Race for Relevance provides a no-nonsense look at today's realities and how associations operate and what they need to do to remain relevant in the future. Based on more than 40 years of combined experience working with more than 1,000 organizations, the authors examine 5 key areas where the traditional approach that organizations have taken in the past needs to be altered. The 5 key areas of change are: Overhaul the governance model and committee operations (and get the right people focused on the right things). Empower the CEO and leverage staff expertise. Zero in on your member market. Rationalize programs and services--and focus where you can have an effect. Get the supporting technology framework right. The book includes worksheets, checklists, and case studies all geared towards helping association leaders--staff and volunteers alike--to kick off the thought-provoking discussions that are generally at the forefront of change, be prepared for those fighting for the status quo, and to implement change without sacrificing your influence. Order a copy today for all of your association leaders and start your drive to thrive.

Help move your organization to greater discipline, focus, and value Association leaders must be disciplined strategists, focusing the organizations they serve on value they can deliver and structuring accordingly to compete in the "new normal." Road to Relevance is the follow-up and complementary companion to the bestselling Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations, which identified six challenges that forever changed the association environment and five needed changes. Authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, provide real insight into how to adapt the strategies of Road to Relevance to your organization's circumstances. Clearly explaining the five key strategies, the authors show you how to: Identify strengths that deserve a concentration of resources Achieve a coordinated product and service portfolio Root out marginal or underperforming activities that are negatively impacting your organization Case studies, adaptable examples, and provocative questions help you use the insights from Road to Relevance to lead your organization to an ever-more-valued, sustainable, and relevant future.

Help move your organization to greater discipline, focus, and value Association leaders must be disciplined strategists, focusing the organizations they serve on value they can deliver and structuring accordingly to compete in the "new normal." Road to Relevance is the follow-up and complementary companion to the bestselling Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations, which identified six challenges that forever changed the association environment and five needed changes. Authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, provide real insight into how to adapt the strategies of Road to Relevance to your organization's circumstances. Clearly explaining the five key strategies, the authors show you how to: Identify strengths that deserve a concentration of resources Achieve a coordinated product and service portfolio Root out marginal or underperforming activities that are negatively impacting your organization Case studies, adaptable examples, and provocative questions help you use the insights from Road to Relevance to lead your organization to an ever-more-valued, sustainable, and relevant future.

Explores the current context, role, and challenges of post-secondary education and presents options for promising pathways forward. The post-secondary educational system has undergone dramatic changes and experienced immense stress in the past two decades. Once regarded as the logical next step toward career opportunities and financial security, higher education is a subject of growing uncertainty for millions of people across the United States. It is more common than ever to question the return on investment, skyrocketing cost, and student debt burden of going to college. Prospective students, and many employers, increasingly view attending institutions of higher learning as inadequate preparation for entering the 21st century workforce. High-profile scandals—financial impropriety, sexual abuse, restrictions of free speech, among others—have further eroded public trust. In response to these and other challenges, leading voices are demanding strengthened accountability and measurable change. Higher Education's Road to Relevance illustrates why change is needed in post-secondary education and offers practical solutions to pressing concerns. The authors, internationally recognized experts in college-level teaching and learning innovation, draw heavily from contemporary research to provide an integrative approach for post-secondary faculty, staff, and administrators of all levels. This timely book helps readers identify the need for leadership in developing new networks and ecosystems of learning and workforce development. This valuable book will help readers: Understand the forces driving change in higher education Develop multiple pathways to create and credential self-directed learners Promote access to flexible, cost-effective, and relevant learning Adapt structures and pedagogies to address issues and overcome challenges Use an inclusive approach that extends to employers, K-12 educators, post-secondary educators, and policy-makers, among others Higher Education's Road to Relevance is a much-needed resource for college and university administrators, academic researchers, instructors and other faculty, and staff who support and interact with students.

Branding expert Tim Manners says that marketers should give up the flashy practices and group- think of the last 50 years - the demographics- driven strategies, fashion-obsessed images and old-fashioned advertising - and focus on what today's consumers care about. Manners argues that some once-powerful companies are in trouble because they've lost their relevance. Drawing on scores of examples including Tesco and Virgin Megastores and interviews with many of the world's top marketers, Manners defines the key principles of relevant brands.

Your Value Proposition is not your Elevator Pitch, Positioning Statement, or Unique Selling Proposition. Your Value Proposition is the sum total of all the value you bring to your prospects, clients, strategic partners, and even your employees. Your Value Proposition is the foundation of your business. No value proposition = No business! In today's world of marketing-message overload, the most effective way to grab someone's attention is through radically relevant and critically compelling messaging. Communicating a relevant and compelling value proposition has always been a critical part of winning new business. And your overwhelmed prospects and clients need and even expect your value proposition to be bullseye relevant and continually compelling. In Radical Relevance, Hall of Fame marketer and speaker Bill Cates, lays out your complete road map to discover, formulate, and communicate your value proposition in a way that will be irresistible to just the right prospects, compel them to follow your recommendations, and repel prospects who aren't a perfect fit. Remember: if you try to appeal to everyone, you run the risk of appealing to no one.It's time to take a stand with your value!It's time to get Radically Relevant!

Branding guru Aaker shows how to eliminate the competition and become the lead brand in your market This ground-breaking book defines the concept of brand relevance using dozens of case studies-Prius, Whole Foods, Westin, iPad and more-and explains how brand relevance drives market dynamics, which generates opportunities for your brand and threats for the competition. Aaker reveals how these companies have made other brands in their categories irrelevant. Key points: When managing a new category of product, treat it as if it were a brand; By failing to produce what customers want or losing momentum and visibility, your brand becomes irrelevant; and create barriers to competitors by supporting innovation at every level of the organization. Using dozens of case studies, shows how to create or dominate new categories or subcategories, making competitors irrelevant Shows how to manage the new category or subcategory as if it were a brand and how to create barriers to competitors Describes the threat of becoming irrelevant by failing to make what customer are buying or losing energy David Aaker, the author of four brand books, has been called the father of branding This book offers insight for creating and/or owning a new business arena. Instead of being the best, the goal is to be the only brand around-making competitors irrelevant.