Membership: How Are We Improving It?

The Membership Committee is tasked with attracting and retaining Young Professionals Connection (YPC) members. This year we’re focused on improving members’ experience, because we believe higher attraction and retention will follow. We will be working on the new member experience for the first half of the year, and as we become comfortable with our progress there we will move onto the overall membership experience.

Growing Engagement

New members help YPC grow — not just in size, but in our skills, ideas, and energy. We want to make sure that all new members have a positive first experience with YPC and they receive the information and encouragement necessary to become fully integrated with our group. The following areas are where we are updating how we do “business” in 2013. New member meetings will be improved by making them more exciting with a variety of events as well as more convenient by hosting them at many locations throughout Des Moines and on different days of the month. Additionally, we will be working to make sure that the information shared at all meetings is sufficient. The ambassador program is continuing along the same lines as last year, but we are focusing on new member meetings and happy hours. We are also sending out a survey to members three months after they join YPC asking for feedback on the good and bad of their new member experience.

For the overall membership, the focus this year is on engagement. To measure this, we will begin tracking what events people attend. This way, we can reach out to those who don’t attend events, or who don’t attend many, and find out what opportunities exist to improve their engagement. Additionally, we will be re-vamping questions in the annual survey to gain a better understanding of what our membership wants from YPC. A big initiative this year for the board is increasing the board’s engagement with the membership. This was one of the low points on our survey last year, and the board is committed to doing a better job by attending more events, talking to more people they don’t know, and listening better to what the membership wants.

Share Your Ideas

The Membership Committee would love your ideas on how we can improve the member experience! You can attend our monthly committee meetings on the 4th Mondays of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Red Monk. Otherwise, please feel free to email membership@ypcDSM.com.