--- title: "Industry Trends: Think Toward the Future" id: "31963" type: "post" slug: "industry-trends-think-toward-the-future" published_at: "2016-02-02T19:54:58+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T15:27:15+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/02/02/industry-trends-think-toward-the-future/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/02/02/industry-trends-think-toward-the-future.md" excerpt: "Find out how to use ground-shaking industry trends to your advantage in building member engagement. Also: The American Library Association brings back a classic David Bowie poster." taxonomy_category: - "Organizational Strategy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "future" - "Innovation" - "Membership" - "Web Strategy" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Industry Trends: Think Toward the Future Even if your association’s membership numbers are steady now, you should avoid getting complacent and set your sights on what you have to do to spur growth in the future—because that’s where the real opportunity lies. That’s [according to Smooth the Path‘s Amanda Kaiser (opens in a new tab)](http://www.smooththepath.net/2016/02/01/3-levers-of-opportunity-for-associations-preparing-for-the-future/) , who offers a set of strategies that should be kept in mind when keeping an eye on the association’s future. She notes that all members have problems, and associations prove their value when the benefits and innovations they offer provide solutions. Instability in the association industry, coupled with tight budgets and constant changes brought on by new technology, creates uncertainty. “This may seem counter-intuitive but all this uncertainty gives our associations tremendous opportunity! As we think about providing great member value into the future we have three levers to pull: strategy, innovation and marketing,” Kaiser explains. [Check out her blog post (opens in a new tab)](http://www.smooththepath.net/2016/02/01/3-levers-of-opportunity-for-associations-preparing-for-the-future/) for more thoughts on the issue. ### Best Poster Ever *([Michael Sauers/Flickr (opens in a new tab)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/262047027) )* **What should you do** when one of your old marketing efforts suddenly draws massive interest again? If you’re the American Library Association, [you reprint that old David Bowie poster (opens in a new tab)](http://mentalfloss.com/article/74726/american-library-association-reissuing-david-bowies-iconic-read-poster) that everyone loves. ALA Graphics, part of the association’s publishing arm, announced last month that it would begin reprinting a poster it created in 1987 that showed David Bowie dynamically reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s *The Idiot*, a book that became associated with the iconic rock star over the years. (A decade earlier, Bowie [produced an Iggy Pop solo album (opens in a new tab)](http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-idiot-mw0000204192) with the same title.) For more than three decades, the association has created posters featuring big-name celebrities with their favorite books; Seth Myers, Common, and Rachel McAdams [are among the more recent stars to show up on the literature-advocacy artwork (opens in a new tab)](http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=158) . Bowie, who was a voracious reader, compiled a list of his 100 “must-read” books in 2013, and it’s pretty solid. [You can check it out via Entertainment Weekly (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/11/david-bowie-favorite-books) . If you want the poster, by the way, [you can buy it here (opens in a new tab)](http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11669) . ### Other Links of Note **Is your event** stuck in the ’90s? *Event Manager Blog* [has a few ways to get it out of the time warp (opens in a new tab)](http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/past-event-practices) . **In the age of social media,** it’s easy for trade secrets to spill out in tiny tweets. How do you avoid that problem? *CMSWire* contributor Lori Alcala [shares some policy strategies (opens in a new tab)](http://www.cmswire.com/social-business/how-to-keep-employees-from-tweeting-company-secrets/) . **Event Garde’s Aaron Wolowiec** recently spent some time out in the wilderness with the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education learning first-aid skills and gaining some outside-the-box professional development. [Here’s what he got out of the nature experience (opens in a new tab)](http://aaronwolowiec.com/2016/02/02/wilderness-first-aid-lessons-learned/) . (Fuse/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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