Young Association Professionals (YAP) yapstar.org

Hi everyone,

I am also a youngster and new to the association world. I started my family at a very young age and made the decision to be a working mom and wife and missed the college days. Although I haven't continued my education through formal schooling, I do have a lot of work experience. I started my career in AHDI after the spending a few years in the Real Estate world as a mortgage broker and Real Estate agent. I live in CA, and as you can imagine, it was time to make a change.

I currently work for the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity as the Member and Component Relations Coordinator. I work closely with volunteer leadership in leadership development and best practice sharing as well as networking. This role has really gotten me hooked to working in associations and I look forward to developing strong professional network through YAP. Please feel free to email me if you are interested in Best Practice sharing. I love to see how other national associations handle their state and local chapters or affiliates.

Hi All

I am constantly on the move, building my company in the DC metro area and overseas.

You can learn more about me on
http://www.linkedin.com/in/worldimart

thanks

Farhad

Hello!

I work at the Mass Association for Insurance Agents. How did I get here....

After graduating college I needed part time work before starting graduate school. My Aunt, who also works here, offered me some hours doing data entry. Six months later I had a full time job. A year later I obtained my Insurance License. The rest is history.

Day to day, I work in our "for-profit" corporation, which is an Insurance Agency, but I also support our non-profit side as well. Just this summer we were given the a-okay to start some social media initiatives, and I was very excited to jump in. The insurance world seems to be lagging behind in their use of social media, but the writing is on the wall...agents need to get in the game.

I may be an "insurance nerd" but I am actually fun...I swear. I'm a devoted home cook and love spending time in my kitchen testing out new vegetarian recipes. I've been vegetarian for 11 years and my husband is vegan. I got into blogging personally in 2006 just to explore the Web 2.0 Space. I am an avid reader and internet scavenger. I even considered becoming a librarian based on my love of researching...anything.

OMGOMGOMG!!  We've just hit 1000 members!!  Welcome to our 1000th member, Wendy Raulin from Delcor.  What a great opportunity to revisit this thread and see who's here.  If you haven't added "your story" here, please do!!

Whoo hoo!!

Hi, I'm Miriam.  I grew up in the association world without realizing exactly where I was.  My parents were both active leaders in the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association throughout my childhood (Mom eventually ascended to state ptresident, Dad is the current state treasurer).  So I knew all about how associations could effect positive change.  It just never occurred to me that you could make a career out of working for one!

So, how did I end up here?  I attended American University and decided to study literature, which was a passion of mine.   When I was getting ready to graduate, teaching didn't appeal, so I decided to apply for assorted jobs and find something to pay rent and such until I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up, and ended up in a sales associate position at The Advisory Board Company, a for profit company that happened to have a membership model.  Working in there exposed me to the concept of membership, which I really attached to.  So, when I decided to make a career move, I typed "member services" into the Washington Post Jobs search engine and saw a bunch of listings for associations.  I ended up getting a job as the Manager of Membership and Outreach Services at the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), where I became involved with ASAE. 

After four or so years at NACUA, I left for my current position, the Director of Membership for the United Fresh Produce Association.  My current job never has a dull moment - I manage our recruitment and retention efforts, as well as play a leadership role on our association overall sales strategy.  I also serve as a staff liaison for one of our market segment boards and manage an awards program.  I've been on the road nine times this year (including being stranded in Berlin, Germany during snowpocalypse 2010) and am gearing up for a trip to London in a few weeks.  I strangely enjoy the travel, and I love working for an association with a mission of increasing produce consumption, especially our work on childhood nutrition issues.

When I'm not at work or on the road for work, you can find me practicing yoga at Tranquil Space (if you are in DC, you MUST try at least one class) or very vocally watching the Phillies and Eagles.  You can transplant the Philadelphian to DC (15 year resident and counting), but you can't take the Philly out of the transplant.

I want to start out by saying that I really wish I knew about this before the ASAE conference in Los Angeles...it would have been nice to meet you guys in person!

My association career actually started when I was in college as a volunteer leader for the National Association for Campus Activities.  This led me to become the communications and marketing manager for NALS...the association for legal professionals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I started the Monday after I graduated from Northeastern State University here in Oklahoma and have been in the same position for over 9 years now.  I love the ability to create my own work and have full control over the marketing and communications strategies I want to implement...can't get that in the corporate world!

I enjoy graphic design and publication design and started my own consulting and design business while I was in college.  I started out working with local businesses in the college town and have grown to have over 40 clients in 20 different states working on projects ranging from logo design and development to magazine production.  You can check out my work for Letter 10 Productions...great to have a hobby that pays!

Hello All! My name is Shelby and I have been in the Association/non-profit field for 4 years now. I kinda fell into it without realizing it after serving as the VP of Membership for my college chapter of the American Marketing Association at the University of Maryland, College Park. Once I graduating with my degree in marketing, I moved back home to South Jersey to figure things out and find something in my field. While searching I worked various administrative jobs that led to a temporary data entry assignment at a local association management company. From there I was hired full time where I was exposed to the world of association management.

