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MEET THE APTA STAFF

Meet Michael Hemsley!

I retrieve data from the database for a variety of projects—everything from developing lists of people to assisting APTA’s staff in growing our committees to pulling data that help build ­audiences for our various programs.

I immerse myself in the database as much as possible to become as proficient as possible in its usage and content so I can be a good resource to colleagues who often know what outcomes they want from the data but not necessarily the “language” of the database.

I also have to have a basic familiarity with all of APTA’s programs, products and services so when a member or a prospect asks questions, I can respond myself or guide the person to the right staff member. Most calls requesting general information about APTA are routed to me so a part of what I do is talk to my colleagues about what they’re working on so I can be sure to help answer those calls.

I also help with APTA’s recruiting efforts to make sure the messages are “heard” by a wide variety of prospective members and align with prospects’ needs and interests.

Like all APTA staff, I make sure our members are satisfied and getting more than they expect from their APTA membership. Quite often, I’m the first line of contact, and my goal is to guide members or prospective members in the right direction for information and support. What we do here at APTA is extremely important to the industry, and I help serve as a gatekeeper in both directions—from members to APTA and from APTA to members. It’s definitely a collaborative effort.

At APTA conferences when I work at the registration desk, my role is twofold: to talk about membership to any nonmember who has registered for the conference and to be knowledgeable about what we do, not just at the conference but at APTA overall.

Obviously, you have a lot of interaction with ­members. Please share a ­specific time when you recently helped a member.

At the 2015 Annual Meeting, I was talking with a panelist for the “This Is APTA” session and discovered that she was very interested in behind-the-scenes conference planning. I was able to introduce her to the right APTA staff person and now that member is on the Bus and Paratransit Conference planning committee. A very engaged member became even more involved in our work in an area that really interested her. That’s a win for everyone.

At the same conference, I talked with an attendee—a woman with a one-person consultancy—and she wasn’t sure that an APTA membership was a good fit for her. I talked with her for about 10 minutes and she joined right there.

What projects have you worked on at APTA that you have taken particular pride in completing?

Two years ago, I worked on a ­project to create our Online ­Buyers Guide as an add-on to the website. I had to figure out how to extract the data from NetForum and hand it off to the vendors so they could parse the data and create the guide.

The guide has become a really ­valuable service to APTA, the industry and members—especially smaller business members who use the guide for growing their business and networking.

I also really enjoy helping select panelists for the “This Is APTA” session at our conferences, which I began doing about four years ago when Michael Melaniphy started as president and chief executive officer. One of his priorities is a commitment to featuring diverse members in this session. I enjoy helping make that happen.

How did you land at APTA?

I responded to an ad placed with the American Society of Association Executives. I’ll be at APTA nine years in January.

I have a variety of experience in nonprofit organizations, going back 25 years when I worked for the Teamsters Union at its international headquarters. Every place I’ve worked has been a nonprofit. I really appreciate their focus on mission and members.

Please share something about yourself that might surprise us.

I’m an avid bowler and a true native Washingtonian—the city itself, not suburban Maryland or ­suburban Virginia. I still live in DC and always will.

But I’m a fan of the Oakland Raiders and have been since I was 8. I was watching them play on television and saw a defensive player tackle and hold a receiver on the ground. When the ref threw a flag for holding, the defender reacted by throwing his hands in the air—just like a kid who got caught doing something he shouldn’t. As an 8-year-old boy, that really made an impression on me, because I could see myself doing the same thing. I’ve been a fan ever since.

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