Reach Out Locally to Make ACG Thrive

The majority of us joined ACG because friends invited us to attend a meeting to hear a speaker they thought we’d be interested in. At the meeting, we were impressed with the speaker because the slides he gave weren’t from the last road show; they were customized for our audience. The quality of the Q&A was unusual – probing questions sought responses more insightful than “last week we announced our quarterly earnings guidance” and reflected the intelligence in the room. Our takeaway: This was something above and beyond the regular information sources flooding our in-boxes and laptops. We may have recognized a number of people in the room that day and decided if they thought it was worth their time to belong, it probably made sense for us to give it a try. For the individuals we seek as members we know the fee isn’t the determining factor to join or renew. The issue is whether the networking and content are better than they can find anywhere else. Based on the survey responses we continue to receive from you and those who belong to other organizations, the deliverable at the monthly chapter meetings, our ACG Capital Connections and ACG InterGrowth is generally of high quality. We are striving to improve our product and brand, and we can do it. In certain chapters the challenge is how to tell a director we don’t have a slot for his or her CEO to speak this year – not a bad problem to have! We are working to leverage our contacts so that good content is shared. We want to let other chapters know when a good speaker is available to travel, and with your help, we hope to archive some of the best chapter speeches and share them globally on demand. We continue to work with groups that have secured the critical components and individuals to launch successful and sustainable ACG chapters, most recently, ACG Indianapolis, ACG Louisiana, ACG Memphis, ACG Calgary, and soon ACG Phoenix. We are also listening to you and proactively working to create opportunities for ACG to be more successful globally. As you would expect, these objectives take more effort and resources. We approach them cautiously, wanting the support of you, your boards and presidents so that our efforts affecting ACG as a whole are aligned with what’s important to your individual business and professional needs. Equally important, the first task we asked of our new CEO Dan Varroney was to assess every aspect of our organization. We encouraged him to talk to as many of you as he could and give us his recommendations. Over the next couple of months we’ll be reaching out to some of you for input related to your areas of professional expertise, while ACG professionals will be working to enhance the delivery of what you have told us counts. As many of us return home, refreshed by late summer escapes to the mountains or beach, my request is that you invite to your next ACG chapter event one or two of your friends who you know would be great additions. You know from the announcements how regularly people are promoted into new positions; help them locate the network that can help them address the issues new to their plate. Please also give additional thought to inviting someone you have mentored; we want our speakers and attendees to know that our audiences, like their companies, are composed of the best and the brightest. Diversity won’t happen without your effort. This isn’t about a mass mailing; rather, it’s about forwarding your email invitation to next month’s event or placing the call to make the invitation. If you succeed and the newcomers you bring to ACG are disappointed, ask them why – we want to know that as well. This isn’t about numbers, because one of our core strengths in most chapters is we’ve done a good job of limiting our membership to individuals who are actively involved in M&A and corporate growth. My sense is that in making the call, there is something in it for you. Knowing that your friend is there may get you to a meeting you might otherwise blow off. Have a great month. Peter L. Coffey ACG President Partner, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP [email protected] (c) 2005 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com