Who Is Not in the Room That Should Be? The Question Every Association Should Be Asking

Empty conference room with vacant chairs and warm light, representing the members not in the room at an association event.

Quick answer:
The members an association is missing, the ones who cannot attend in person, are often its biggest untapped source of growth. Associations that build ways to reach these people do more than widen access. They build their future pipeline. A 2017 PCMA white paper documented that members who attended online generated more than $1 million for the organization over four years.

Key takeaways:

The most valuable question an association can ask is "Who is not in the room that should be?"
By 2030, Gen Z and Millennials will make up 74% of the global workforce, according to Deloitte.
People miss events for practical reasons: staff shortages, tight budgets, new babies, caring for aging parents.
Reaching absent members through hybrid and online formats can turn missed attendance into measurable revenue.
A simple starting point: name five people who should be in your room and are not.

What Does "Who Is Not in the Room?"™ Mean for Associations?

This is the first question I ask the associations I work with.

Who is not at your conference who should be? Not the people who skipped it. The people who could not come, and who your organization needs most. Those are the people we build for.

I have asked this question for years, and it always sticks.

Why does this matter more now?

Here is why it matters more than it ever has. According to Deloitte, by 2030 Gen Z and Millennials will make up 74% of the global workforce. A lot of them are not in your room yet.

This is the heart of what I call the Two-Horizon approach. Stay strong for the members you have now. Build for the ones arriving by 2030. You cannot do one and skip the other.

Why do members miss association events?

When I sit with executive teams, the same reasons come up for who is missing:

Staff shortages
Tight budgets
A new baby at home
Caring for an aging parent, something people often share only in private

Then there are the people who never make it at all. Professionals in the same field who would gain so much from what gets shared at these events. Sometimes the information is life-saving. But the time away is more than they can give.

Can reaching absent members actually drive revenue?

Yes. Here is what we found.

For the past 15+ years, I have worked in hybrid events. It started as a way to reach the people who could not be there in person. Then something surprised us.

At PCMA, we tracked those online members. Not just who showed up, but what they did afterward. Over four years, the people who joined us online generated more than $1 million for the organization. We published what we found in a white paper in 2017.

The audience we almost missed became the pipeline.

We went looking for a way to include people. We found a way to grow. When you build for the people who are not in the room, you are not just being kind. You are building your future.

How should an association start?

Write down five people who should be in your room and are not. That list is your next year of growth.

Who is not in your room that should be?

Frequently asked questions

What does "who is not in the room?" mean?
It is a strategic question for association leaders. It asks who is missing from your events and community who your organization needs most, so you can plan to reach and engage them.

Why is the 2030 workforce shift important for associations?
Deloitte projects that Gen Z and Millennials will make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030. Associations that do not adapt to how these members want to engage risk losing relevance with the majority of their future audience.

Does hybrid or online attendance really generate revenue?
It can. A 2017 PCMA white paper documented that online attendance turned missed in-person participation into a measurable revenue pipeline.

How can an association start reaching members who are not in the room? Begin by naming five specific people who should attend and cannot. That short list surfaces the barriers to solve and the audience to build for.

Jennifer Kingen Kush is the founder of Kingen Kush Solutions. She helps membership organizations stay resilient through today's pressures and build for the workforce arriving by 2030. With more than 25 years in the industry, including over 21 years in associations and over 16 years in hybrid events, she has held senior roles at PCMA.

Source: Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 2025.