European Acoustics Association · Strategy · Ecosystem · Product · Operations

Rebuilding the Young Acousticians Network

A volunteer organization redesign: start with stakeholder needs, use the European position as leverage, create shared services, and build enough operating infrastructure that the organization does not reset every two years.

RoleChair / Program & Product Lead
Starting team2 active members
Partners6 → 18 organizations
Budget€3k → €5k / year
Starting point

A two-person volunteer group with no durable operating system.

When I became Chair, the Young Acousticians Network had a good name and European positioning, but little continuity or strategic direction. The board had two active members, a €3,000 annual budget, time-consuming recurring work, no system for passing knowledge between boards, limited exposure beyond conferences and little understanding of what national organizations across Europe actually needed.

At the same time, national early-career acoustics groups were operating largely in isolation. They often had the same problem—too little time, too little workforce and a desire to connect to the wider European community—but were not pooling knowledge or resources.

Discovery

Treat the network like an ecosystem, not a newsletter.

I mapped the acoustics community into stakeholder groups and spoke directly with national organizations, associations and partners to understand their needs, pain points and expectations. The recurring pattern was clear: small organizations wanted connection, reach, guidance or collaboration, while the European association needed a better channel to younger acousticians.

National groupsNeeded purpose, connection, shared events and help building local communities.
European associationNeeded stronger contact with individual early-career acousticians.
Industry & institutesNeeded a better channel to reach younger acousticians.
Strategy

Build capacity, communication, relationships and continuity.

The strategy was designed around four goals:

  1. Increase capacity by growing the team, removing low-value work, automating repetitive tasks and collaborating instead of duplicating effort.
  2. Create direct communication channels through social media and community platforms.
  3. Build long-term relationships with national organizations by helping them reach their own goals.
  4. Make the organization survive leadership changes through explicit knowledge, onboarding and operating systems.
Mission logic

The long-term idea was deliberately counterintuitive: make the central YAN less necessary by making the national organizations stronger and better connected to one another.

Execution

Products and systems around the strategy.

Partner platformDiscord server for organizations to connect with each other and their audiences.
Community servicesMentoring, hackathon, events and cross-organization collaboration.
CommunicationSocial media, newsletter and job information to reach acousticians directly.
Brand & soft powerYAN-branded identity and goodies to support visibility and relationship building.
AutomationReduce volunteer time spent on repetitive processes.
ContinuityWiki, onboarding and explicit knowledge transfer for future boards.

One important alignment step was bringing representatives of young-acoustics organizations from nine countries together and agreeing on a common operating model: YAN would work at European scale while national groups stayed close to their local communities and collaborated through the wider network.

Results

A stronger network—and an organization able to survive its own board transition.

6 → 18partner organizations during the tenure
14 / 18partner organizations using the shared Discord platform
€3k → €5kannual budget after demonstrated performance
26people in the broader operating network: board, committees and local representatives
  • Built a core cross-functional team from two people and expanded the wider operating network across 14 European nations.
  • Collaborated with 20+ people to organize 15 events.
  • Developed joint services including mentoring, branded materials and a hackathon.
  • Created a biannual European meeting to align vision and distribution of effort.
  • Automated recurring work and built a YAN Wiki and onboarding system.
  • Completed a successful board transition with the new board active from day one.
  • Received recognition from the EAA, including an increased budget and a presentation at Forum Acusticum 2023 on the network’s social-media work.