Performance Marketing Alliance "Why haven’t we done this before?

Performance Marketing Alliance: "Why haven’t we done this before?
Jun 13th, 2007 in Discovery, Formation discussions, Organizational structure

As some of you industry veterans know, this is not the first time a performance marketing industry association was attempted. There have actually been many attempts over the years, and despite the best intentions and a lot of effort, they have failed for various reasons. We have taken many of these experiences to heart and have learned some things that we’re applying to this effort.

All-volunteer efforts haven’t worked

Several early attempts were led by part-time volunteer efforts. As most of you have probably experienced, when you volunteer for something that isn’t saving lives, it drops to bottom of the priority list when other pressing, income-related issues fill your time. When things start to get heated, like when there’s disagreement on plans or issues, volunteers often tend to give up rather than fight. So while there may be a lot of interest in the beginning, it can fizzle out fast.

The ability for an association to make an impact in areas like lobbying for legislation changes or getting visibility through press, often requires skills outside the membership community. It therefore requires the contracting of professionals in these areas, which thus requires funding to support. An all-volunteer organization can’t generally support al"