As promised, here is the next installment of "As the Chapter Turns…" So membership, much like finances are the life blood of any vibrant chapter. As discussed in the last President’s Message, our finances are in fine order so we can now focus on membership.
Some of you may have seen our current Hot Hot Hot summer membership promotion, others of you may have joined on another “join now” promotion, but no matter how or why you decided to join, you are now members. Membership in TMA, like American Express, has its rewards. You of course get member pricing at all TMA events, not just CTTMA but globally; you get the Journal of Corporate Renewal, you get your personal profile on the global TMA website as well as many other benefits. However, being a member does not get you instant deal flow or in tight with targeted referral source. You have to make an effort. An effort that includes but is not limited to, working the room, following up, making yourself available and of course being there!
As a strategic initiative, the chapter leadership is undertaking a review of what TMA and more specifically what CTTMA stands for. Since its founding 25 plus years ago, the industry of turnarounds and corporate renewal has changed quite dramatically. Being the “professional association dedicated to corporate renewal” may not mean the same thing now as it did back then. In fact, according to our informal discussion, it doesn’t. So in an environment of diminishing practitioners dedicated to corporate renewal, how do we as a small yet vital chapter sandwiched between New York City and Boston remain relevant to its members, its prospective members and itself?
First we look for ways to broaden our appeal; that means we aren’t just looking for workout lenders, bankruptcy attorneys, distressed debt players and the turnaround firms, although we aggressively welcome one and all! We now want to reach out to the search firms that touch in and around the financial world, the corporate finance attorneys working on deals, the marketing and public relations firms that craft the corporate message, other associations where we can cross fertilize and populate each other’s meetings and other segments that revolve around corporate transition.
There, I said it, we are quickly realizing that “corporate renewal” is a dying brand and “corporate transition” may be the new mantra for this industry. The definition of transition from the Merriam Webster dictionary is:
(a) : passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another;
(b) : a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another
So putting this phraseology to work for us, we come to the conclusion that we are moving from one central strategic focus to another. Like the shifting sands in the hour glass, CTTMA is evolving into a professional association dedicated to the notion of corporate transition, both upwards and downwards in the corporate life cycle. Aren’t the skills of those dedicated to corporate renewal equally suited for corporate transition? Are the factors that affect decline also factors that affect corporate growth? Don’t companies in their startup phase find themselves equally challenged financially and strategically as those in corporate maturity or decline?
While the summer programming is focused on Golf benefitting the Legacy Foundation (June 23rd) and Sunset Networking (July 13), rest assured that the fall and early winter events will be different with a clear educational component towards attracting what here to for have been the fringe players of TMA. We will open our tent(s) and look to partner with different associations to help broaden our membership appeal and build momentum for the first quarter 2016 expert series dinners. I would also like to point out that we are working with Global TMA to send out a targeted survey to our CTTMA mailing list to help us gauge and focus the local interest in our chapter. Please keep an eye out for it in the next few weeks and respond when you get it. We’ll be offering an incentive for everyone who responds.
The next installment of “As the Chapter Turns” will focus on our programing initiatives and our potential nomination as Outstanding Chapter of the year award.