Liz Lathan, Nicole Osibodu, and Kamryn Bryce founded Club Ichi in 2023 with 12 employees. Over the past year, the online community has grown to more than 6,000 members with the merger of another organization, Event Minds Matter. Membership comes with free access to “content, conversations and connection opportunities”; Club Ichi Insider members pay $250 per year for year-round access to the Slack channel and the group’s signature trips, such as a recent charter in Croatia Barefoot business vacation on the yacht.
Judging from its rapid growth, it’s clear the community’s creators are on to something. “We saw a gap in the market,” said Lathan, whose background includes leading event marketing at top companies such as IBM and Dell. “No organization brings together senior corporate event professionals and the ecosystem of freelance workers and vendors that support them for peer-driven conversations and exciting experiences outside of the ballroom.
“Once you reach 10 years or more in your career (90% of members have 10 years of experience), you naturally want to network with other B2B event marketers. We know we have the network and expertise to provide the environment for this.
ELX: Exclusive and invitation only
Another booming industry organization is ELX (Event Leaders Exchange), which has grown 60% since the beginning of this year and currently has just over 140 members. Like Club Ichi, its target group is experienced professionals, and there is no fee to become a member.
But the similarities end there. ELX is specifically targeted at high-level corporate event leaders and has a small number of strategic partners (10%). It describes itself as “the only year-round, global, cross-industry community offering 100% peer-to-peer communication in a confidential Chatham House rules environment.”
The biggest difference is that ELX is an invitation-only community (however, senior business leaders can also apply through its website). Each applicant undergoes a screening interview with CEO Nicola Kastner (former global vice president of event marketing strategy at SAP) to ensure they meet ELX’s criteria.
While she’s clear that ELX is “not just about collecting logos,” a glance at its members reveals many Fortune 500 companies in technology, financial services and other industries. This has attracted organizations such as the Chicago and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to sponsor their in-person events.
Do industry associations care?
Annette Gregg, CEO of SITE, acknowledged that the rise of these niche communities has created challenges for industry associations, which are also competing for the same sponsorship funding.
“Sponsors are faced with more and more choices,” she said. “They can no longer sponsor just out of loyalty to the association. We need to understand their needs and deliver.
“I think associations in our field really have to think about these communities,” she added. “Many are free or low-cost, so there has to be a compelling offer for you to join the association for $500 a year. We have to make sure there is something to justify the membership fee.
This is especially attractive to young professionals, Greg said. “The new generation is more cautious. They may be thinking, ‘What’s in it for me?’ “I can attend events for free as a buyer, or attend chapter meetings as a non-member for a small fee, or I can sign up for an online community and test it out.
Drew Holmgreen, chief experience officer at MPI, believes one solution is for associations to build niche communities within their existing structures, much like MPI does through its partnerships. “We’ve seen significant increases in the LGBTQ, Latino, Asian and Black communities, much of which is driven by partnerships with organizations like the National Alliance of Black Meeting Professionals and the Association of LGBT Meeting Professionals.”
The target audience of the community
Another group attracted to no- or low-cost communities are independent planners and people in between jobs, such as Rebecca Carmody, Syncron’s former event marketing manager. “I learned more from Club Ichi than the webinars I had to attend to renew my CMP,” she said. “This group is very supportive and helpful.”
Having been unemployed for the past year, she recently redeemed airline miles and used hotel points to attend events in Baltimore. “I met everyone I talked to online and spent the day. It was great.
Planners like Sarah Gannon, director of corporate events at Mathworks, believe it’s important to have multiple memberships. Although she has joined ELX, she is a board member of the New England Chapter of PCMA and is interested in joining CEMA. “The opportunity to gain advanced expertise and insights within ELX is unparalleled and not typically available in other industry associations,” she said. “This makes it a great addition to my involvement with other organizations.”
Looking to the future, Lathan sees room for a variety of community and industry associations to coexist. “Club Ichi should not and will not replace what our association does for our industry,” she said.
“A rising tide lifts all boats, and we’re all here for the same reason – to move our profession forward.”
