Survey Says...

 
"If speaking is silver, then listening is gold".

 

 

- Turkish Proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Day EWI!

 

I hope this finds the vast majority of you well rested after a joyous Thanksgiving Day with family and looking forward to leftover turkey sandwiches today!  For those of us in Canada, we can take comfort in the fact that it is Friday and that we have the proverbial East vs. West football showdown this Sunday for the 100th Grey Cup!  Go STAMPS Go!

 

Yesterday, I sat down and reviewed the results from the recent demographic membership survey we conducted.  What a pleasure it was to see that almost 400 of our member representatives took the time to respond.  THANK YOU!  It is only through the consistent collection and study of member feedback that we will thrive as a member-driven organization.

 

First and foremost, please know that we are listening!  We sent this survey so that we establish updated demographic details for our collective marketing purposes.  I share with you these stats now so that you may start to incorporate them into your personal elevator speech about EWI.

 

Of those that responded:

• 76.5% are 46 years of age or older
• 96% female
• 88.7% had either some college, a Bachelors Degree or an Advanced Degree
• 51.6% have been involved with EWI for 8+ years
• 39% are Executive Assistants
• 41.6% make buying decisions for their firm with 17% of those purchases being $50K or more annually

These stats seem consistent with those of our overall membership demographics, so no real surprises at first glance.  Where this gets interesting is when you compare these results with the last demographic survey we did in 2009.  There are shifts occuring; some expected such as a growth of 7% in members being 46+ in age.  What is interesting is that we are showing a growth of 8% of our  responders being Executive Assistants and only a 1% growth in the number of Entrepreneurs.

 

The board will be reviewing the survey results in great detail next weekend at our board meeting, and we will report a complete summary of the results to the membership in the January Connect.  Part of that process will be to compare these survey snapshots against the entire membership database.  For example, the ratio of EA's to Entrepreneurs may be skewed as it could just be reflective of those that had sufficient time to respond. 

 

However, I can state that we can safely identify that our member representatives are comprised primarily of highly educated, mature women who hold positions of trust within their firms.

 

The second part of the survey asked for commentary from you on a variety of questions.  I thank you for your honesty and candor.  To quote Winston Churchill, "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen". 

 

To my dismay, we had one member respond as "Anonymous".  To that member, please know that I will personally try my utmost to rebuild your trust in EWI this year so that you feel comfortable in having your voice heard.

 

I was thrilled to see so many of you refer to your Executive as being a key driver in the decision for you to be a part of EWI.  That bodes well for my upcoming discussions with International Executives Association!  The overwhelming majority responded that it is the connections they have made with other members that keep you involved.  In fact, there was a 6% jump since 2009 in listing Networking/Referrals as the number one priority.  Professional Development grew by 10% and Community dropped by 15%.  We are thus on track by re-focusing our attention to our first C, "Connections"!  

 

From a marketing perspective our three C's are still labelled in the correct priority, however this has not yet filtered down to the Chapter level in our daily practices.  As I have stated before, please make Connections and recruitment are your number one priority.  20 Mile Marching!  When you better secure yourself as a strong Chapter with a healthy number of member firms and representatives, you will have the manpower to focus on Community efforts.  We must stop killing ourselves, burning out our leadership and members with so much fundraising.  It is honorable of course, but let's take care of ourselves, first and foremost.

 

There are a myriad of opportunities for us to partner with other organizations to impact literacy and the board is investigating those, with the ultimate goal of raising our profile by building our brand awareness and simultaneously easing Chapter operations.

 

On that topic and as today is "Black Friday"...I encourage you to look at some amazing, alternative gifts that can impact the lives of others.  This year, we have decided that instead of buying gifts for our siblings and adult nephews and nieces, we would make a donation in their name with Plan Canada.  For $125.00 we can provide a literacy scholarship to two girls living in poverty.  They are just one charity that have programs like this.  CARE also has a program dedicated to scholarships.  If you would like to understand the issue in greater detail, then I personally recommend you take a look at "The Girl Effect" video by the Nike Foundation.  Changing the world and the status of women all starts with a 12 year old girl. 

 

In closing today, I share with you this quote:

 

"The Connections between and among women are the most feared,

the most problematic,

and THE MOST potentially transforming force on the planet"!

 

- Adrienne Rich





 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

- Karen