The Howard Stern Effect: IACCM attendees either loved us or hated us . . . likely for the same reason

Posted on May 23, 2016

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This morning Kelly Barner and I received the feedback from those who attended our IACCM webinar last week.

The webinar, which was highly interactive, was based on three of the more pressing questions we had raised in our book Procurement At A Crossroads.

Here are the results:

IACCM Webinar2

 

IACCM Webinar2A

From my perspective, these are great responses because there is no real middle ground . . . attendees either loved us (and what we had to say), or hated us (and what we had to say).

This reminded me of the Howard Stern movie, and in particular the following dialogue:

Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for – are you ready for this? – an hour and twenty minutes.

Show Producer: How can that be?

Researcher: Answer most commonly given? “I want to see what he’ll say next.”

Show Producer: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?

Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.

Show Producer: But… if they hate him, why do they listen?

Researcher: Most common answer? “I want to see what he’ll say next.”

IACCM’s CEO Tim Cummins once told me that his membership’s  involvement with the association is as follows; “5% are actively involved, 15% are moderately involved, and 80% are disconnected and not involved at all.” (Note: Based on research, the same percentage breakdown applies to most associations.)

80% are disconnected and not involved!!!

The fact is our profession and in particular the professionals in it, need to be shaken up from a lingering lethargy of ambivalence, regarding what we do and our role within the organization. This includes gaining a true understanding of our impact, and a desire to really make a difference.

This is why inspiring emotions of love or hate are so important, because at least they demonstrate a pulse and a true interest, since the expression of either emotion reflects involvement over apathy.

You can access the recording and corresponding slides through the following link . . . and yes, it is worth the price of admission: https://www2.iaccm.com/resources/?id=9272&src=ProcurementProfessional

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Posted in: Commentary