Technology

Going Mobile

Andy Freed / September, 2012

Since I’m not willing to camp out in front of the Apple Store, it’s going to be a few weeks until my iPhone 5 arrives. When it does, it will bring the count of cell phones that I’ve owned up to a dozen. I’ve come a long way from the Motorola bag phone.

Now, no one leaves the house without their phone—and that’s typically a smart phone. May of 2012 was the first time that Nielsen showed that the majority of US consumers were using smartphones. There are similar trends underway in Europe and Asia.
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We All Have Issues

Mary McRae / January, 2012

Yes, it’s true.

If you’re an association of any kind, chances are extremely high that at least one of your committees or working groups has a list of open items, or issues. It could be items that the group hasn’t yet reached consensus on, parking lot items that the group hasn’t yet had a chance to discuss, problems that have been identified but not yet resolved, or even an inventory of decisions it has already made. Continue reading »

Appreciating (and learning from) Steve Jobs

Andrew Updegrove / October, 2011

It’s impossible for anyone who has witnessed the personal computer and personal technology age from its beginning to separate Steve Jobs from that incredible odyssey. From the start, he envisioned, created, and defined new platforms and categories of media experience.

Sometimes he was not the first to invent, as with the mouse, the MP3 Player, the smartphone and the slate computer. But when he turned his exceptional perceptions, sense of style and insistence on perfection Continue reading »

Is Your Association Website Pretty or Productive?

Greg Kohn / September, 2011

I bet I have a pretty good idea of how your association’s website is structured. The home page flashes an inspiring mission statement, myriad momentum-building news blurbs and the logos of your most prominent members and sponsors. Of course, visitors can drill down Continue reading »

Tools, Technologies and the Missing Link

Mary McRae / July, 2011

For any nonprofit group — whether it’s an alumni association, a standards body, or anything in between — the internet and its associated technologies are likely to play a significant role in how members interact with the organization and each other. Although full of promise, these tools can all too easily limit member engagement and restrict progress toward goals. The reason: many users do not know how to use them.

Establishing an Effective Technical Process

Andy Freed / June, 2011

For any standards development organization, the technical process is the heart of the association. As a result, how that process is created and managed will be key to ensuring an entity’s ultimate success. Yet, ironically, the people responsible for setting up a new standards organization often don’t know how to do it, or even where to begin. Even if they do, they will inevitably encounter numerous unforeseen obstacles that can bog down their technical mission, ranging from disputes involving intellectual property rights to conflicting member agendas.

Associations Focus on Strategic Use of Information

Andy Freed / June, 2011

Ten years ago, Tom Peters wrote “The watchwords used to be location, location, location. Today it is database, database, database.”

Not surprisingly, Peters has it right, but for many associations, a database is just a contact list. They’re missing out on what matters—strategic use of information.

Consider this—many associations struggle with member retention. One of the keys to retention is member engagement—keeping your members active within the association. A good member database can help with that—for example, run a query to see what members aren’t attending educational programs, haven’t logged in to the members only web site, and aren’t on committees. Those are individuals that a membership director or committee should reach out to.