Back to the Future

One of my favorite movies is Back to the Future, or more specifically, the Back to the Future trilogy. I particularly enjoy the parallel scenes that take place in each of the movies, each in the time in which Marty McFly has travelled.

There are several of these scenes, for example, the skateboard scene in which Marty McFly uses a soapbox scooter in 1955 and a hoverboard in 2015 to escape the chase of the high school bully Biff Tanner and his grandson Griff. The two scenes take place in the same place on the town square, but different only in the year in which the scene takes place.

As I watched this scene one day, I realized that these parallel scenes reflect the history of associations, in particular, their functions over time. I researched the history of the Kansas Dental Association and found that in 1871, when the organization was in its infancy, that the core functions of the association were to provide a means of communication with its members, to educate its members, to promote the profession and to protect the public.

The difference was the means that were used to communicate these functions. In 1871, it may have been by the Pony Express and train or horse drawn carriage. As time has moved from the Old West, through the industrial revolution and now to the digital age, the means of communication has added the telephone, the post office, desktop publishing, the fax machine, and now the internet with its limitless means of communicating these functions.

I believe that now, with Web 2.0, the functions have not changed, but there is an amazing opportunity to dramatically increase the availability of this interaction with your members and the public. As leaders of your association, I believe you have an obligation to your members to continue to use the tools the internet offers to provide the best information to your members.