One of the most significant trends that I’ve seen in the association market over the past two years is a dramatic increase on the value and offerings of education. Association members are demanding more and better educational opportunities. And of course, these offerings have to be at a relatively low price point, and have to […]
It's all about education, which for many associations means an LMS Read More »
When I’m working with a new client on a project, for example, selection of a new AMS, they’ll often ask me “Who should be involved in this project? Which staff should I include?” Along with including all the people who are the subject matter experts that need to be included, and the senior staff who
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer Read More »
To have the courage of your convictions means to do or say what you think is right no matter who disagrees with you. What I often see from my clients is a very strong conviction about the value of their products and services, but very low willingness to price these products and services according to
Have the courage of your convictions Read More »
I’ve written a LOT about business rules over the years. The reason I do is because business rules are generally one of the few things we actually have some control over. Generally speaking, outside of rules mandated by bylaws, staff has full control over business rules within the organization. We get to set pricing, how we
Are your business rules hurting your business? Read More »
In the past week I’ve met with two different associations who are struggling with their current AMS systems. A common theme between the two was lots of staff turnover. That is, since the time the system was first implemented, many (if not all!) key staff had left the organization so effectively “new” people were in charge of the database.
Bad Systems Can Make Good People Leave Read More »
In my experience, when associations make a database system change, staff will sometimes talk about how the old system used to work. They’ll say things like “In the old system, we could add a new individual record in two minutes; now it takes five.” Or “In the old system it was really easy to pull a list of
"Our old system used to…" Read More »
Recently I was discussing with a client their rules for how they manage event registration. As my client described the different rules for how customers can register for their events, I complimented her on how clear the rules were. She responded: “We like to make the boundaries very clear. Just like children need boundaries, our
Just like children, we all need boundaries Read More »
Just like beauty, the idea of software being “user-friendly” is in the eye of the beholder. Very often when I talk with clients about what they need from a new AMS, they’ll say something to the effect of “It has to be user-friendly.” I agree. But what does user-friendly look like? Well, that depends on
"User-friendly" is in the eye of the beholder Read More »
When my clients implement a new AMS, the implementation plan always includes training for staff, so that they know how to use the new system. But I always advise my clients to budget for additional training after go-live. Why? Because the reality is, no matter how good the initial training is (and often it is not
Be sure to schedule training for shortly AFTER go-live. Read More »
I often recommend to my clients that they have regular meetings among their heaviest database users, to discuss all the issues related to data management within the organization. Having these regular meetings can really improve communication among different departments (and even withIN them!). When I suggested this to a client recently, one woman in the meeting replied “It’s
"It's like the family dinner" Read More »