MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie
As counties face rising demands and a rapidly evolving digital landscape, MAC took a significant step forward in January by implementing Association Sphere, a modern, integrated software platform designed to streamline operations and enhance member engagement. This investment marks a major milestone in MAC’s use of digital tools to serve you more efficiently.
And while this transition will appear seamless to most of you, we do have an ask of our members to maximize this tool. More on that in a bit.
What does Sphere do? It puts into a single database all the information we have on you, our 1,679 “constituents and counting, and on how we serve you.
For example, Sphere is a “bulk email” platform through which we send out regular reports to you such as Legislative Update and Podcast 83.
Sphere is an events platform, through which we collect your registration details ― and payments – for our conferences, such as the upcoming Legislative Conference in April. (Don’t forget to register.)
Sphere is an “interactions” platform, meaning that each time you call or email us with a question, a comment or a suggestion, the MAC staff records the exchange and how quickly we addressed it.
Sphere is an engagement platform, through which we store which of you serve on our policy committees, what resolutions your county has passed, what the status of your county’s dues payment is and more. The platform’s analytics capabilities also give MAC new insight into member engagement — helping identify trends, measure participation and guide future programming.
Finally, Sphere is an advocacy platform, which brings me back to our ask.
As MAC expands its communication tools, member cell phone numbers have become increasingly important. Text alerts, which we can now do via Sphere, allow us to deliver urgent legislative updates and time‑sensitive information directly to the people who need it most.
In recent weeks, we have asked for commissioners’ numbers via email. We also are asking for this information via our conference registration form. If you haven’t already responded via these methods, we encourage you to share your cell number with MAC. (Just drop an email to Derek at melot@micounties.org.) Doing so will ensure we keep you connected to events and amplifies your voice in Lansing.
County governments are under increasing pressure to deliver services efficiently, often with limited resources. By modernizing its internal systems, MAC is ensuring it can provide timely, accurate and accessible support. For the commissioners and others who rely on MAC, this transition represents a new world of service.