New Blog On Association Leadership That You Really Shouldn’t Miss

I am pretty excited that the executive director of my previous association, Steven Davis, CAE, now has a leadership blog.
Steven is a really cool guy and a great leader himself. He was inspiring to work under and is a true association professional. I would have to say his influence is one of the reasons I [...]

I’m a Blog Slacker

Oh, I’ve been such a blog slacker the past few weeks and I think the holidays coming up won’t improve things much. I really need to make sure I set aside time to write more often. Not just while I am trying not to burn dinner (AKA writing while cooking).
I am still adjusting to working [...]

Good News and Bad News

I have good news! An association hired me as their new communications manager!
Since I earned my CAE, I’ve been job hunting (looking for a position that could offer career growth). My current association is wonderful and I love the members and staff—but with the current structure there is limited growth potential. Not only is this [...]

CAE Study Tip: Form a Study Group

Overall I think a CAE study group is a good thing. My study group only had three people in it and we met weekly in a Starbucks mainly to review what read. We found sitting for a few hours and talking about things worked great. And knowing that I had other people to “report to” [...]

CAE Study Tip: Write, Wiki, Whatever

Write out what you learn while studying for the CAE exam. Like talking out loud, this also helps cement the ideas in your head.  I guess it opens up another part of your brain to the information.
I made flashcards for myself with key concepts on them. I never actually went back and studied what I [...]

CAE Study Tip: Talk to the Dog

My dogs helped me with the CAE exam.
No, they aren’t like Doctor Who’s K-9 or anything, but they did hear me out.  What I did was talk out loud to them about concepts I found confusing. This helped me think though subjects and topics. For example, I once sat down on the floor and explained [...]

CAE Study Tips: Attend the Immersion Course and Read

Probably the single best thing I did to prepare for the CAE was attend the ASAE CAE immersion course that I mentioned in a previous post.  This course is not only full of information on all the domains tested in the exam, but it’s also chocked full of study tip, test taking tips, and other people [...]

CAE Study Tips: Read Ben’s Blog

I just read a comment to my first blog post from someone who hopes to take the CAE exam in a couple of years. I wish him the best.  I also had a comment on that same post from Ben Martin, CAE thanking me for linking to his website.  Those two comments, combined with upcoming ASAE [...]

Staying Sharp

I think one of the most challenging things for me as an association professional serving in the role of staff specialist is that it’s very hard to stay sharp when it comes to the knowledge I gained earning my CAE. My day-to-day job is pretty focused and I don’t often get to step back and look [...]

Welcome to My Blog

I just got back from the ASAE annual conference and am inspired to start a blog about my professional career and experience. It just sounds like a fun thing to do.
First, a little background about myself. I am an association professional with six years of experience. This past year I earned my CAE (certified association [...]