By Robert B. Hunter, FAICP
APA Region III Director
Executive Director of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, Tampa
|
|
By Robert B. Hunter, FAICP APA Region III Director |
|
Executive Director of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, Tampa |
|
|
|
|
|
MARKETING APA Have you ever thought about why you joined the American Planning Association? Probably so! And, that’s at least once a year, when you receive your annual membership invoice. I suggest you step back and think seriously about the role/purpose of APA from a much broader perspective. While APA was a consolidation of the AIP and ASPO in the late seventies, I think the role/purpose has evolved more so over the past three decades as has the profession of planning. The national American Planning Association, with the state chapters, is organized to serve the “professional” planner; however, I believe that the PURPOSE of APA has been evolving over the years. We, of course, have the American Institute of Certified Planners, as an institute of APA, and it certainly services the “professional” planner, provides a code of ethics, along with codes of conduct, etc. The purpose of this article is to suggest a broader context for the national APA. Yes, we are serving the “professional” planner. But if one was to review the multitude of “divisions” within the organization and the diverseness of members, I suggest, for your consideration, that APA is much broader than originally intended. we need to market ourselves aggressively to the broader context. We are missing an opportunity to bring into the “planning” family the elected/appointed officials that interface with planning every day in their public roles. Similarly, all of us work with citizens advisory committees, civic activists, and special interest groups (that includes the development community). We, as individual members of APA, need to encourage – actively market – the APA and what it stands for (along with AICP) to all of our elected officials and our appointed officials, including planning commissioners, zoning commissioners, citizen advisory committee members, and the special interest groups that we interface with daily. While we are approximately 35,000 strong, we have remained relatively static with that membership. I suggest that we could grow APA via marketing APA to the above mentioned potential members to not “just grow” the membership but to also seize upon an opportunity to educate and inform. Here’s our chance to tell them about planning, what it stands for, and our issues and priorities which does include beyond servicing the professional planner, the subjects of inclusion, affordable housing, cost of growth, fiscal responsibility, model programs, ordinances, better cities, communities, etc. I put forth the idea that actively pursuing the elected/appointed officials, citizens, and media into our membership will benefit the purpose of APA and its “professional” planner in the long term by exposure, education, networking, familiarity, and cross-pollination. It is time to market APA aggressively so that elected/appointed officials, citizens, and the media begin to think of the APA as a source for standards of community growth, quality of life issues, design standards, minimum/maximum standards, fairness, and due process. Just some ideas for you to think about. Contact me at execdir@plancom.org. Bob
Hunter
Hopefully, you have noticed many improvements to APA’s products and services this last year, and quite a few initiatives are on the horizon. First, the obvious. Your January and February issues of Planning Magazine have sported new covers. But the changes are more than "cover deep." During the last year, features about APA and AICP have been moved to the web (www.planning.org), freeing up more pages per issue for feature stories. Consultant calling cards now appear in every other issue. Together, these changes have added 90 pages for new articles—about 20-25 per year. This allows Planning to better serve our diverse, growing membership, 33,000 strong. This past summer saw the debut of interact, our new monthly e-newsletter. APA's national office must have your current e-mail address for you to receive interact, so if you have not done so, please update your member record on the web, adding your current email address. Remember, you’re the only one who can update your record—that preserves the confidentiality of your record—so e-mail addresses that you may have provided to the Chapter can’t be used by National. So don’t miss this new member benefit and service. Meanwhile, our web site has been completely redesigned with many new, easy-to-use functions added. Check it often, as changes occur daily. RFQs and RFPs can now be posted for free, and consultants are notified by e-mail of new postings. Our jobs and careers offerings have also been expanded. Conference registration is now available on-line and will soon be expanded to include Chapter conferences as well. Your colleagues can now join APA through on-line sign-up, and book purchases will soon be available on-line. In fact, original new books continue to be published by APA. Jonathan Barnett’s Redesigning Cities and Gene Bunnell’s Making Places Special are our latest. The Research Department has published the Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook, 2002 Edition, and it is available free, on-line or for purchase in its CD and print versions. Syndicated columnist Neal Pearce has called it "a gift to the nation." On the advocacy front, APA’s Amicus brief in the Tahoe case was referenced by the Supreme Court in its decision—the most favorable decision for planning in 15 years. Our new Legislative and Policy Conference debuts in Washington D.C., May 11-13. Let’s assure a good representation from each state and community. Another e-newsletter, "From Washington" is required reading for anyone trying to keep up with national initiatives that affect local planning, and there are many. Go to the web for details, and while there, check your member record and that e-mail address. Next month will see the debut of AICP’s "Practicing Planner," a 16 page all digital magazine that will incorporate the Casebook. The Board has also been having conversations about growth, and our targeted efforts last year resulted in an increase of students and planning board members and an increase of 2,000 members—our first increase in several years. (We also need to focus on elected/appointed officials, neighborhood/community leaders, associated professions, etc.) This year’s budget deficits will challenge us to hold the gains made and build on them. We have just completed a scientific survey of the membership, only the third in APA’s 25 year history. Board and staff are beginning to use the results. One very interesting finding: members who are engaged in Chapter activities are more likely to value National services, while members who take advantage of national conferences and workshops are more likely than others to highly value Chapters. We’re all in this together, and improvements will continue as the membership participates, making APA better for all. Other initiatives underway are public relations/targeted marketing and more services provided directly to Chapters. I wish our members the best in these challenging times. Let me know how your board can serve you better by contacting me at execdir@plancom.org or check-out www.hunterapaboard.org. Bob
Hunter
Robert
B. Hunter, FAICP
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Conference of Mayors Addresses Role of Tourism in Metro Economies
|
|
|
|
^ top |
|
