About the Company
We work with professional associations and other organizations and businesses on strategic questions, including strategic planning, strategy development, business model assessment, marketing strategy, conference assessment, and customized market research. Founder Meredith Low is a highly experienced management consultant, focused on helping organizations and companies understand how, when, and where to grow in the context of fast-changing environments.

Associations of the Future

Association strategist Meredith Low and engagement expert Amanda Kaiser teamed up for three fireside chats about the future of associations. Trailer Learn more about the Associations of the Future series in this 80-second video. Session #1 Amanda asks Meredith questions about ways that association professionals may want to start thinking about the future. This conversation …

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Flashes of the future

It’s 2021. What’s changed? Maybe not so much. In the literal sense, the days are still close to their darkest, but they are getting a tiny bit longer every day. While a lot of the news is bleak and frustrating, the care facility where my daughters have attended Girl Guides meetings for years got almost …

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Strategy matters more than ever

(Note: the Associations of the Future series will help you think strategically about the future, and all the information, including registration for a Dec. 11 LIVE webinar, is here.) Not to brag too much, but I planted bulbs in my garden this year. I know it’s a small accomplishment, but it’s the kind of thing …

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Your old normal isn’t your future

I’ve said it. You’ve said it. Sometimes wistfully, sometimes with a vague hand-wave type of gesture: “When things get back to normal…” And sure, that looks like it’s going to apply for a lot of things. Sort of. My neighbourhood already has a ton of heartbreaking “out of business” signs up. But some restaurants will …

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Five things I bet you’ve learned this year

In early April or so, I remember seeing someone on twitter suggest keeping a pandemic journal. If I’d taken that good advice, I bet I’d have a fascinating record. What I thought was possible, important, interesting, worrying, likely… and also what I didn’t think about at all (yet). I’m sure it would be illuminating to …

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Scenario planning, and other flotation devices

Like many, you may have postponed strategic discussions – at least until the end of the summer, possibly the end of the pandemic? Maybe? But I think most are coming to the realization that you can’t do that indefinitely. COVID-19 is going to be around for a while, you have decisions about staffing and events …

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Board governance – staying out of trouble

Board governance is a funny thing – at once very complex, and pretty straightforward. The ongoing situation with the WE Charity, with the flurry of stories emerging about its many oddities, certainly sounds complex. And I worry that stories like these may dissuade people from joining boards or taking on leadership roles such as chair. …

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What’s your planning timeframe?

If you’re lucky enough to get some time off during the hazy days of summer, ideally near a body of water, one of the great joys is not planning beyond the next paddle in the canoe, or the next ice cream cone. Oddly, one of the characteristics of a crisis – the opposite of the …

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Strategic opportunities for associations – right now

There is increased risk for most organizations right now – there always is in a recession alone, let alone everything else that’s going on. Yet, even now, there are strategic opportunities for associations which should not be overlooked. A chance to connect with everyone Activities have moved to the virtual realm, and seem likely to …

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You’ve (probably) got this

There’s a real-time reckoning of how governments have performed against the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even leaders who have gotten a temporary rally-around-the-leader approval boost are getting scrutinized (and rightly so). This should escalate with the tense and unimaginably complex decisions they have ahead of them – about opening up, about tamping down outbreaks, …

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