Does it advance the mission? Because associations are mission-driven, everything you do should be seen through the prism of this question: “Does it advance the mission?” This applies to everything you do in your database, too. Does the data you’re collecting help advance your mission? Does the software you’re using allow you to extract and analyze […]
Does it advance the mission? Read More »
How should you start a new data project? When you’ve got a new data project on the horizon, and you’re feeling overwhelmed about where to start, what’s the best way to start? Here’s my answer (and stick with me now): Just start! Take one action! Do something that will move you one step closer to
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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.
A Data Integrity Report…for Reports! Read More »
Simple rules for complex systems I first heard the phrase “simple rules for complex systems” from Jonah Goldberg, who was commenting on rules for political/social systems. But I think this maxim is very applicable to data management. After all, most AMS systems are complex, so the rules that manage them should be as simple as possible.
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Accentuate the positive I’ve written before about the importance of database public relationsand celebrating success. I’ll add a third piece of wisdom to this collection: focus on your triumphs rather than your failures. Or as the old song goes, accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. In our jobs as data managers, much of our day is spent trying
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Annual dues vs. anniversary dues I served as director of membership for several years at a couple of different associations. When talking with my fellow association membership pros, the question often arose: Which is best; anniversary dues or annual dues? Some quick definitions: anniversary dues are dues that are renewed a year after the member joins
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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
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It doesn’t have to be optimal to be beneficial I’m a big fan of the author James Clear (https://jamesclear.com/) who writes about the formation of habits. I believe (good!) habits are an important element of success (I’ve written about it before.) In a recent blog post, Clear wrote: “Just because it’s not optimal, doesn’t mean it’s
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Look for small wins One of the toughest things about system implementation is simply how long it takes to complete one. And so keeping momentum and staff interest in the project is paramount. By month six of implementation, staff can be pretty burned out. I always recommend to my clients that throughout implementation they look for
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Are you closing the loop? If your association does a call for presentations for any of your events, do you provide feedback to those submitters whose presentations were not accepted? Or do you simply send a generic “Thanks for applying but your presentation was not accepted” note? If you’re not providing feedback on WHY the
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