Why I Founded SPiN

By Shawna Suckow, CMP, Founder & Chairwoman

​Many of you know that I founded SPiN on a bit of a whim, but there’s a little more to it.

As the story goes, six years ago, when I was trying to learn how to use LinkedIn (it was fairly new then) I was watching a webinar on the subject and the speaker suggested we look for groups to join. At that time, there weren’t many groups on LinkedIn. He suggested that if we didn’t see a group that we wish existed, to simply create it. It was a split second decision, and within five minutes I had the acronym. By the end of the day, I had the logo, and voila. Had I known it would become what it is today, I wonder if I would have named it differently, but I doubt it – I like the name SPiN. It describes what we do so well – keeping dozens of plates spinning in the air at once, spinning around the globe, keeping our industry spinning as its veteran members, etc.

The part of the story you may not know is why I felt the void that I was seeking to fill with SPiN.

I believe that around the 10-year mark, many of us face a fork in the road with the industry’s more wide-ranging associations. We generally have stopped receiving as much educational value as we did when we were younger and the choice is this: continue to stay with that association but shift from ‘giving & receiving’ to strictly ‘giving’ in the form of volunteering; or go elsewhere to get your needs met. So many of us are serving as chapter presidents, committee chairs, and more – we give, give, and give, and the industry is no doubt better off as a result. Yet where do WE go to fill up our own cup, so to speak? That’s the deeper thought that was resonating with me six years ago – what’s out there for me at this stage of my career, where I can get what I need, not just give back?

I know I wasn’t alone in how I was feeling, because SPiN took off like a rocket! I’m grateful for what it’s become today, although I never would have predicted back in 2008 that I would close my company doors and become an association leader.

I want to thank every one of you for believing in SPiN and co-creating this amazing resource for the benefit of all senior-level planners.

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