We're approaching the end of the first decade of the 21st century and it seems some organizations still haven't grasped some simple concepts of data management. I hate to pick on ASAE (OK, I don't hate it, I just don't prefer it), but I received two emails from them within two hours of each other, …
I recently sat in a demo for ISSI's IMPAK software. I've been working with ISSI since 2002. I've always said that ISSI offers more "bang for your buck" (i.e., functionality for the dollar) than just about any AMS on the market, and the latest offering didn't disappoint. During the demo, three things jumped out at …
A vendor asked me the following: "What are the top 5 most useful or most valuable reports that you've seen from an AMS?" My response: I think the top five will vary based on three things: type of membership (trade vs. professional vs. hybrid); largest source of non-dues revenue (e.g., events, certification, products, fundraising, other); …
ARC Solutions is a small but growing AMS provider located in Washington, DC. One of my clients purchased their original product (the MAP) so I've had some extensive experience using the product and working with the company. ARC recently secured $1 million in funding from two venture capital firms to help develop their new product, Polaris. …
I read an interesting report from CSO Insights. The report is a study on premise-based CRM products (e.g., Siebel, Oracle) as compared to on-demand CRM products (e.g., Salesforce.com, netSuite). The result of the study shows that on-demand customers have higher satisfaction ratings, did better on budget, and had dramatically shorter implementation times. I find this …
I recently renewed my directory listing in ASAE's Technology Solutions Guide. The renewal has a fee attached to it. I renewed online (how convenient!) about three weeks prior to the deadline. About a week after I renewed, I received a reminder to renew. Well, since it had only been a week, I decided to cut …
Protech held their first annual users group conference last week in DC. I thought it was a pretty good effort, but I hate attending conferences at the Reagan Building. That building was designed to confuse me. At any rate, once I was able to find the conference and the meeting rooms, I was pleased with …
At a session at TAUG (TMA Resources Annual Users Group meeting), Ron Moen asked a great question: "How many of you 'mystery shop' your own association?" What a GREAT question. I'd be willing to bet the answer is somewhere around 1% of all associations actually do. I typically do this as a side-effect of the …
So this is very cool: http://wiki.avectra.com Avectra has created a wiki for (as they put it) "the use of its staff, clients, prospects and partners to share and expand our knowlege of netFORUM." Right now it's still an open site. It will be interesting to see if stays public, because it's bound to include information …
For years now I've been hearing from vendors about "dashboards." (I think the first time I heard the term was in 1998.) And I've seen some VERY slick dashboard tools, most recently at Protech's first Customer Conference. But I can honestly say, with the hundreds of associations I've worked for, worked in, and know of, …