Spring has arrived!  We see some signs that it is real.  Spring has always been a bridge from the dark days and cold of winter into the bright warmth of summer.  That metaphor could not be more appropriate in 2021.  Can we finally be emerging from the darkness of this pandemic?  As the weather turns warmer and as the vaccines slowly roll out, we can begin to set our sights on a different but more normal future.

So what does this look like for our associations?

This past year, as organizations we have adapted and transformed to continue to meet the needs of our members.  We have supported each other as professionals. We have worked long days and weeks, revamped our business model, mastered different skills, found a new road map…. all while balancing many personal balls in the air as well. 

So many of us have come together and been inspired by NYSAE events.  We were not forced to reinvent our organizations in a vacuum but instead could bounce ideas off of each other, build solutions, gain momentum in our shared community.   The purpose of NYSAE shone through as we all reinvented our organizations together.   What strength and direction that provided to so many of our members!  I cannot be prouder of our NYSAE volunteers and leaders and our amazing Executive Director Holly Koenig and her staff.

So what’s next? Now we join together to figure out what our associations will look like going forward.  We had to adapt quickly over the past year, and we learned some invaluable lessons along the way.  How will the fire drill that we all experienced inform our decisions going forward? Here’s what we know so far:

• We found our voices and stood up to lead. Our staff and our members needed direction and we had the skills and the intuition to recast and redirect.
• We embraced technology. Survival required that all of our members move beyond the basics.  Members reticent to turn on their cameras in meetings finally did so as they longed for connection and community. Video conferencing platforms were no longer just substitutes for a phone line but instead became meeting rooms, where business got done efficiently.   More and different members, without the time burden of travel, showed up at our virtual meetings and conferences.  Engagement, the lifeblood of member retention, found a virtual home.
• We finally removed the stigma of remote work.  The volume of work produced by our remote teams proved that trusting, respecting and empowering our staff members, not only benefitted our organizations but also showcased a new respect for the challenges of work/life balance. Untethered employees can still be productive and engaged!
• We transformed our conferences and events onto virtual platforms and our print publications into digital.  We could keep our members informed more quickly with different channels that better connected us with them across generational spectrums. Our members stayed connected to us and to each other.  This engagement will remain pivotal as we slowly transition back into a hybrid and in-person world.
• We enhanced our advocacy as the pandemic presented causes that needed to be brought to the attention of our elected leaders.  In my world for example, that meant working on a state and federal level to address extending tax deadlines for our members and the clients they serve.  Although our advocacy program has always been strong, addressing these survival issues on behalf of our members during a time when the world turned upside down, reinforced our value to them. 

All these things will define how we emerge from this pandemic giving us a roadmap so that we thrive as we move forward. Finding the right strategy to do so is to learn from each other on the journey ahead of us.

NYSAE will continue to be front and center as we navigate into the post pandemic world.  Walk across that bridge with us.  Our membership numbers continue to grow.  Be part of defining what the association world will look like and benefit from the community we have built.  Click here to join.

Looking forward to seeing you soon as we begin to plan our future events.

Happy Spring!

Joanne S. Barry, CAE

CEO/Executive Director, New York State Society of CPAs