1. “I LIVE IN THE FUTURE
& HERE’S HOW IT WORKS”*
Spring 2012
Mick Fleming, President
* Nick Bilton’s new book

2. SEALs New Planning Model

3. Today’s Grand Observations
(and Gross Generalizations)
The Context
The Work
The Life

4. MEGA TRENDS – THE CONTEXT

5. Government In the Economy
 Governments (quasi) as largest
employers, customer, developers
 Selecting winners and losers through
TARP, but also every day
(green, BRAC, disasters…)
The Context

6. International Influence
 Brazilians buying Miami
 Arab spring to European spring
 Japanese retirees
 NFL & NBA Negotiations
 Global ownership & investment
The Context

7. Demographics
 Pyramids and rectangles
 Millennials issues
 Minority-Majority nation 2037
 Boomers aren’t going away
 Cruelty of migrations
 “Anglo” Chamber???
The Context

8. Impact of Recession???
 Intuition about impact may be wrong
 Data indicates remarkable stability
 Your performance better than your community’s
 The work is harder, but you figured it out
The Context

9. “It’s the [next]
economy, stupid”
 Sector transformations
 Talent specialization over “available” workers
 Wild fluctuations in markets & preferences
 Impact of complete mobile connectivity
The Context

10.  IS THERE A
“BUSINESS COMMUNITY”
ANYMORE?

11. MEGA TRENDS – THE WORK

12. Membership
 Renewal rates back to 2008 levels (84%)
 Member count not yet back to pre-recession
 Penetration down
 Dues = 55% of small CCs, but only 24% for bigs
 Average dues unchanged for 4 years
 Gross revenue per member actually up
The Work

15. Other Ops & Finance
 Huge ranges of net income and net assets
 No investment in policy or membership growth
 Boards are huge – especially with ex officios
 Vast majority of chambers are “just” chambers
The Work

19. Policy Field of Play
 Demise of civil discourse – “fundamental
divide”
 Every Issue Viewed Thru COG Lens
 Employer-Employee Relationship
 Corporate Indecision?
The Work

20. Politics & Policy
 Can you afford to play?
 Can you afford not to?
 The safety and power of coalition positions
 Read the book
 Your possible political play (and the price)
The Work

21. FAILURE
FALSE
Communications
THE LONG TAIL
Revolution

22. Communications Revolution
 Mass Personalization
 ‘SEND ALL’ button of questionable value
 Mobile EVERYTHING
 Velvet Rope Model dying???
 Social media – As a profession . . . We suck
The Work

23. How People Learn & Acquire Info
 Need it? Go get it. JIT knowledge
 Risks of the “send all” button
 Can’t assume any “clip” ever goes away
 Influencing the influentials
 Lists disguised as wisdom
 Questioning the value of in-person meetings

24. Community Advancement &
Economic Development
 Three I’s
 Three P’s –
The Work

25. MEGA TRENDS – THE LIFE

26. The Life
 The two biggest fictions in chamber work
The Life

27. The Life
 The two biggest fictions in chamber work
1. The CEO’s to-do list/calendar
2. The staffer’s job description
The Life

28. Impatience At All Levels
 Members impatient for impact
 Boards impatient with pace of progress
 Staffs impatient with lack of opportunities
 Pols impatient with slow chamber consensus
 Sponsors impatient with slow ROI
The Life

29. The Life
 Turnover rate and tenure
. . .the same in large chambers and small
PLATO’S REPUBLIC?
The Life

30. SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?
- LOOK PAST THE NEXT WHATEVER
- NIMBLEOSITY (KAPS)
- YOUNG AT HEART
- PERSONALIZE THE EXPERIENCE

31. The Legacy:
 Wherever there’s a guy . . .

32. I LIVE IN THE FUTURE &
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
Mick Fleming, President
American Chamber of Commerce Executives
mfleming@acce.org 703/998-3553