November 1, 2016

The BSC Beat features articles on association management best practices, meeting planning, emerging technology, BSC staff news and more.


At BSC, we pride ourselves on guiding the societies we manage to bring life-saving and vital projects to fruition,to stay focused, and to achieve results. It’s how we have successfully administered and grown 20+ professional societies over the past 3 decades.

How do we do it? We’ll let you in on some of our committee management secrets.
    1. meeting-sallieWe Get To Know Our Committee Chairs: We do our due diligence by asking chairs questions about themselves and establishing a solid connection with the leadership we are working with. Learning about their management style by communicating with other staff on the team is always a must. With people’s incredibly busy schedules, we make sure to learn our client’s preferred method and frequency of communication. We also connect with their assistants to better understand their needs and to help keep the ball rolling on projects and initiatives.
    2. We Know the Numbers: Mastering an understanding of a committee’s budget is paramount to success. Budgets tell all – and we listen to assure accountability, responsibility and reporting. And, we take it a step further making sure to always integrate the fundraising component by liaising with development staff.
    3. We Recognize Our Client’s/ Committee’s Approval Mechanism: Can the Committee Chair decide to do a project on his/her own or is it necessary to seek higher approval? How high is high enough? We make sure to understand the ins and outs of each committee structure and formal bylaws so we know when to pull the trigger on a project or when to stop and seek further guidance about next steps.
    4. We Stay Ahead of Our Client’s Needs with Preparation and Reminders: Creating agendas in advance in collaboration with our chairs, setting deadlines for deliverables with frequent reminders and preparing actionable minutes are some of the ways we assure that our chairs are successful in leading their committees.