The Association Community Needs More Chief Experience Officers
Through no fault of my own (actually, probably through every fault of my own), my calendar disconnected from iCloud. I’m the type of person who lives by my calendar. Every meeting, appointment, to-do, phone call, birthday, anniversary, and reminder is recorded in my calendar. It’s like my second brain. So when my calendar stopped working, I took these totally rational steps:
I quietly but intensely freaked out.
Once the silent bought of anxiety was over, I closed my calendar, hoping it would magically start working like usual. (Oh, to be so lucky.)
Then I tried to find the easiest-to-understand quick-fix online.
And attempted to repair the problem myself, which made things worse (a lot).
So I panicked for a few minutes.
Finally, I did what I should have done way back at step #1: call Apple Support.
In no time, I was connected to Chris, whose calming demeanor, voice, and choice of words (i.e., “dude”) instantly reminded me of Crush, the totally laid-back sea turtle from the movie Finding Nemo.
To see what a hash I made of my settings, Chris initiated a screen share, which gave him visual access to my calendar, and that elicited a “WHOOOAAA, dude! You’ve got one busssyyyy calendar! But I see you are going to a concert tonight! That should be fun. Who are you going to see? Beyonce?”
“Actually,” I said, “it’s a school concert. My son is 13 and is in the band. He is really excited about performing tonight. I am excited for him!”
“Aw, yeah? What does he play?”
“Drums,” I replied.
“Cool! Dude! I play the drums. I started right about his age and still play in a band. I’ve got to tell you—Drummer Moms are veeeerrrryyyyy important!” Chris said with deep reverence.
And just like that, I loved Apple even more.
Chris, the voice of Apple for me on that truly hectic day, made me pause for a moment. He sparked a bit of hope, and he created a meaningful experience. He solved my calendar problem too, which was the value, but if he had only solved the problem, the interaction would have been totally unremarkable. The experience makes my 3-minute call with him a favorite memory from last week.
Providing members with value is essential, but value is also a given. Think of value as the baseline that every association has to have. Many associations offer tons of value. To access the next level of engagement, we’ve got to start cultivating experiences too. Experiences trigger the emotional centers in our brains. These are the areas where our memories are stored, where we feel belonging, and where we notice remarkability.
I’m inviting EVERY association leader to become a CEO (Chief Experience Officer). You can be on the IT team, in accounting, in research, on the editorial team, or be a volunteer and still be a CEO. Assuming the CEO role is not just for the membership department or committee, becoming a CEO is for EVERYBODY. No matter your current title, you can take on the CEO role.
Okay, so by the power vested in me, I now proclaim that you are a CEO! The book Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating Thriving Member Communities is all about how to get started. You GO, CEO!!!
