Wild Apricot

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

It’s a new year, you have ambitious goals for your organization, but you need volunteers to fill the gaps. What you need is a Volunteer Unicorn!

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Higher Logic

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

We all know engagement can help your community members become more active, but can it also help your waistline? More and more of our lives are online, from professional communities to social media. So what happens when you bring your fitness routine online? There are many benefits to working out with a partner -- you both push each other and hold each other accountable -- but does it work if your fitness partner(s) are virtual?

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Reid All About it

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

This article was originally published as “Writing Online Content for Distracted Humans and Web-Crawling Spiders” in the Association Executives of North Carolina’s Success By Association magazine, November/December 2015 issue. ~~~. Remember the days when members read everything you mailed them? Or, at least you thought they did. You never knew for sure, but one thing’s for certain: you didn’t have the competition for their attention like you do today.

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YourMembership

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Working with over 4,300 associations worldwide, we often hear the same question, “how do we reach and engage millennials?” Our response, “you may be asking the wrong question.” Over the past few years the millennial audience has been a focal point for associations, but why? Millennials tend to be early technology adopters and represent a change in the way people connect with the world for knowledge exchange and social connections.

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millennials Certificate Learning Management System Social Media 170

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Spark Consulting

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

There was a lot of talk about measuring and scoring member engagement at December’s ASAE Technology Conference. People talked about scoring systems. People talked about tech platforms to track and report on the scores. People talked about engagement as the key to recruitment, retention, and upselling, whether that means getting members to invest money by buying stuff or invest time by taking volunteer positions.

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Wild Apricot

FEBRUARY 29, 2016

For this month’s update, I’m excited to announce a special event that’s been in the works for some time now. In the last update, I gave you a sneak peak into what it is, but now I can share the full details. So, without further ado….

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Higher Logic

FEBRUARY 29, 2016

Take a moment to think back on your career, however long or short it’s been so far. What moments stand out, and who helped you get there? Everyone hits bumps in the road, no matter how smart, driven or successful they’ve been so far. Think about the straight-A high school student who struggles once they get to college. Or the ambitious entrepreneur, slow to take off.

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Reid All About it

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

I hope you’ve been able to take advantage of some of the free, quality education offered by the association community. With all the challenges faced by associations these days, these webinars help us hear new perspectives and learn about new practices and technology. If you can’t make the live webinar, register anyways. Sometimes, you’ll receive a link to a recording you can listen to while eating lunch at your desk.

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YourMembership

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

The latest labor statistics are out and they present some interesting opportunities for associations as we move into 2016. According to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015 closed with 5.6 million job openings. The report states that job openings rose in several industries over the year with the largest changes in health care, social assistance, finance and insurance.

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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.

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Virtual

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Sometimes you can find information for best practices for Boards and working groups in the most unusual of places. A recent article in a scientific journal entitled “ Why too much evidence can be a bad thing ” talks about how sometimes too much evidence can be a bad thing. In fact, as the article states, in ancient Jewish law, if a person was found unanimously found guilty by all judges, then the suspect was acquitted.

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Aaron Wolowiec

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, co-founders of Tagoras. Tagoras recently released its much-anticipated 2016 Association Learning + Technology Report , which contains a wealth of information about associations’ efforts to incorporate technology into their educational programs and platforms. We know the educational landscape is changing as associations adapt to their members’ learning needs and habits.

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Wild Apricot

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

What does your organization’s fundraising strategy look like? Are you asking for donations through a variety of methods, or are you limiting yourself to a couple of tactics?

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Higher Logic

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Many associations share a central flaw: they routinely put the association and the needs of the organization or staff at the center of their universe. Historically, this made some sense. By creating the association in the first place, the members by definition centralized their attention. “Let’s all give dues to this central group so it can do amazing things for us.”.

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Reid All About it

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Have you invested in yourself this week? Set aside an hour next week to attend one of these webinars or get some reading (and thinking!) done. Thanks to all the companies in the association community that provide free professional development. You are appreciated. Tue 2/23 at 1 p.m. – Engaging Your Members. Learn about proven member engagement tactics that effectively communicate and compel members to renew and buy more of your services and products.

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YourMembership

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

An Award Winning Approach to Professional Education. eLearning built to serve member-centric and professional development organizations. Do your learning programs look like a mishmash of topics and formats with seemingly no overall strategic framework? Do they suffer from inconsistent branding, functionality, and or design due to a lack of time and resources?

