Thank You for Giving Us Your Valuable Input!
This past fall more than 150 of you answered our chapter survey, giving the Board of Directors a lot of good information to use in planning our activities and programs for the coming year.
Here is a brief summary of the results along with actions planned to address many of your comments, as appropriate:
Roundtables, APMP-NCA Annual Conference and Proposal Basics Boot Camp
The Roundtables, APMP-NCA Annual Conference and the Proposal Basics Boot Camp got high marks for the most part. Since it premiered in 2008, many people were not yet familiar with Boot Camp. We hope to increase awareness in 2009 as the “go to” place for entry level proposal people. We are also addressing the issue of limited capacity at the current APMP-NCA Annual Conference facility, and are considering alternatives for 2010 that may give us the option of adding breakout sessions and/or tracks, as some of you requested.
Some comments centered on programs not delivering on the content promised in the promotional material. We are stepping up our coordination with presenters to make sure actual content matches what we advertise. Others mentioned the availability of vegetarian meals. The new registration template now asks each registrant to select the regular menu entrée or a vegetarian alternative.
Job Bank
About half of all respondents were not familiar with the Job Bank. And those who were expressed disappointment with it because it included so few jobs. The Board agreed to step up our promotion of the Job Bank to large employers in the coming year to make it a more valuable service to our members.
Executive Summary Newsletter
More than 75% of respondents like the newsletter, with the following content rated in order of value to the reader: educational content, program information, President’s message, and chapter news.
Corporate Partner Program
This program had the lowest level of awareness (above 60%), which tells us there is potential to engage additional Corporate Partners and give them more visibility among our members. One way being considered is involving them in membership recruitment and event promotion activities.
Web Site
The context of many web site comments indicated that people were talking about the APMP national web site instead of ours! Other comments that we’ve already acted upon include: keeping the “What’s New” content current, reserving valuable content for members only, and improving some navigational features.
Committee Participation
More than 60% of respondents were not aware that there were opportunities to join chapter committees! We have already stepped up our recruitment of volunteers with a series of broadcasts since the survey was launched, and are considering a more prominent volunteer solicitation feature on the web site in the future.
On More Networking Opportunities
Close to 60% of respondents would like to see us offer more opportunities for networking. Suggestions ran the gamut of purely social “happy hour” type events—to more structured education programs, offered a various times of the day or evening. The Board addressed this issue during a special caucus to brainstorm a plan of action. The result: a series of diverse experimental networking events will be held throughout 2009 to see what works best. Watch your email for details as these programs take shape.
On improving networking at current Roundtable events, there are plans to color code badges so that new members and “first time” attendees are more easily recognized, and relocate the bar away from the registration area to make it easier to mingle with people.
On the “Other Programs” Wish List
There were some good suggestions for topics and types of events that overlapped with comments in other sections of the survey which will be considered along with them.
Issues and Challenges Facing Proposal Professionals
Just about all respondents cited their top three issues—giving us almost 500 “pain points” to digest and consider for article and presentation topics! Our newsletter and programs committee are carefully considering all of them as they plan their content for 2009.
Complete Survey Results
Look for complete survey results posted on our web site in the Body of Knowledge section, reserved for APMP members.
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