Harnessing Technology

The words "harnessing technology" come from the book Race for Relevance by Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers which was published last year by ASAE.  In their book, they  put forward major strategies for revamping associations.  And they strongly recommend making much better use of technology.

Reading that book gave me a tremendous personal Aha! moment.  There are so many things we could be doing with technology, particularly around developing online services for members.  I've spent 14 years developing services that bind members to the association because they are so useful for what they do every day.  Technology allows associations to reach into the working lives of members around activities as well as the more traditional provision of information.

Within ASAE, we don't yet have a real home for this concept of deeply technology-driven practical services.  Within IT groups, our internal focus is often on tools such as association management systems and moving to the cloud, while the external focus is on communication and information. 

I think the time is ripe for associations to really harness technology, to use it to its full strength to do really useful things for members.

To introduce this concept, I am presenting a webinar on September 27th at 1pm.  The purpose of the session is to consider ways for your own organization to use technology to deliver innovative and valuable member services.  Registration is free, and I hope to see you there: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5662774399096367104