Mark Athitakis

6 days ago | associationsnow.com | Mark Athitakis

Are we back to the early days of Covid when it comes to governance? The rapid disruptions to the U.S. economy and industry regulations in 2025 have opened the question of whether associations need to be in “crisis mode” in response, and what role boards need to play. There’s some evidence that, even late last year, CEOs and boards weren’t on the same page about that.

1 week ago | associationsnow.com | Mark Athitakis

Bundling AMS product selection and implementation into a single RFP is a common practice but an expensive mistake. A product search gets you a system, but implementation determines whether that system becomes a real solution. Selecting the right association management system (AMS) is only half the battle. The other half is ensuring it works for your association, which means choosing an implementation partner who can configure, integrate, and deploy it to fit your unique needs without compromise.

1 week ago | latimes.com | Mark Athitakis

Book Review The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood By Matthew SpecktorEcco: 384 pages, $32If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. The logline for Matthew Specktor’s memoir, “The Golden Hour,” could easily imply a Hollywood tell-all. Specktor is the son of a well-connected movie agent, Fred Specktor, which meant he had run-ins with the biggest celebrities of the 1970s and ’80s.

1 week ago | associationsnow.com | Mark Athitakis

According to a new report, association members have a generally positive view of their association, particularly when it comes to professional development. Unlocking Value for Members: Perceptions and the Evolving Role of Associations, released last week by the AMC Smithbucklin, is based on a survey of 402 association members in the United States.

1 week ago | associationsnow.com | Mark Athitakis

It seems like news from the no-duh files: People trust leaders who listen to them. According to a survey released last fall by the consulting firm Zenger Folkman, listening and trust are highly correlated in the workplace: Leaders considered “poor” listeners wallowed in the 15th percentile in trust, while those “excelling” at it rocketed to the 86th percentile. That seems straightforward enough. But what, exactly, is listening? Answering that is a little trickier.