Client Profile: Allison Kelley, CAE; Romance Writers of America

Over the next few months we will be featuring profiles on some of our Experient clients.  Clients who have joined us at e4 in the past or are joining us this year for the first time.  Take a few minutes to get to know some of your industry peers.  Great people you will have a chance to get to know better when you join us at e4.  See you there ~ Teri Tonioli

Allison Kelley, CAE

• Name: Allison Kelley, CAE
• Organization: Romance Writers of America
• Title: Executive Director
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Number of years with the organization: 15 years
• Professional background: VP of Deposit Operations for a $2 billion, 20 branch savings bank. Past-President of Houston Society of Association Executives.
• Family life: I have been married to the same man for 30 years, we have 2 sons, ages 21 and 23. Our boys love animals, so we have opened our hearts to many. In addition to dogs, we have shared our home with guinea pigs, a hedgehog, a wonderful Chinese rat named Jade, a prairie dog, and a flying squirrel named Chewbacca. (Chewy is 16 years old and doing quite well.)
• Morning routine: Up at 6:00, take a shower, drink 2 cups of coffee, watch Good Morning America (I still miss Diane and Charlie!) then drive to work—it’s about a 3 mile drive, so it’s very nice.
• Greatest professional challenge: Currently, I am challenged by the 24/7 demand for communication. Twitter has changed the way RWA members do business. It’s hard for associations to address issues quickly and control the message when outsiders don’t have to answer to anyone but themselves.
• A proud accomplishment from the past year: Successfully defending the association’s standards against a move by several large publishers to monetize unpublished manuscripts by convincing desperate writers to finance publication of their novels.
• In a game of “Truth of Dare”, which would you pick? Truth
• Guilty Pleasure: Reading tabloids—I am too cheap to subscribe, so I read voraciously when I am getting a pedicure.
• Favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon: My favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon would be to go sailing. In reality, I am usually foraging for groceries and other supplies to keep the family going for another week.
• If you could have any super power, what would it be and why? I would want to read people’s thoughts.
• Why do you come to e4? To solidify business relationships and to learn about the latest trends in meetings.
• What would you like to talk to other clients about at e4? Crisis planning and management.