Message From The Chair 

On Monday, May 15, IMC USA elected Officers and new Directors at the Annual Meeting of the Institute held in Chicago, IL.

I thank all our members for re-electing me as Chair & CEO as well as re-electing Dennis Schumaker as Treasurer. Jennifer Beever, Shathi Govender, Al Sagarese, and John Tracy were elected as our newest Directors. During the board meeting immediately following the Annual Meeting, Jennifer Beever was elected Vice President of Marketing, Loraine Huchler was elected Vice President of Professional Learning, and Gregory Brooks was elected Secretary. Please join me in thanking each for their willingness to serve in these critical roles.

We held a special congratulatory program at the beginning of the Annual Meeting recognizing ICMCI as it celebrates 30 years. Thirteen of the original individuals that helped establish ICMCI were IMC USA leaders. We also held a memorial for John Roethle, who was one of the thirteen. John passed away a few days before the meeting. Here are two of the PowerPoint slides used during this part of the meeting.

A review of 2016 was also provided during the Annual Meeting as well as an overview of 2017 plans and accomplishments to date. 

Here are a few of the more memorable 2016 & 2017 to date successes as well as actions you can take to learn more and increase your involvement as a member of IMC USA.

C2M Live!:

• C2M Live!, IMC USA's regular online webinar discussion program, continued to grow with record attendance levels throughout 2016 and thus far in 2017. Some of our topics attracted over 70 attendees. If you are not yet on our mailing list, sign up to receive C2M Live program invitations by creating a Guest Membership here
• IMC USA offered a special C2M Live! program, Become a Conference Commando, on May 4. The program was provided complimentary to all who registered including non-members. There were 79 registered with approximately half being non-members.  Watch the archived program here

Special Boot Camp: When Does Client Acquisition Get Easy? 

• We will offer the first ever Summer Boot Camp which will run from June 9 through June 30, 2017. This is a four-session program that was developed based on feedback from an earlier C2M Live! session. Participation is limited to 12. A link to this program can be found here.

Expanded Social Media: 

• The IMC USA Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts were expanded in 2016 and 2017. A new Instagram account was launched in 1Q2017 by Young Professional member Charles Nunnally.
• These efforts resulted in an increase of IMC USA followers online and increased awareness about IMC USA's membership benefits, conference, Academy programs, and C2M Live!. 
• The Institute now has a larger footprint on our LinkedIn group with more conversations and comments. Please join the discussion here

The Academy: 

• The Academy continued to improve its content and performance through 1Q2017 with significant increases in participation. It is now consistently operating in the black. 
• Archived sessions are available on the website. The reclassification of the archived offerings and the addition of stronger search options should be completed in July. This project will make it much easier to identify and locate past programs for download.

Mentoring Program: 

• The Mentoring Program is in the final stages of refinement under the leadership of Parag Ambardekar. The complete program should be available to all by the end of August.
• Parag is working with the Conference Committee to offer one-on-one mentoring events at the 2017 Conference in addition to the chapter mentoring programs.
• If you are interested in being a mentor or signing up to be mentored (both entry level and experienced consultants can benefit from mentorship!) please email Noelle Campany,  noelle@imcusa.org. 

New Thought Leadership Website: 

• IMC USA has created a new Thought Leadership Website, Consulting 2.0, to help Business to Business (B2B) consultants attract new clients and grow successful practices. 
• This presents continuing opportunities for our members to contribute thought leadership articles in the following areas.
  • Marketing
  • Selling
  • Relationships
  • Buyer Insights
  • Management
  • Resources
• Editorial guidelines and submission information can be found here 
• Additional questions can be addressed to our Vice President of Professional Learning, Loraine Huchler, at  huchler@imcusa.org or 609-896-4457.

Conferences: 

• The 2016 Conference was a remarkable success with a strong international contingent of consultants joining us from Bangladesh, Canada, Finland, Greece, Japan, and Jordan. 
  • Participants were excited as exemplified by the statement of one of our long-time members who wrote "this conference ranks right up with the best of the 15 conferences that I have attended". 
  • Comments, pictures, and video endorsements can be found here
• The 2017 Conference builds upon the success of 2016. Registrations are already ahead of 2016.
  • The conference is scheduled for October 20-22 at the J.W. Marrriott in Atlanta, GA.
  • The Conference Committee is led by Henry DeVries with the following members
    • Marketing Chair – Jennifer Beever CMC
    • Conference Planner – Debbie Nolan
    • Conference Planner – Noelle Campany
    • CPC Advisor – Linda Howard CMC
    • New Member Advisor – Adam Cherrill
    • Social Media Marketing – Lauralee Hites
    • Social Media Marketing – Charles Nunnally
    • Financial Advisor – Dennis Schumaker CMC
    • Presenter & Local Promotion Advisor – Mike Wittenstein CMC
  • Three month special combo Conference/Membership package ran through May 31.
  • IMC USA turns 50 years old in 2018. Our 50^th Anniversary celebration begins at the 2017 conference.
  • IMC USA Conference speakers do not present and run. They remain available to attendees for out of session questions and pictures as can be seen on the 2016 Conference Highlights. See our 2017 roster of speakers here
  • A link to the full conference agenda can be found here

