Wild Apricot
MAY 4, 2015
Introducing the Wild Apricot Podcast! Our new monthly podcast series caters to the needs of small organizations everywhere. Lori Smith and Farhad Chikhliwala, facilitate discussion groups, conduct 1-on-1 interviews and talk to experts in a variety of fields.
Spark Consulting
MAY 26, 2015
I’m excited to share the launch of the sixth whitepaper in the ongoing Spark whitepaper series, Leading Engagement from the Outside-In: Become an Indispensable Partner in Your Members’ Success. Co-authored with Anna Caraveli ( The Demand Networks ), the whitepaper tackles the question: if engagement is so critical to associations (and we would argue that it is), why aren’t we doing a better job of it?
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Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 26, 2015
Jeff Cobb, co-founder of Tagoras Inc. This month’s guest blog post is by Jeff Cobb, co-founder of Tagoras and co-host of the annual Leading Learning Symposium , a high impact event for leaders in the business of lifelong learning, continuing education and professional development. It was originally published on the CommPartners blog. With the global e-learning market now valued at more than $100 billion, we are well past the point where e-learning is simply a trend.
YourMembership
MAY 29, 2015
All during May we’ve focused on member engagement , from the strategies you should consider to increase you success in your efforts, to the overall impact to any association when member engagement isn’t successful or a focus or priority. We were able to debut to Leading Engagement from the Outside in: Become an Indispensable Partner in Your Members’ Success , a new whitepaper co-authored by Anna Caraveli, Ph.D and Elizabeth Weaver Engel, M.A., CAE, which focuses on case studies.
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Jamie Notter
MAY 12, 2015
I wrote a few months ago about Zappos' experiment with Holacracy , a system of management that discards the traditional hierarchy in favor of a flexible and dynamic one where employees are more responsible for managing themselves. Zappos (1,500+ employees) is the largest company to implement the system, so I'm curious to see how it rolls out. They started by implementing it in just a few departments, but as they move towards a full roll-out, CEO Tony Hsieh recognized that not everyone would real
Association Universe brings together the best content for association members and organizers from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Wild Apricot
MAY 7, 2015
Wild Apricot is proud to once again rank #1 among Capterra’s Top Membership Management Software. Each year Capterra conducts a review to determine the top 20 membership management software options. See why we're #1!
Spark Consulting
MAY 14, 2015
The Spark blog has been a little quiet lately because I’ve been working on an exciting project with Anna Caraveli ( The Demand Networks ). Yes, the next Spark whitepaper is about to launch! Associations have been talking a lot about engagement in the past several years, and that’s good, but we’re mostly still not doing a great job of actually nurturing real member engagement.
Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 28, 2015
Amanda Toy, associate director of sales, Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. Q & A with Amanda Toy, associate director of sales, Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau. Q: It’s a beautiful summer day in Michigan. What would we most likely find you doing? . A: I hear it is supposed to be nice, mild weather this summer: my favorite!
YourMembership
MAY 22, 2015
Engagement has always been at the heart of building and sustaining the connection between associations and their members. It’s really what associations have been “about” for as long as they have existed, according to Leading Engagement from the Outside in: Become an Indispensable Partner in Your Members’ Success , a new whitepaper co-authored by Anna Caraveli, Ph.D and Elizabeth Weaver Engel, M.A., CAE.
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Ever wonder why brands like Apple, LEGO, and Sephora are going all-in on branded communities? It’s because online community building is the secret sauce to connecting with audiences in ways that ads and emails simply can’t. But here's the best part—it’s not just for big corporations. Associations can create thriving online communities too. GrowthZone’s eBook, "The Power of Community," breaks down exactly why a branded online community can be a game-changer for your association.
Jamie Notter
MAY 26, 2015
This Thursday, May 28th, at 1pm ET we will convene the next #CultureChat session, and this month's focus will be on hierarchy. Specifically, we'll be digging into something that has emerged as a bit of a hot topic these days: Holacracy. In case you haven't heard, Holacracy is a system of management for organizations that is arguably the first viable alternative to a command-and-control hierarchy that we have seen since management was invented 100 years ago.
Golden's Rules for Association
MAY 16, 2015
A member shared this video with me recently, which demonstrates that knowledge does not equal understanding and that it is very difficult to change biases. [link] Watch the whole 8 minutes if you can … there is more here than the initial “hook” of the video: how changing one thing makes even a simple, customary task […].
Wild Apricot
MAY 11, 2015
In this guest post, Lamees Abourahma outlines what she feels are the common mistakes that associations make that are keeping them from realizing their website’s full potential.
Spark Consulting
MAY 29, 2015
As part of the release of the new Spark/ The Demand Networks whitepaper, Leading Engagement from the Outside-In , co-author Anna Caraveli and I had the opportunity to present a webinar for YourMembership.com’s Thought Leader series. The free recording is now available: In the webinar, Anna and I introduce the concept of outside-in engagement, share details of three of the eight keys we identified in our research, and touch on the stories of several associations who are doing this work succ
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Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 5, 2015
With unprecedented access to vacation rentals through websites like airbnb and VRBO , as well as the availability of discount hotel stays through websites like Priceline and Orbitz , it’s no wonder organizations are having difficulty filling their group room blocks during in-person meetings, conventions and exhibitions. A quick survey of industry professionals via ASAE’s Collaborate turned up the following 20 reasons (in no particular order) for booking within the official group block.
