TNMBA’s Annual Meeting & Planning Session
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
On September 11 leaders from across the state met in Nashville for TNMBA’s annual planning session. Each participant took time away from work and devoted a day to our trade organization, and for that we as a group should show our admiration and appreciation to:
Kevin Blankenship; Donna Boling; Karley Bond; Katie Clements; Stacey Cook; Eric Fellows; Debbie Gadberry, CMB; Retta Gardner, CMB; Nick Huber; Aimee MacIlveen; Kim Miller; Brian Pitts; Kevin Tuscan, Tiffany Searcy Wright. Consultant Don Klein also joined us for the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to identify and explore specific actions that TNMBA could take in order to strengthen the organization and initiatives TNMBA should pursue in order to have a greater impact upon our members and the communities we serve. The group focused on three broad topics, and a number of creative and insightful ideas were discussed. Some suggestions need to be implemented in the near term, while others will need to be developed and then implemented in the coming years.
As mentioned in my installation remarks and in a special letter to members last week (link), TNMBA has to rely on experts and other professionals in order to function and carry out specific tasks on behalf of our members. TNMBA is fortunate to have support from top-tier professionals such as our lobbyist, Tony Thompson, and our communications and media consultant, Don Klein. Add to that the administrative support we receive from Confluent Strategies—and that is over 75% of our budget. Given that, the morning was spent talking about specific things we could do to increase both revenue and membership.
Revenue
Short-term action items: raise membership dues; design and offer TNMBA sponsorship levels. Longer-term action item: increase membership.
Membership
Short-term action item: form a membership committee to identify potential new members, to invite and encourage potential new members to join TNMBA, and to welcome new members. Longer-term action item: continued focus on diversity and inclusion initiative so that we get to know more about underrepresented practitioners in our markets and learn how we can work together.
TNPAC
Short-term action items: friendly competition between the five local chapters to see which one can raise the most donations in October and November; raffles at local chapter meetings; emails encouraging donations. Longer-term action item: explore having a well-known speaker and dedicate proceeds to TNPAC.
We are fortunate to have a strong group of leaders who are passionate about TNMBA. We will continue to build upon the foundation laid by those who have served in leadership roles during the first 59 years of TNMBA, and we will give our best effort to increase the impact we have upon our members as we continue to grow and expand in our 60th year—and beyond.
Respectfully,
Jeff Tucker, CMB/President