Membership: 

Like many professional associations, IMC USA has experienced changes in its membership due in part to new forms of competition in online learning, information and networking opportunities. IMC USA has responded with new membership offers, new benefits, and conducted "voice of the member" research in our Reason for Being (RFB) project. Our Board of Directors and volunteer committees are now working to roll out further initiatives as a result of what we learned from the RFB research. Email our Association Executive, Noelle Campany,  noelle@imcusa.org, if you'd like to volunteer.

• New membership offerings and associated price points are well positioned to help IMC USA grow as well as maintain the portion of our membership that is nearing retirement.
  • Students - $95.00
  • Young Professional - $195.00
  • Professional -  $325.00
  • Certified -  $395.00 
  • Retired Professional - $162.50 
  • Certified Management Consultant Emeritus - $150.00
• The strong increase in member benefits and savings, coupled with the full range of membership categories makes IMC USA membership an excellent option for aspiring or more senior management consultants.
• CMC Emeritus membership grew 40% from 2015 to year to date 2017.
• CMC membership grew 26% from 2015 to year to date 2017.
• Professional and Young Professional membership declined during this same time period.
  • This is partly due to Professional members becoming certified.
  • But, we also had a net loss of professional membership.
  • The good news in this membership sector is that our newest members are quickly becoming involved, and active in the Institute.

·   Lauralee Hites joined in 2016, participated in the Leadership Summit and soon began contributing as a member of the Conference and Social Media Committees.

·   Charles Nunnally joined in 2016, participated in the Conference, and soon began contributing as a member of the Conference and Social Media Committees.

·  Shathy Govendor joined in 2016 after moving to the U.S. and was elected an IMC USA Director.

· Adam Cherrill joined in 2017 and is contributing to the Conference Committee

• During the first quarter of 2016, we finished the member endorsement videos that we started in the fourth quarter of 2015. There are now nine member videos on our website touting the benefits of IMC USA membership. Here is a direct link to that page.

2017 Marketing Program:

• New Expert Click Press Release distribution for special chapter events – contact our Association Executive, Noelle Campany,  noelle@imcusa.org, for more information.
• Website improvements are underway, including
  • Updates to improve navigation and user experience
  • Added information about the new RFB (Voice of Member) initiatives
  • Improved online community and member engagement
  • A strengthened learning platform
• Recharge IMC USA Public Relations efforts
• Focus on Content Marketing such as Thought Leadership Website
• Expand outside promotion of Academy and other programs
• Please contact Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Beever,  jenb@newincite.com, 818-347-4248, to volunteer on IMC USA's Marketing or Social Media Committees.

Reason for Being (RFB), IMC USA's Voice of The Member Project: 

This project launched in February of 2016 upon approval by the Board and was jointly sponsored by the IMC USA Marketing and Membership Committees. The RFB began as an effort to identify support changes needed among our members and the market to reset our strategic direction. It included input from a large percentage of our membership and significant face time via Zoom with representatives from all geographies (both chapter and at-large), tenures in the profession and levels of engagement within IMC USA. It continued through September with a status presentation to the Leadership Summit in October. 

Based upon the overwhelming support of IMC USA leaders from around the country, the Board of Directors approved a continuation of this effort at the end of 2016. RFB has become the foundation for the IMC USA's current strategic plan and will support the future expansion of our organization. Each IMC USA Board Director has taken specific initiative efforts in support of the continued build-out of RFB as it relates to the future direction of the Institute.  

The Reason for Being is more than a Mission Statement. It is a very carefully worded declaration of our intent as an organization. Inside our Reason for Being is a formula for the future success of IMC USA. It tells us and the rest of the world what we do, for whom, and how each will be better. A pdf overview of the program can be found here

A special thank you to Mike Wittenstein CMC, Business Designer and Customer Experience Expert at StoryMiners and member of the Georgia Chapter, who shepherded and facilitated this grassroots process with our many members that contributed and participated in the development of RFB during 2016. It has been a strong collaborative effort.

While IMC USA has made many advancements, it is and continues to be a work in progress. As we roll out the Reason for Being in 2017, we will be introducing more incremental opportunities to assist in the future building of the Institute. 

The dedication and support of our many volunteer members continues to strengthen IMC USA each day. IMC USA recently lost one of its most ardent supporters, Don Scellato. Don was excited about the RFB and was keenly interested in being a part of its success. He was an example for all of us and will be sorely missed. In case you missed the earlier notice, the IMC USA Foundation continues to accept contributions in his honor at this link 

Thank you for all that you do to make IMC USA successful.

Best regards,

Don Matheson CMC ^®

Chair & CEO IMC USA