After working with various associations and getting to see how they impact society, I could finally say I knew what I wanted to do! Over the past 4 years, I've developed experience and a strong interest in membership marketing. In addition, I just started my own marketing business to help entrepreneurs and small businesses recruit and retain customers (www.DreamFactoryMarketing.com).

I never would have thought that I could make a career out of something I stumbled across. I really enjoy what I do and can't wait to continue growing in the association world!

As with so many others, this was an accidental career for me.  Fresh out of college I didn't have a job, or any real direction on what I wanted to do.  I lived in a small town in Virginia and there really wasn't anything there for me.  So, I took what little money I had and bought a one way ticket to California.  I moved here with $100, a bag of clothes, and my guitar.  It was either going to work or not!  

When I got here, I started looking for work through a temp agency and they placed me with my first association, the California Podiatric Medical Association.  I started there doing admin support through the temp agency, but it very quickly became apparent to me that I had found my niche.  I ended up working there for 7 years and was the Director of Membership & Tradeshows when I left.

I'm now with Aging Services of California, serving as the Director of Membership & Group Services.  I manage all of the functions of membership and member services.  I also oversee all of our insurance programs, group purchasing programs and affinity marketing programs.  I also head up the internal IT team, am staff liaison to multiple member committees, and assist with association strategic planning and implementation.  Last year I got involved with ASAE through the DELP program, and that's when I really found out what a great association community is out there and  I discovered this awesome group.  

Outside of Association stuff, my partner & I have a hilarious and very curious 3 year old little boy named Colton.  Additionally, we have 2 cats and a very active 3 legged dog.  I'm also a professional photographer.  What was just a passion turned into a side business and I have a fairly thriving portrait photography business that keeps me busy outside of the office and being a mom.  

This is a great group and one of my goals for this year is to get more involved here!

I am speaking at HSMAI Affordable Meetings 9/9/10 in DC. Is anybody going?

https://events.jspargo.com/AMN10/public/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionID=240

I'm Phil and I used to give away BUDWEISER for a living. It was the best job in the world! Everybody loved me. I managed Anhueser-Busch hospitality centers at the breweries in Florida, New Hampshire and St. Louis, where I was born and raised.

Part of my job was giving tours of the properties and hosting special events with community groups where I gave speeches about the company 3 nights a week.

I got turned on to Association Land by planning and executing all those good times with planners. It was really great to be part of gathering people for professional development and having good times together. We also hoisted a few Budweisers because Making Friends was my business..

Eventually my career took me to the Busch Family Estate in STL where I supervised operations for the original Busch Gardens, named Grant's Farm.  There I hosted lots of world class special events, had a staff of over 100 team members and managed the attraction for over 5000 guests a day. We gave away a lot of Bud there. My record was 93 half-barrels in one week.

I was always involved  in professional associations as I relocated across the country.

When I chaired committees I would share recent experiences and pass along training materials from my Fortune 500 employer. People joined my committees for their own professional development and I loved helping them grow.  Eventually I became President of the STL Attractions Association, and won some awards for involvement with MPI and the National Speakers Association.

When my corporate career ended, I built a new career by doing only the things I enjoyed from past experience.  Now I have my own business where I speak and train for associations and employers. Helping others grow and learn is what I enjoy doing most.

I am a board member for the Human Resource Association (SHRM) and belong to MPI and the STL CVB.

I like the good energy of YAP.  Maybe I'll get the chance to have some Buds with some of you!

Hi Y'all,

This is a great idea and I appreciate Maddie kicking it off.  I'm relatively new to the association world as I started two years ago doing consulting work for a large NPO in Alexandria, VA.  My company now consults NPO's on how to use the content they create (or should create) to drive membership value and in many cases increase revenue.

I really enjoy working with so many people in so many organizations who are passionate about what they do and what their organizations do for their constituents.  It was an eye-opener for me after working in businesses for over 20 years.  And I'm really enjoying getting to know the people and the industry better.

I am American by birth, Texan by the grace of God, but live now in Northern, VA. My wife and I have one 3 year old daughter who keeps us both hopping. I enjoy a lot of things including Football, fishing, golf and travelling with my family.

I look forward to meeting many of you as time goes on. Thanks for welcoming me into the YAP world :)

I'm Chris Cruz and I'm fairly new to the association world. I was just recently brought in as Social Media Coordinator of The National Stone Sand and Gravel Association.

I previously worked in the Mortgage industry(pretty glamorous huh?) as a marketing coordinator. After 2 years of working in an industry blamed for much of the recession I decided to follow my passion of Online Marketing and Social Media. I am originally from Hampton Roads, VA but moved up to DC this summer to persue a career in Online Marketing.

I am a digital native, a DJ, and a music junkie. I also run a music site called SoundCrave.net which is an aggregation of all the best music blogs. I also have a podcast on there where I mix all the latest music buzzing around the web.

I am still learning alot about associations and I look foward to learn more from everybody here and I hope to meet all the DC YAPS!