if you're going to get your CAE, you can't wing it like you do everything else".

With marketing, I am the marketing department and we have no marketing budget apart from a bit allocated for brochures and publications, a bit allocated for the website, etc. So in the course, there was a lot of talk about the value of market research, for example - but I am the one who's going to use survey monkey. Which doesn't mean I won't do what I have to do in a measured and considered way, but I don't have the time nor my association the money to go whole hog with marketing plans and market research surveys et. al. However, the point is I will HAVE to know how to do these things if I want to pass my CAE exam. Someone said it's NOT about your own personal experience with your own association - but how the ideal association would do things.

Another way to look at it is, I'm a "We have Always Done It That Way" groupie - but now I need to get serious and get with the program on "Seven Measures".