YourMembership
MAY 8, 2015
No matter how you look at it, the level of engagement each individual member experiences is a major indicator of whether or not they will renew with an association. We have all heard that a member is most at risk of not renewing during their first year. It is important to realize that the moment you take their payment, the clock is officially running on your retention efforts.
Eric Lanke
MAY 18, 2015
But I'm not sure why. Most associations--and many other organizations of both the non- or for-profit variety--face the same reality. Their goals are bigger than their resources. But instead of admitting this, lots of Boards and lots of staff executives silently agree to pretend it isn't true. They go through their annual process of setting goals and objectives, and no one says the obvious.
Jamie Notter
MAY 4, 2015
I was at a conference last week, and in one of the sessions we talked about some of the organizations that I call the "culture cool kids": Netflix, Zappos, Southwest, Google, Apple, etc. These organizations are frequently mentioned in the press, and I see companies often try to emulate them. And that's cool. We have a lot to learn from them. But I also think it's important that we stay disciplined in our admiration for companies like this, lest we end up focusing on the wrong things.
Speaker: Radhika Samant and Todd Wuestenberg
Employee recognition has often been deemed a "feel-good" initiative, tied closely to rewards. While we understand its importance, we tend to associate recognition with intangible outcomes like engagement and sentiment, rather than direct impacts on retention and high performance. In today’s workplace, the true ROI of recognition lies in its ability to regenerate tangible, business-driven results.
Wild Apricot
MAY 13, 2015
Recently our Membership Advisory Group discussed their challenges with volunteer engagement and retention and offered up some advice and ideas to help their membership peers.
Potomac Core
MAY 28, 2015
Association Innovation Delivers Growth. What capabilities should your association have in order to deliver revenue growth and strong retention? In the Strategic Member Engagement Survey , Associations & Professional Societies reporting upward 3-year operating results are far more likely to have a very high level of board understanding and strategizing about the business and professional outcomes members seek, and actively engage members in creating new solutions.
Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 19, 2015
We all know professional development is important. To thrive, companies need to have highly skilled and knowledgeable employees. So the WHY is covered. But the HOW….that’s a different story. Although companies’ PD needs have increased, most seem to be pursuing the same traditional methods – and many are getting less bang for their bucks. According to a recent survey by McKinsey and Co., a global management consulting firm, companies are struggling with the best way to build capabilities.
YourMembership
MAY 1, 2015
I just got back from a great week at Elevate 2015, CalSAE’s Annual Conference located this year in beautiful Lake Tahoe. It’s at events like Elevate that you often realize what a small, small world the association profession can sometimes appear to be. Just a week removed from the last YM monthly webinar Are You Ready for When Millennials Take Over with Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant, CAE from Cultures That Work, I ran into both of them at Elevate.
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Mariner
MAY 2, 2015
We in associations need our definitions don’t we? All humor aside, one important indicator that the association world is beginning to accept a new concept or way of doing things is when the conversation bubbles up around two elements: definition and policy.
Jamie Notter
MAY 20, 2015
I am one of many authors and bloggers these days who are writing about challenges to the traditional, command-and-control approach to management. And I will continue to do so, because I think the evidence is compelling and the rewards are significant. But it is important to recognize that compelling evidence (unfortunately) doesn't always win the argument.
Wild Apricot
MAY 20, 2015
What exactly is a membership database and how can it help you achieve your organization's goals? Here are details on an Expert Webinar with Wes Trochlil that can answer your database questions.
Potomac Core
MAY 19, 2015
Driving Member Business Outcomes. Can an Association transform itself and become a strategic business partner to the very members they serve? The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) did as much through an intensive strategic planning process. Seeking to understand their impact on their member business outcomes, the Association initiated the process with Board Interviews and a Member Impact Survey.
Speaker: Joe Sharpe and James Carlson
Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.
Aaron Wolowiec
MAY 12, 2015
So apparently I’m right brained. At least according to this test. I guess that’s not surprising considering I’m a writer. But I’m also extremely detail-oriented and analyze everything, so I think I’m a good mix. Yeah. I’ll go with that. While most people think with mostly their left side or mostly their right side, it’s crucial to have a bit of both.
Virtual
MAY 11, 2015
Once in a while we encounter an organization with a structured leadership succession process that makes no sense except, perhaps, to the founders who concocted it. I like to call this the lockstep board leadership succession model. The model works like this: seemingly worthy candidates are culled from the association board (which may be a body that is too large and unwieldy for effective governance) and slotted into a queue for officer or executive committee positions.
Association Adviser
MAY 15, 2015
Have you offered the same event sponsorships year after year? Are your event sponsorship revenues stagnant or declining? It may be time for a facelift. The post Is It Time For an Event Sponsorships. For more about this topic, click on the headline.
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