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MacMillan Reflects on AMCs Rise
Published in Association Management, March 2005
When Bill MacMillan founded Association Headquarters, Inc., in 1978, he had five employees working in a one-bedroom apartment that served as the office on behalf of four clients. Today, with 25 clients and a staff of more than 80 professionals, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey-based AH has been described as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Philadelphia region.
The International Association of Association Management Companies, Westmont, Illinois, recently honored MacMillan with the Glenn W. Bostrom Award for Service, Quality, and Excellence.
Asked why he finds AMC work so professionally rewarding, MacMillan credits several factors: “working with many industries and professions, meeting so many dynamic and interesting association volunteer leaders, and making a positive contribution within the industry or profession.”
He considers his greatest successes to be “developing and managing meaningful, lasting programs and practices for association client partners and creating a company that has such a dynamic staff of professionals and specialists to service association needs. Surrounding myself with the highest quality staff and ‘turning them loose’--learning how not to micromanage, yet being able to set the standards and vision for the company--has made all the difference.”
MacMillan believes the AMC industry has changed in several significant ways during the past 25 years:
Growth of professionalism. “Years ago, many associations viewed executive directors or their AMCs as primarily administrative; now most see them as professional partners and expect strategic as well as operational improvements and continued excellence.”
Emergence as viable management alternative. “AMCs are now recognized as a quality alternative method for staffing and managing all but the largest associations,” says MacMillan. “They’re not just for smaller associations anymore.”
Need for significant investment. “Today, the AMC business requires a much higher level of investment,” notes MacMillan, “because of the need to employ specialists in such areas as technology, public relations and marketing, finance, meeting management, and so forth.”