Our Members Aren’t Tech Savvy Having worked now in the association space for more than 30 years, I’ve heard my share of association executives utter the phrase “Our members aren’t very tech savvy.” This phrase is often followed with (or preceded by) “Our members are older.” (And this is typically related to the members not …
Newton’s First Law Part of Newton’s First Law states that “…an object in motion stays in motion…” What does this have to do with data management? Quite a bit, actually. One of the many challenges of data management is the constant grind of keeping data clean. (I refer to this as “weeding the garden.”) With most …
Engagement is Measured by the Customer I’ve written a bunch about measuring engagement in the past. (Click here to read one of my favorites.) But one thing that’s critically important to understand is that ultimately, engagement is not measured by the association, but by the member or customer. Click here for an example of what I mean. For some …
I’ve posted a new article on managing volunteer data. Click here to read it. One thing that distinguishes associations from almost all of their for-profit competitors is volunteers. Whether it’s your board of directors, committee members, speakers, or writers, associations have a strategic advantage in that their “customers” are actually developing the products and services …
Over the course of my 20 years of consulting to associations, I’ve run into several situations where the association is moving from a completely custom system (often designed by someone on staff) to an off-the-shelf (OTS) system. (I’ve written before why associations should not build custom systems, but it happens!) While I wholeheartedly support moving …
I’ve posted two new articles to my site. Click the link on each to read the article. What Causes Project Overruns Expressed Interest vs. Implied Interest
I recently read the book Factfulness, which highlights ten things about the world that are better than most people think. (The book is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. In fact, I think it should be required reading for all high school students!) This got me to thinking (naturally) about the things in data management …
I’ve added two new articles to my website: Improvement by Subtraction and Another Missive from the Trenches. To get these articles as soon as they are available, subscribe to my monthly newsletter here.
I’ve written elsewhere about the value of data integrity reports. But one of the most common complaints I hear from my clients is that the actual list of reports within their AMS is so unwieldy, they wind up creating new reports (or queries) because they don’t really know what reports they have or what they do. …
Every AMS vendor will tell you that the toughest part of implementing a new system is getting the association staff to think differently about the new AMS. And this isn’t just limited to changing processes (although that is incredibly important). It’s also about changing mindset. What do I mean by changing mindset? Here are three …
A change of systems requires a change of mindset Read More »