StarChapter of April: IREM Austin

If you think an effective welcome campaign to new members that sparks engagement from the very beginning is beyond your scope, think again.  We spoke with Institute of Real Estate Management, Austin chapter who explained their multi-faceted campaign.  Learn how they have targeted unengaged new & existing members with personal invitations using data collected within StarChapter.

1. What was IREM Austin’s strategy for engaging new members in the past year?

We have a multi-tiered, multi-person system for welcoming via e-mail, phone calls and at events.  Each year we have 2 luncheons and seat all the new members with past presidents and the welcoming committee to make sure we have fully engaged them.  The officers contact new members to personally invite them to volunteer for committees that are especially active.  

We have utilized StarChapter for 6 months, which has enabled us to collect good data with regards to join date and attendance/participation, then we’ll form a committee to make calls and try to give unengaged new members (and existing members) a personal invitation to a networking event.

2. Tell us about a successful event/meeting you organized last year

IREM Austin’s signature event is our Economic Forecast Forum and we typically have between 300 and 350 attendees.    The attendees are part of the general Austin real estate community and this is a great opportunity for our members and our focus on education to be highlighted.    The keynote speaker for this year’s event was a very forward thinking architect and he utilized a Virtual Reality presentation to show attendees what real estate of the future will need to offer and how this can be communicate to tenants and residents without leaving the comfort of their offices.    This event is our largest fundraiser of the year and was a success in that regard as well.

3. The IREM network is extensive. Does the board get ideas on how to improve membership value from other chapters?

IREM hosts two national conferences per year and at these conferences they facilitate meeting/networking and interaction between boards and officers around the country and on a more targeted regional level as well.  Our board typically forms more personal networking relationships with the other 6 IREM chapters in our region and on an informal basis they share information, challenges, best practices, etc. 

The staff for all of the IREM Chapters around the country have a half day education and brainstorming meeting at both conferences.     This allows us all to benefit from the successes and challenges of IREM chapters – in general and then drilled down into like sized chapter.

4. Do you have any tips/advice to share with other board volunteers?

IREM Austin is utilizing Poll Everywhere at our board meetings and luncheons to benchmark member’s opinions.  Utilizing a more interactive and high tech feature has been fun and enlightening.   We craft questions to tie into the board agenda, the luncheon topic, or the holiday – so a combination of business and pleasure.  It’s been very well received.

5. What is in store for your members this year?

We are re-vamping our Economic Forecast Forum this year to better target property management rather than real estate in general.    This undertaking is giving our seasoned members and our newer volunteers a great opportunity to collaborate.

6. How have been able to utilize StarChapter to run IREM Austin and reach its goals

Now that we have about 6 months with the website, we are able to better utilize it for communications and registrations.  Our next big undertaking will be to determine how best to make use of the reporting it provides on participation, open rates, etc.    Stay tuned!

Want to share the success story of your chapter with other board volunteers? We'd love to post it! Fill out this form to let us know.

StarChapter Success: ACF Chicagoland

Engagement has been the key to the success at American Culinary Federation Chefs and Culinary Professionals of Chicagoland, ACF Chicagoland. We spoke with Don Zajac who currently serves as their President and learned how they have been able to build relationships with their members. Their StarChapter website has been vital to building their relationships as a tool for distributing value to its members though interaction, usage, and social media. See why ACF Chicagoland couldn’t be happier that StarChapter is their partner.

1. What was ACF Chicagoland’s strategy for engaging new members in the past year?

“We look at engagement as the result of a member investing their time into our site in exchange for value. Members feel their membership has a greater value are more likely to renew. The bottom line is bulk information sent to a member does not build engagement. However, finding ways to get a member to interact, use, and take advantage of the value we offer builds our member relationship. We use our site as a tool to build that relationship.”

2. Tell us about a successful event/meeting you organized last year.

“Most recently, our chapter hosted an event, ChefConnect-Chicago. This event is a regional series throughout the country with the National event happening in Florida this summer. This conference has a great deal of information that is available for members and non-members via our site. Our site gave us a great vehicle to disseminate information on our front page and by way of the social media widgets.”

3. The ACF network is extensive. Does the board get ideas on how to improve membership value from other chapters?

“Yes, we never want to be status quo. We like to see what works for other chapters and what doesn’t, too. With the exchange of ideas, we can take from the components that work and implement them. Again, it is about engagement.”

4. What is the most valuable advice you could share with other board volunteers?

“Never be satisfied with the status quo. Be open to new ideas and don’t be afraid of pushing the envelope. Also, it’s important to work with StarChapter, to take advantage of their video tutorials.”

5. What does the board have planned for members of ACF Chicagoland next year?

“We have great multiple events planned for the year but for those events to be successful, we must continue to engage membership, including professional, associate, student and senior membership. And, we will continue to pursue non-members and converting them into members.”

6. How did StarChapter help you run ACF Chicagoland and reach its goals?

“In Chicago, we recently blended two chapters into one. StarChapter helped make the transition seamless with great tools, tech support and customer service. Not only did we blend two separate chapters, but, we also built a new chapter site. Based on our positive previous experience with StarChapter, we chose to stay with them in this transition. We love the new site and couldn’t be happier StarChapter was our partner making it happen.”

Want to share the success story of your chapter with other board volunteers? We'd love to post it! Fill out this form to let us know.