CAEs and CEOs helped launch the ISAE 2006 program schedule with a breakfast
meeting on February 14th. Ginny Carroll, of InGiNuity, was the presenter. Ginny, who
was a fraternity executive before starting her own consulting company, now does
curriculum planning, board training, strategic planning and other work for a variety
of associations.

Have you ever thought about applying emotional intelligence principles to your
board of directors? A model of team effectiveness proposed by V. Urch Druskat and
S. Wolff in their 2001 publication Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups, stresses
mutual trust among members and a sense of group identity as key building blocks
for efficacy (the belief the team can perform well and more effectivelly as a team).
All of this makes your team more creative and productive.

Want to see your ad here? 
Just contact the ISAE office for details and very reasonable rates
  

Dates, program format, location and other details have been set for most of ISAE’s
2006 programs. We’ll be offering quarterly luncheons, with the first one coming up
on March 15th (see details below). Others are scheduled for June 21, September
20, and November 15. In between those luncheons, we’ll continue with quarterly
breakfast meetings for CAEs & CEOs, and present three special seminars.

The first of these seminars comes up May 16th. Ingrid Cummings, of Rubicon
Communications, will provide media training for association staff and elected
officers. In addition to providing tips on how to be an effective spokesperson, this
session will include video-taping and critique of mock news interviews.

Then in October, national membership guru, Mark Levin, CAE, will be here to help us
with “Retention Wars: The New Rules of Engagement,” based upon his latest book.

Please review the full calendar and print out a copy now and mark the dates on your
calendar. Detailed information will be sent 4-6 weeks ahead of each program.
  
    

Beware the Ides of March! However, you shouldn’t have to worry about attending the
ISAE luncheon that day -- we don’t think Brutus will be in attendance.

Dave Shatkowski, VP for Communications with the Indiana CPA Society, will be there
to outline how his association approached its effort to provide streamlined
consistency in its publications.
  
    

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has developed a new
AICPA Audit Committee Toolkit that they sell to non-profit organizations for $25.
However, their website also has free downloads of many helpful materials, including
such things as a sample RFP for CPA services, how to evaluate your auditors
engagement letter, and guidelines for evaluating an internal audit team. Also
available is a Tracking Report (Whistleblowers). Since best practices in these post-
Sarbanes-Oxley days includes adoption of a whistleblower policy, this tool can be
used by the audit committee and management to implement an appropriate policy
and process, to review any complaints received regarding internal accounting
controls or auditing matters, and to track complaints to an appropriate resolution.

A local association is looking for a partner organization who would be interested in
sharing a bookkeeper with 14 years experience. If you are looking for part-time
assistance and would like to explore this opportunity, please call 317-313-9522 or
e-mail: indysfsp@yahoo.com.

Not-for-Profit News, published by Charitable Advisors, LLC, recently polled
Indianapolis area non-profit organizations on some budget issues. This group
includes many philanthropic and arts organizations as well as associations. Here’s
what they learned:

Your average salary increase for FY2006?

Non-profit executive turnover will soon be commonplace in the nonprofit world, as
baby boomers begin to retire in large numbers. However few organizations are
prepared for change at the top. Some experts estimate that more than 80% of
nonprofits do not even have an emergency succession plan in case of illness, injury,
or unexpected departure of their chief executive or other key staff. Would your
association be ready?
  
  
    

  

David Leonards, founder of International Entertainment Bureau in 1972 and a long
time ISAE Member, was named "Associate of the Year" at the Indiana Association of
Fairs, Festivals, and Events Annual Convention on January 9, 2006.

Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity has promoted from within and named Andrew Borans as
executive director.

Desire Garza has replaced Nicole Bossung at the Omni Severin.

Toni Kensinger has joined the Hilton’s downtown staff to assist in work with
associations.

Brad Klopfenstein has been named executive director of the Indiana Licensed
Beverage Association.
  
    

Lehman Associates, a strategy, research and eBusiness firm in Minneapolis, polled
associations about satisfaction with their management software (AMS). Initial
findings suggest associations are not very satisfied with their current AMS product,
assigning an average rating of only 7.0 on a 10-point scale.

They give similar ratings to
technical support, ease of use, development direction of the
product, and doing business with the AMS company or
reseller. These associations are even less satisfied with
overall e-commerce capabilities and with their
ability to modify the product without requiring vendor
customization. Gaining greater e-commerce capabilities is
cited most frequently as a reason that associations
upgraded or installed a new AMS product in the past three years.

Interestingly, given the generally low satisfaction ratings, two-thirds say that they
are most likely to upgrade their existing software rather than change to a new
product at the next decision point. Lehman Associates credited this seeming
contradiction to a possible belief that the leading AMS products have similar
features and capabilities (54% agree, 22% disagree), coupled with a desire to avoid
the anticipated disruption and cost associated with migrating to a new product.
Associations who upgraded their AMS product in the past three years cited cost and
disruption as a major reason they did not consider moving to a new product.
  
    

If you know someone on this list, be sure to let him or her know you’ve noted their
new involvement with ISAE and that you are happy to see it. Or you can use this as
a perfect opportunity to get acquainted with someone in a related industry -- give
the new member a welcoming call. Everyone is encouraged to look for new members
at ISAE events and to help them feel at home.

Don't forget ISAE's new dues offering- $50 for each staff member once you've paid
full price for the first two members. Want more details? Contact ccaldwell@isae.org.

Learn more about ISAE at www.isae.org.