Robbie Thompson, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Professional Liability Underwriting Society, joined PLUS in 2015, having spent most of his career in association management. Most recently, he was president and CEO of the Bismarck, North Dakota-based Credit Union Association of the Dakotas, an advocacy-based trade association for credit unions in North and South Dakota. He discussed his plans for PLUS with Business Insurance Senior Editor Judy Greenwald. Edited excerpts follow.

Q: What are your plans for PLUS?

A: We have to constantly evolve and change, yet respect our history. Our plan is to continue the great work that's being done at the conferences and our education offerings. We're looking to increase our member engagement and ensure that all members know what PLUS has to offer and the value of PLUS.

Also, we look to continue our efforts to expand globally and do that in a defined and smart way. It's an important long-term strategy, and this year we are looking for how we can better utilize our technology to deliver education.

Q: Could you expand on that?

A: I think that there's an incredible amount of competition in the education marketplace. PLUS has created an outstanding curriculum with its Registered Professional Liability Underwriter Program. We need to find a way to get it into the hands of our members.

In short, our objectives are to increase member knowledge of the value PLUS provides; to engage our members and to create more opportunities for them to be involved in PLUS; to continue our global efforts; to enhance our education offerings through the use of our existing technology; to maintain the high standards and excellence of our events; and to advance our diversity inclusion, our initiatives through our Diversity Leadership and Mentoring Program.

Q: You've discussed the idea of an association “creating experiences.” Could you explain that?

A: An important part of an association, especially for an association that is focused so heavily on networking, is that people want more than just to learn a few things or meet a few people.

They want an event to be something they remember, and I think PLUS has done a good job of that. And we want to do an even better job in the future, making sure we have outstanding events where people enjoy and get a lot of value out of being there and meet people who are friends for life.

Q: Was this why at your recent PLUS directors and officers liability symposium you increased the break time between sessions to half an hour?

A: PLUS is about education and networking, and the networking is a very, very important part and component, and we want to make sure we are able to create as many opportunities for people to network as possible.

Q: What do you see as the challenges facing PLUS?

A: I think that the challenge for PLUS going forward is that we have members with very diverse needs who are in different stages of their careers, that work for different types of companies, that have different positions; and we're looking to use data analytics and making sure that we're getting the information to the people that they want and need.

A couple of things that I found that are really great here, compared with some other associations, is how volunteer-driven the association is. I think that's a testament to the strength of the organization — very passionate, longtime members who do a lot to support PLUS in the industry.

There's no greater need for PLUS in the past 30 years than there is today, especially for the younger and new professionals in the industry because of their need to continue to sharpen their skills and network extensively.