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Education LMS Certificate Library 150

Socious

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

The 1% Rule in Internet culture tells us that roughly 1% of your group creates original content. 9% respond to that content, contribute to it, or share it in some way. The other 90% of your community or audience are lurking. Most organizations are unclear as to what is really going on within their online community unless they implement a way to track inactivity or passive actions within the group.

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Aaron Wolowiec

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

This month’s guest blog post is by Jenny Stanfield , lead event producer for Engagement Unlimited. It was originally published on the Event Manager blog. Follow her on Twitter at @thejenstanfield. Jenny Stanfield, lead event producer, Engagement Unlimited. How can you ensure attendees retain information long after the event is over, rather than forgetting their learning and newfound knowledge the moment they leave the venue?

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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.

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Wild Apricot

FEBRUARY 19, 2016

You’re ready to take some risks, learn the strategies of the experts, and build a lean, mean, online marketing machine that will take your growth to the next level. That's what the Membership Growth Online Summit is all about!

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Higher Logic

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Have you ever given up on using a website because it takes too much brainpower to figure it out? Or even find what it’s for? This happened to me last time I flew and tried to check in online. The problem: if I did give up, I wouldn’t have been able to get on the airplane. So I grumbled through the process and finally figured it out. Why was it so bad?

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Reid All About it

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Next week, schedule one hour for professional growth. Attend one of these webinars or catch up on reading. If you want to learn more about association technology, check out the DelCor blog. Or, if you’re in the generalist mood, Associations Now is your one-stop shop for news and information. Wed 2/17 at 2 p.m. – CMS and AMS Integration Tips for Creating Member Happiness.

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YourMembership

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

We recently kicked off our Thought Leadership Webinar Series for 2016 with Reggie Henry, CAE, the CIO of ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership. The webinar was entitled Thriving with Disruption: Associations, Technology and Key Trends for 2016. In his presentation, Reggie shared his unique vision on the state of technology and the digital disruption that will continue to impact associations as we move through 2016.

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Socious

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

One of the great difficulties in finding a top-notch community manager is the employer-held belief that anyone can do it. It takes a very specific skill set and if you’ve not employed an online community manager before, or if you are just starting your online community, you may be unaware of the demands of the role and skills required.

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Portage Group

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Reading this article on technology trends for 2016 got me thinking: It's hard to believe that just a decade ago, most of us had never heard of the term 'smartphone.' Personally, I am always a little panicked when my phone is not within arm's reach. Also, I will admit that I have a slightly dysfunctional relationship with my GPS - which I have named Sneaky Suzy - and without whom I would (literally) be lost.

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Wild Apricot

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Associations have always been “about” engagement.the thing is, most of us aren’t really doing it well. Could that be because we’ve been thinking about engagement all wrong?

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Higher Logic

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

What happens if everyone in the world (at least, everyone with internet) has access to the same platform and can interact with one another? In 2016, we have a pretty good idea of what happens. We’ve all been part of a similar experiment -- think of all big social media outlets or online communities: Reddit, Quora, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Amazing things happen when we’re connected -- community has the ability to really empower members and create strong loyalty for a platform.

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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.

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Reid All About it

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

Schedule one hour next week to attend one of these webinars, read ASAE Collaborate, or skim the #assnchat hashtag on Twitter for good reads. You can’t get ahead if you’re always behind! Webinars. Tue 2/9 at 3:30 p.m. – eLearning Strategy, Tactics & Responsive Planning. Pave a clear pathway to building better eLearning programs for your association with this free, monthly webinar series from iCohere Academy, a worldwide professional community of practice dedicated to the evolution of we

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Aaron Wolowiec

FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Debra Zabloudil, president and CEO, The Learning Studio Inc. Q & A with Debra Zabloudil , president and CEO, The Learning Studio Inc. Q: If I were writing a book about your life, what would the title be, and why? A: It would be titled, “An Unexpected Life” because life has thrown a number of things my way that most would not have expected (good and bad).

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Socious

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

I’m sure by now everyone is familiar with the study that says about 91% of us check our email every day. It’s this fact that makes your email list one of your most sacred marketing and online community management assets. However, many organizations struggle with getting their message across and end up annoying their community members, customers, and prospects to the point of being ignored.

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