One of the most common requests I hear from my clients is that they want to be able to easily import outside data into the database. They might have things like lists of attendees from meetings not managed in the primary database; or membership leads gathered from a trade show staff recently attended; or names …
New Article Posted – Importing Data Isn't Always as Simple as it Seems Read More »
I recently had the opportunity to attend iBEF, the iMIS Business Excellence Forum. iBEF is hosted by ASI, the makers of iMIS. As the website says, the “program is designed to help iMIS clients maximize their investment in iMIS by improving overall organizational productivity, increasing revenue, and/or reducing expenses.” As Nathan Slovin of ASI explained …
Over two decades ago, I worked for a small trade association whose primary product was a very large trade show put on every two years. The association itself had been around for over 100 years, and the trade show was in the top 50 in the US in terms of square footage. And yet, ten …
Over the past six months I’ve helped several associations go-live with their new association management systems. One thing that has struck me with each of these implementations is the importance of training not just before go-live, but after go-live as well. The need for training before go-live is obvious. But why would you need training …
Plan on (and budget for) training before AND after go-live Read More »
In my last blog post I wrote about Protech’s efforts to improve transparency into their company, an effort that I applaud. One of my favorite examples of transparency comes from another company serving the association market, 20twenty Strategic Consulting. Each quarter, Rob Miller, executive vice president of 20twenty, sends a short “state of the company” …
I had the opportunity to attend Protech’s Annual Users Conference in September, and one of the overriding themes from Brian Bruffey’s (Protech’s CEO) keynote speech was transparency. As Brian explained it, Protech is focusing on creating greater transparency for their customers into how Protech works as a company, and how its product will be improved …
I was meeting with a group of association CFOs recently, discussing how they use their association databases. During the course of the discussion, one of the executives said “We call our database the coffin.” When I asked him why, he smiled and said “Because in our organization, that’s where data goes to die.” He explained that although …