Ben Martin
Director of Communications & New Media, Virginia Association of REALTORS
Ben Martin is an association executive with ten years experience in membership, marketing, communications, chapter relations, and volunteer management, in state, national and international trade and individual membership organizations. Named one "Five to Watch" by ASAE & The Center's magazine, Associations Now, he is currently the Director of Communications & New Media for the Virginia Association of REALTORS® in Richmond. As the author of one of the association profession's most popular blogs, he is frequently asked to write and speak on association management topics. An aspiring "geek," one of Ben's proudest accomplishments is being able to say "just Google me" when people ask where they can find him on the web.
As Director of Communications & New Media, Ben leads marketing, communications, social media and other member-facing association activities. Other associations in his work history are the Virginia Society of CPAs, the Health Industry Distributors Association, and the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.
In his role as a freelance Architect of Participation at Principled Innovation LLC, Ben helps clients engage their memberships in uncommon and profound ways. From enhancing face-to-face interactions, to cultivating participation in online communities, to teaching executives about the customs and language of human relations in the virtual world, to delivering member value through social media applications like blogs, wikis and podcasts, he helps associations create the elusive architecture of participation that increases member retention.
Just like a good CAE should, Ben keeps current on the latest association industry research. He organized and led an ASAE-sponsored 16-week online community discussion of Mapping the Future of Your Association in 2006, was the first to review 7 Measures of Success when it was published, and previewed The Decision to Join for his blog readers before the study was even released.
Ben's participation in the social web dates back over ten years, when he first joined listservs and online bulletin boards. Since then, Ben has been an active participant in and leader of many virtual communities. He launched the Certified Association Executive blog in 2004 to document his road to earning the CAE designation, which was one of the first to attract a wide readership among not-for-profit executives, and it remains one of the most popular association blogs to this day. He is an early adopter of new media, including photoblogging, podcasting, videoblogging and text messaging. You can find Ben in some of the web's most popular hangouts like LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and all around the blogosphere.
His many contributions to the association community have been recognized through a number of awards from regional and national organizations. In 2003, Ben was awarded the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives' (GWSAE) Most Valuable Player award. In 2004, he launched the Certified Association Executive blog, won the Banff Scholarship for Emerging Leaders from the Center for Association Leadership, was named a GWSAE rising star, and was appointed to ASAE & The Center's Membership Section Council. He earned the CAE designation in 2005. Ben was selected in 2006 as one of two association executives to write for Acronym, ASAE & The Center's official blog, and coordinated Research in Action, a sixteen-week virtual discussion of the eight super-trends identified in Mapping the Future of Your Association, ASAE & The Center's most recent environmental scanning report. In 2007, he was appointed chair of the Virginia Society of Association Executives' CAE Committee, named vice-chair of ASAE & The Center's Membership Section council, and was published in the Fall 2007 edition of the Journal of Association Leadership.
Ben holds a Bachelor's degree in History from the University of Mary Washington. He resides in Richmond, Virginia with his wife and daughter. He enjoys reading, being in the outdoors, spending time with family and volunteering in his community. On his iPod, you'll find an eclectic assortment of podcasts and music, from bluegrass to Bon Jovi.
You can find Ben's blog at caeexam.blogspot.com, or by Googling him.