One of the lessons of the book Borrowing Brilliance by David Cord Murray (Gotham Books, 2009) is that we can often learn the most about how to solve problems in our own work by looking to how other organizations have addressed similar problems; and moreover, we can sometimes learn most by looking furthest from our own type of organization.

So we took special interest in the lessons learned by the convention business during their economic horrors of 2009.  Linda Schwartz, senior director of marketing and communications for a Chicago-based association management company, provided the following list of “lessons learned” in the December/January issue of Association Convention and Facility Magazine:

Ms. Schwartz reports that her industry learned . . .

 #1 our core audience has not deserted us;
 #2 what to keep and what to discard;
 #3 to respect constituents’ time and budgets;
 #4 to embrace new technology;
 #5  to remain strong and relevant.

These are among the lessons we’ve been learning – and applying – in school sports as leaders, on all levels, steer the enterprise of educational athletics through turbulent times.  Evidence of these lessons should be revealed during the weeks and months ahead throughout MHSAA programming, on this website and certainly in this blog.