On select projects, David Beacom collaborates with Jack McHugh, of McHugh Publishing Guides and Consulting. Jack is a long-time veteran of the publishing business and an experienced association executive.
See McHugh’s interview full interview of Beacom here:Success in Association Publishing: An Interview with David Beacom
A few excerpts from that interview:
How do you get buy-in from other key staff members?
It helps that I’ve been amazingly lucky in the individuals I got to work with. But also, happily, I had a successful publishing career prior to NSTA—and at places with a lot of brand-name luster. That helped immensely at the beginning. Yet I think what helped even more—then and more recently—was candor and forcefulness on my part. That is, I tell the truth—even bad news—and there is, obviously, no better way to build trust. Moreover, I am confident in my knowledge of my funny little niche of the industry, and of general publishing verities. Example: I cannot tell you how many times I was forced to explain to my colleagues that we had no hopes of building a book business unless we gave away a lot of books. They never quite believed me, but I insisted that that’s the way the publishing business works—and gave away a lot of books. Eventually, we started selling a lot, too.
How do you tap the creativity of your staff? Stimulate the flow of new ideas? Encourage new initiatives? Recognize those who contribute new initiatives?
Above all, I know how to say “Thank you.” Also, I share credit as widely and explicitly as possible. And I make sure we survey our readers a lot, so there’s a steady flow of new and practical ideas for us to consider. Lastly, I’m pretty much willing to try anything if somebody is willing to take on the work.
What are your recommendations for being politically successful in relationships with your volunteer members serving in governance and on various NSTA committees?
I am entirely available to any inquiry from governance, and respond—even with a mere “I’ll check and get back to you”—the same day in better than 95% of the cases. Moreover, every member of elected governance receives each journal and every book we publish during their term, and I keep particularly effective evangelists for NSTA content on my “comp list” long after they leave office (virtually perpetually). I also strive to place our publishing program in a wider industry context in my reporting—so that there’s a generally high level of sharing of industry intelligence, including trends. And when there’s bad news, I share it fully and as soon as possible. Lastly, whenever we’re having a good year, I make very clear that “this won’t last forever—it can’t.” I doubt that those warnings are always clearly heard, but they are persistently and insistently delivered.