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Association Management Partners & Executive Directors (AMPED) is pleased to be named a winner of a 2015 Dane County Small Business Award (DCSBA). The award celebrates small businesses and the contributions they make to the Dane County community and economy.

"I am personally honored to be recognized with this award," says Lynda J. Patterson, FASAE, CAE, AMPED owner and CEO. "It reflects our commitment, not only to the community, but also to our employees. AMPED provides a responsible, fun and rewarding workplace environment. But it is the teamwork of all our employees that make our company and the services we provide a success."

AMPED will be honored at a breakfast program on June 4 at the Sheraton Madison Hotel along with nine other DCSABA winners.

Association Management Partners and Executive Directors (AMPED), an accredited full-service association management company (AMC) based in Madison, Wisconsin, has been selected to manage the Environmental Design Research Association Inc. (EDRA). 

AMPED's mission is to perfect operations and accelerate growth for the associations they manage, by creating a true partnership with them.

The purpose of EDRA is to advance the field of environmental design research in both its scientific and applied forms. EDRA encourages the highest quality of research related to improving environmental design methods and techniques, as well as increasing understanding of the social and behavioral aspects of relationships between people and environments. EDRA has over 500 members.

“EDRA’s AMC Search Committee was impressed by AMPED’s strong team that not only provides good support to their clients, but good support to each other. As a medium-sized firm, AMPED is able to provide all the benefits and services of a fully-accredited AMC, as well as provide personalized service to all of their clients” said Shauna Mallory-Hill, EDRA Board of Directors chair. “AMPED came to us with enthusiasm and clear ideas of how to make our organization and membership experience even better, and we cannot wait to get started,” she added.

AMPED’s Marechiel Santos-Lang has been named executive director of EDRA. Santos-Lang has experience providing leadership and program management for national and international medical, trade and scientific associations. “I am really looking forward to having Marechiel Santos-Lang as the new Executive Director of EDRA. In addition to being an experienced association management executive, she exudes a high level of professionalism, persistence and positive energy. I have no doubt that she will get the job done, no matter how difficult the task,” Mallory-Hill commented.

For more than a decade, Santos-Lang has helped organizations grow membership, raise revenue through dues and meetings, and train and manage volunteers. She has helped leaders achieve personal and group excellence. In addition to EDRA, Santos-Lang is also the associate director of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS).

“EDRA is an international, interdisciplinary organization founded by architects, landscape architects, interior designers, engineers, technologists, social scientists and facility managers committed to facilitating the creation and stewardship of environments that are responsive to human needs and that improve overall quality of life and place,” Marechiel Santos-Lang, EDRA’s new executive director, said. “What I love about association management and EDRA is that I am able align my personal values and make use of my professional experience to help advance a mission centered on people. Nothing is more rewarding than doing a job that won’t feel like one because your personal convictions meld with it. This new partnership is exciting for us. We get to work together with the EDRA leadership, volunteers and members to provide a strong association management structure, deepen member engagement and nurture organizational growth,” she added.

In addition to EDRA, AMPED’s client community also includes the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, Control System Integrators Association, National Association of Professional Allstate Agents, Society of Wetland Scientists, and Wisconsin Society of Association Executives. Volunteer leaders can focus on advancing their association and its mission with confidence, knowing that management and operations are in experienced hands. AMPED’s services include membership management, governance, financial management, website development and maintenance, conference planning and management, communications and strategic planning.

AMPED President and Owner Lynda J. Patterson, FASAE, CAE has been invited to serve on Visit Indy’s Customer Advisory Board. Among her directives as a member of the Indianapolis-focused group will be reviewing the city’s regional tourism plan which includes such topics as convention center expansion, future hotel and attraction needs, and other topics of interest to Indianapolis convention customers.

President's message from WSAE VantagePoint magazine, Winter 2015 — As we jump into 2015 with exciting new initiatives and a “changing of the guard,” I want to briefly highlight the Best of 2014 from my point of view.

Membership growth – WSAE hit 500 members! Yes, that is a great accomplishment and not only represents well the association workforce in our state, but also interest in WSAE from members outside of Wisconsin, ultimately strengthening our position for all members to engage, innovate and network among their peers. WSAE is a unique society with a unique value proposition. Our continued growth reflects our excellence in leadership and innovation, coupled with year-round opportunities for face-to-face interaction at a reasonable price – often, free!

Innovation Summit – We made people uncomfortable. Check! That was our intention with the new, interactive format and casual setting, requesting all attendees to come in their jeans – and they did! The two-day event mixed education with innovation and opportunity thinking using hands-on, team building workshops. Next year we will take those experiences into the field. More to come!

Engagement – A buzz word for all associations now in a changing world. WSAE did away with traditional committees and hierarchical volunteer options several years ago. Today members can engage online, in person, individually, in groups, for a short time or up to a three-year term. WSAE offers a very dynamic association, welcoming to all!

Up next – 2015…..
New tiers in our organizational membership – As part of our overall plan for growth, we want to make WSAE accessible and relevant for all organization staff – not just “association professionals.” Our multi-tier organizational membership encourages experts from throughout your association (marketing, sales, fund raising, finance, IT, and so on) to get involved, acquire new skills and share some of their own. This is a great benefit for organizations of all sizes, whether you have a staff of 5 or 500.

An enhanced mentoring program – This peer-to-peer initiative is an opportunity for all members to learn from and share with each other, in a variety of subject areas important to associations and our industry partners (think marketing, social media, member engagement, international growth, whatever you’d like to discuss). Unlike a traditional mentoring program, this one goes in all directions and across all levels of experience.

Attracting talent – This is a challenge we’ll all face as the workforce tightens and generations exit and enter the workforce. The “War for Talent” white paper, developed in cooperation with Executive Director, Inc., and the subsequent webinar offered in January are a catalyst toward developing resources and ideas to help you prepare for this workforce shift. Watch for more on this in 2015.

During his farewell address, Eric Lanke, CAE, CEO of the National Fluid Power Association and 2013-2014 chair of the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives (WSAE) thanked Lynda Patterson and AMPED for their leadership and forward thinking.

"I want to thank Lynda Patterson and her team at AMPED. Lynda very much shares the vision our Board has for this organization. Indeed, she has led the charge in many ways we could not, acting with energy and passion in everything she does. I remember my first volunteer experience in WSAE—leading the task force that developed the evidence-based white paper on innovation for associations. We broke a lot of rules on that project. I came in wanting to do something different, something that I hadn’t had the opportunity to do before. I already knew the topic I wanted to learn more about, but I didn’t want to wait around for an old-fashioned association to figure that out and then try to develop the content I needed. Instead, I wanted leverage that association’s network and its resources to develop my own content, targeted on my own self-assessed educational needs, and then freely share what I learned with the rest of the membership. And that’s exactly what I did. It was an exciting and, in some ways, a career-changing experience, and it would not have been possible without Lynda’s forward-thinking and experimental vision for how associations can and should work. So, Lynda, thank you."