The weekly list of free educational events and resources for the association community…
Keep on moving, Dorian, get out of here.
Do brands have anything to teach associations about earning and rewarding customer and learner loyalty? WBT Systems replies with an emphatic Yes. They explain how to earn and reward learner loyalty.
Attendees have unexpressed—and, often, unrealized—needs and expectations before your event. MemberSuite identifies these opportunities, because that’s what they are, so you can provide a complete event experience like no other.
“Strategy as currently practiced rarely emphasizes the importance of community.” The Harvard Business Review describes how the New York Public Library involved employees from 93 branches in innovation communities—could be a good model for chapters.
You know I’m all about free. I started this weekly publication because young members of my state SAE lamented not having a big enough PD budget to acquire all the CAE credits they needed. I think of Brain Food as my community service, and love doing it.
Another person who has dedicated countless hours to the association community is KiKi L’Italien. You may know her as the host of Association Chat, which started as a weekly Twitter chat back in 2009, and is now a webcast. I can’t resist mentioning her latest project, even though she hasn’t asked me to do it: The Bold Community Workshop on Thursday, September 19. Yes, there’s a fee, but it looks like a memorable experience so check it out.
Quick hits before we get to next week’s free webinars:
- Don’t make paying you an inconvenience. Common sense advice about auto-renewals and payment plans for membership dues. (Amy Hager, CAE, Association Success)
- A clever hack for reading more books. (Tomasz Tunguz)
Good eats:
- Rachael Ray never fails me. I had some top round, a challenging cut, and she has a recipe for beef Milanese that uses top round. I sliced the meat horizontally and then crosswise, and pounded the four pieces until they were thin. Her herb-heavy crumb coating was fantastic—it’s my new Milanese recipe. And I’m using the leftovers to coat white grunt (a fish) this weekend.
- If you need to make breakfast for a bunch of people, try this sheet pan pancake recipe from the New York Times. Instead of chocolate chips, I made mine with blueberries, added some vanilla, and cut the ingredients in half, making it in an 8” x 10” baking dish.
- We got two stunning whole vermillion red snappers in our fish share last week. I topped them with this Asian-inspired paste from Food 52 before roasting them. Good stuff.
- I forgot how delicious these shrimp enchiladas verde are! Over time, I’ve made a few adjustments to the recipe: replacing the green bell with a poblano pepper, and water with shrimp broth. Sometimes I make my own tomatillo salsa, if I have time. The other night I used nearly two pounds of shrimp so I increased the other ingredients (and the pan size) too. Plus I took the easy way out: I layered the tortillas, then the salsa and shrimp, another layer of tortillas, then the rest of the shrimp, and finally the salsa/cream and cheese topping. Yum!
Here are the educational events scheduled for next week. If you have any free webinars or events coming up, please send me the link. I’ll be happy to feature it as long as it’s not product-centric.
Mon 9/9 at 1 p.m.* – Chatting with Agnes & Cecilia
Check out this 15-minute web series covering hot topics and issues related to 501c organization management. A new episode is posted every Monday by 1 p.m., or subscribe for updates. More info.
Host: Rogue Tulips LLC
Presenters:
- Agnes Amos-Coleman, MBA, CMP, education, conference, event, certification consultant, Amos-Coleman
- Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips LLC
*All times are Eastern Daylight Time unless otherwise noted.
Tue 9/10 at 8:30 a.m. CDT – Partnership Professionals Network Idea Exchange (Chicago IL)
In the coming few months, associations might hear from their corporate sponsors/partners “your association isn’t in our budget for next year.” What to say? How to respond? Can the relationship be saved? Location: Chicago IL. More info/register.
Host: Association Forum
Facilitator: Dan Kowitz, Founder & CEO, JSB Partnership Consultants.
Tue 9/10 at 12:30 p.m. – The 6 Datapoints of an Effective Membership Dashboard
Your membership changes on a daily basis and having a dashboard to keep track of all your program’s fluctuating volumes and measures is vital. Learn about the six major datapoints you must monitor regularly to help reach your monthly and yearly targets. 0.5 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: The Next Steps LLC
Tue 9/10 at 2 p.m. – Balancing Educational Content & Fulfilling Sponsor Expectations
Many associations struggle to identify additional sources of revenue and content for their members. Learn ways to fulfill both these needs by positioning your educational program to better meet the needs of corporate sponsors. Hear a case study featuring an association that has created a successful sponsorship program with its digital educational content. 1 CMP credit. More info/register.
Host: PCMA
Presenters:
- Brooke Passy, CMP, Meeting Manager, Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society
- Bruce Rosenthal, Convener, Partnership Professionals Network
Tue 9/10 at 3 p.m. – Gaining a Competitive Edge with Content Strategy (Washington DC)
What sets an association apart from the competition? In one word, CONTENT. An impactful content strategy can add member value, expand your influence, bust the internal silos, and help you achieve your business goals. But how do you develop—and implement—such a strategy? How do you get buy-in from the top to the trenches? Join other association CEOs, COOs, and senior leaders for an open forum on content strategy. Location: Washington DC. More info/register.
Organizer: Meena Dayak, founder, Associations Catalyzing Entrepreneurship (ACE), and Vice President, Integrated Media & Communications, American Public Power Association
Discussion leaders:
- Carrie Hane, founder, Tanzen Consulting
- Dina Lewis, CAE, president, Distilled Logic
- Hilary Marsh, president and chief strategist, Content Company
Tue 9/10 at 3 p.m. CDT – Digital Transformation 2019: Now, Next Year and Beyond (ASAE Technology Section Council Roundtable – Chicago IL)
Digital transformation of member engagement, data management, content curation, and your products and services are all worthy and needed opportunities to modernize, digitize and transmogrify, but what have you learned along the path? And how are we using that knowledge to course correct for the future? Bring that knowledge to this roundtable, share your successes and failures, and hear your peers talk about their experience as well. Location: Chicago IL. More info/register.
