Newsletter - November 1999
Membership survey results
To help understand the needs of our members and identify any potential areas where WEAO could improve its services to you, the Membership Committee prepared a short survey that was distributed to all members of the association. A total of 113 responses were received, representing approximately 10% of the current membership.
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Key findings of the survey and your comments are summarized below.
Membership Breakdown
One of the most important results of the survey was the age breakdown of WEAO members. One-third of the current members are more than 50 years old and more than three-quarters of the members are over 40 years of age. A key focus area for attracting new members should be in the under age 40 category.
Almost half of the WEAO members are service providers such as consultants and equipment suppliers. Generally, for associations such as the WEAO, the users of services should outnumber the providers of services by 2:1. Survey results suggest that another focus group for new members should be industry-based representatives.
Services Most Used By Members
The mostly widely used services currently provided by WEAO included the newsletter, the annual conference and seminars. In general, most members were pleased with the quality of the services provided by WEAO. A number of improvements were recommended for existing services. The majority of the recommendations related to providing increased industrial focus. All recommendations have been submitted to WEAO Committees for consideration in the planning of future events.
Other Services to Benefit WEAO Members
A number of potential new services were recommended that could benefit existing members and attract new members. These included:
- Government liaison;
- Advocacy for the water environment;
- Technical support resources;
- Increased industrial focus; and
- Many others.
WEAO is considering all of your recommendations to improve on existing services and to develop potential new services that could better benefit its members and attract new members. We would like to extend our thanks to all those who participated in he survey.
Troy Briggs, XCG Consultants