I’ve written in the past about establishing a contact tracking policy for your organization. In my experience, very few organizations execute this successfully. One of my clients, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), recently put together a short guideline for staff on tracking interactions with their constituents. With J McCray’s permission, I’m reprinting four questions (developed […]
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Perhaps it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: long-term success with your database requires good discipline. When I say discipline, I mean being disciplined about how we collect data, how we manage the data, and how we use the data. Discipline includes things like documented business rules and procedures, data integrity reports, and
In the December issue of Database Trends and Applications (sorry, not online yet), DBTA outlines the “15 Top Information Management Trends for 2009.” Two of the trends caught my eye, as I believe they will apply especially to the association market. Trend number 6: Greater Push for Business Intelligence and Performance Management – I’m seeing
Information Management Trends for 2009 Read More »
Here’s another really good article on business intelligence in the association market, from ASAE’s magazine, Associations Now. I know it’s good, because I’m quoted extensively!
Associations Now on Business Intelligence Read More »
Or so says a recent study by the Society for Information Management. They asked CIOS to list the skills they value most among entry-level and mid-level hires. Ethics and morals topped the list, while technical skills like application development and project management barely made number 10. In a way, this doesn’t surprise me. While it
Tech Staff Don't Need Tech Skills Read More »
I’ve been working with a client recently on reviewing and reengineering how they process data within their organization (business process review). As part of this project, the client is documenting all of their processes within their database. After receiving the first round of documentation, I was discussing the documentation process with my client and he
The power of documentation Read More »
I’m a sucker for time-saving gadgets. Even gadgets I would personally never have need for. Here’s one described in InformationWeek magazine. It’s a wearable printer-scanner, designed by HP for UPS. In essence, what it lets the UPS staffer do is scan the UPS package and then spray sorting information ON the package, all from the
Time-saving gadgets Read More »
I serve as treasurer for my two sons’ cub scout troop. As part of that responsibility, of course, I need to pay invoices. As I prepared to pay a fairly large invoice today, I scanned the invoice to find the invoice number, so that I could include that on the check. I found that the
Do your invoices make it easy to pay? Read More »
If you’re going to embark on a business intelligence initiative, you ought to have these five items in place before you do. More copy to go here explaining the finer points of Implementing Business Intelligence.
The Five Prerequisites for Implementing Business Intelligence Read More »
One of my least favorite questions on the ASAE listserver is when an association membership professional says something to the effect of: “My membership retention rate is 75%. How does that compare to your association?” As I’ve written before, this question frustrates me because comparing retention rates, without context, provides absolutely no information as to
My Greatest Pet Peeve Read More »