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Hosting fun networking and developmental events is our bread and butter, and we aim to continue improving and adapting the events and benefits for our members.
As the board prepared for our fall event plans, we continued YPWA's annual membership survey to gauge member feedback that could spur maintenance, changes, or updates to consider going into our 22-23 season. We appreciate all members that took the time to review and respond thoughtfully to our questions! Here are some 21-22 highlights from our survey:
Top Three Membership Benefits
Access to networking events with area women
Events fully or partially covered by membership status
Updates on local events happening in the Worcester area
Top Three Events from 22-23
Personal Finance: Dos and Donuts: Attendees learned more about getting started managing their retirement plans, investing, and learning more about the barriers women face when managing their finances.
Headshot Happy Hour: We had our wonderful board member and avid photographer, Kaylah Wicks, offer professional headshots, and attendees could practice their elevator pitch and other interview-style questions.
Tie for third - Kickoff, Mid-Season, and End of Season events: These were the most significant networking-focused events we hosted.
We also asked what members would like to experience or improve in 22-23. Here are a few that the board has already taken into consideration:
Event notification reminders to come earlier and often: The board worked diligently to have nearly all fall event details confirmed by early September. Our event calendar is visible here, and events are searchable on Facebook and Eventbrite. Our monthly newsletter will always offer a reminder of our upcoming events. Our goal is to continue this throughout the season with plans to release our spring event dates within the next few weeks.
Members are interested in working with board members: Our Membership form (the google form from your sign-up) now offers the option for members to let us know how they envision being involved (or if being a member is a better fit). We've already had some volunteer opportunities, and there will be more!
Experimental/hands-on & social/networking events were rated as surveyors' most valuable: We are a networking association, so highly ranked social and networking events just make sense. However, how we organize our developmental events matters. The board's fall event proposals incorporated an actionable aspect to most events, from networking prompt to crafting a candle to take home!
Didn't get a chance to share your feedback? We have a few options during the season for our members and event attendees:
Take our Demographic Survey: Also new, we've created an anonymous survey to understand the makeup of our membership base this season. The information we gather will help design our future events and member benefits.
Email/talk to us! Let us know if you have feedback that we should know about, we'd like to understand and learn from our members.
Be on the look out for other surveys this season and a new membership survey towards the end of our 22-23 season!