Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful “Your data doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful.” – (Borrowed with permission from Intellidata’s Slice newsletter.) In my experience, many associations hold themselves back from cleaning up their data, because they are overwhelmed with where to start, and they also think success can only be achieved […]
Don’t just clean data, clean reports and queries One of the reasons I exhort my clients to keep their data as clean as possible is because, over time, “dirty” data causes users to doubt the accuracy of all the data in the system. And when users doubt the data, they’ll start using their own systems
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Don’t forget, your staff have day jobs… The vast majority of my work is finite project work (e.g., system selection or implementation). It’s literally my full time job. But for most of my clients, selecting and implementing a new AMS, or implementing a new website, or executing pretty much any other major technology project is
Beware the automated “How did we do?” trap! One of the downsides of technology is that automation can be so easy that we wind up annoying our members and customers rather than helping them. Case in point: I recently purchased tickets for a Broadway show via StubHub. The day after attending the show, I got
Hindsight is 20/20 I’m currently working with a client that is moving from their legacy AMS to a new system. Their legacy system is a completely custom build that has been used for nearly 30 years. As a result, the system contains a very large amount of data and data fields that the association no longer
Cheaper now; costlier later. Most of my clients are very cost-conscious, understandably. After all, who among us has an unlimited budget? But over the years, I’ve run into many situations that I would describe as “Cheaper now, costlier later.” Here are just a few examples: Developing software internally rather than purchasing off-the-shelf software or using
The unified shopping cart: Dreams vs. reality One of the more common requests I hear from my clients is “We want a unified online shopping experience. We want our members to be able to renew their membership, register for an event, buy a booth, buy sponsorship items, buy products, buy anything, all in the same e-commerce
Don’t forget to celebrate! Truth be told, I’m not a big celebrator. (Maybe it’s because I grew up with eight siblings and birthdays were so common!) But we really should celebrate wins when we can, especially if they are big wins, like the go-live of a new AMS, a new website, or some other major
Three thoughts on duplicate records Duplicate records are a reality in any database of any size, so as database managers, we always have to deal with them (or should deal with them!). So here are three thoughts on managing duplicate records: Duplicate records will always exist. Always. Unless you’re managing only a tiny number of records, you
Please don’t do this… I’ve noticed a trend among online retailers that I want to warn associations away from. That trend is emailing me incessantly (as in, daily) shortly after I purchase something from the retailer. We’re coming upon Christmas so I’ve made purchases from retailers that I don’t usually shop with (think clothing and housewares for