Organizers: ASAE Technology Section Council and Association Forum
Wed 9/11 at 1 p.m. – Turn Member Engagement and AMS Data into Effective Marketing
Member data tells us how to communicate, not the other way around. A strong member lifecycle ecosystem incorporates simple, actionable data with intelligent campaigns and member communications. Every system is important along the member journey, from AMS and LMS to support, marketing automation, and online communities. Learn how the data you collect—community engagement, e-mail engagement, demographics and transactions in your AMS—can supercharge your member outreach by tailoring content to each individual member. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Hosts: MemberSuite and Higher Logic
Wed 9/11 at 1 p.m. – Using Feedback to Capture the Member Story
Learn about the importance of framing your value proposition in the form of a member story. Find out how to capture the voice of the member, curate the story and capitalize on stories. More info/register.
Host: PropFuel
Presenters:
- Jay Daughtry, chief communications officer and owner, CQbd
- Dave Will, co-founder and CEO, PropFuel
Thu 9/12 at 12:30 p.m. – Blended Data – the Key to Member Engagement Scoring
New statistics show that, on average, only 20% of member data is captured in the typical association’s AMS. Benefiting from member engagement scoring is so difficult with such a limited view. Learn about the concept of blended data. Find out how simple it is to enjoy comprehensive member engagement scoring and quickly see improvements in the three areas that matter to most associations: member retention, new member acquisition, and conference registration. 0.5 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: .orgCommunity
Presenter: association technologist Rob Miller, MPA, CAE, Gravitate Solutions
Thu 9/12 at 1 p.m. – Technology for Recruiting Volunteers
Learn about services that help you recruit volunteers from a pool of people who have already confirmed their interest, opportunities to get professional guidance to support your volunteer search, and ways to help you design productive volunteer engagements. More info/register.
Host: Idealware
Presenter: Julia Vallera, Technology and Instructional Design consultant
Thu 9/12 at 2 p.m. – The California Consumer Privacy Act & Its Impact on Associations
Learn about the details of this new legislation and how associations can best prepare themselves. More info/register.
Hosts: ReviewMyAMS and Fonteva
Presenters:
- Jake Fabbri, CMO of Fonteva
- Teri Carden, founder, ReviewMyAMS
Fri 9/13 at 1 p.m. – Are Your Credentials Future Ready? Making the Case for Digital Badges and Micro-credentials
Learn why badges have become the currency of choice for organizations to recognize their stakeholders’ accomplishments. You will also learn how micro-credentials differ from badges and traditionally offered credentials, and how they are providing additional value for professionals while helping organizations meet their goals. We will also present some concrete ideas to consider when developing your own micro-credential.
1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Hosts: BadgeCert and Blue Sky eLearn
Presenters:
- Ginger Malin, founder, BadgeCert
- Amanda Davis, CMP, business development manager, Blue Sky eLearn
Tue 9/17 usually at 8:30 a.m. – Coffee Talks with Results Direct (usually in Alexandria VA)
Save the date and check their website for more information.
Host: Results Direct
Tue 9/17 at 11 a.m. – Is It Time to Re-Brand?
Whether it’s due to a merger, new leadership, changing audience demographics or to just keep pace with the competition, at some point all organizations come to the question: “Is it time re-brand?” Find out when and how to approach a re-brand for your organization. Learn the key considerations before deciding to rebrand, how to develop a successful re-branding plan and how to fuel equity and position with your brand (new or not). 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Matrix Group
Presenters:
- Jane Barwis, Founder and President, BRG Communications
- Joanna Pineda, CEO, Matrix Group
Tue 9/17 at 1 p.m. – Voice Search Is Here. What You Need To Know (And Do!) Today
According to voicebot.ai, 58.6% of online adults in the United States have used voice search. Learn why Voice is important to business; what impact voice search will have on your business and content; why you need to optimize your website for voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and why a Voice application may be in your future. Hear real-world examples of how voice search results can differ and some immediate next steps you can take to get started to integrate Voice into your marketing and search approaches. More info/register.
Hosts: Gulo and Pragmatic
Presenters:
- Chris Bonney, VP of Strategy, Gulo
- Scot Westwater, Co-founder and Lead Voice Strategist, Pragmatic
- Susan Westwater, Co-founder and CEO, Pragmatic
Thu 9/19 usually at 8:30 a.m. – Coffee Talks with Results Direct (usually in Reston VA)
Save the date and check their website for more information.
Host: Results Direct
Thu 9/19 at 12 p.m. – Leverage Chapters to Engage & Grow Membership
Chapters can play a key role in membership and revenue growth for your association. Learn how to leverage chapters as a channel to reach new audiences; tap into (and boost) chapters’ unique ability to provide community and optimize the member experience; and leverage chapter experiences to drive community influencers. Find out how to lead, support and measure these initiatives. The results will be a stronger channel and your chapter network will be aligned to association membership goals. More info/register.
Hosts: Billhighway and Mariner Management
Presenter: Peggy Hoffman, president, Mariner Management
Thu 9/19 at 1 p.m. – LMS Selection: Mastering the Process, Avoiding the Pitfalls
Learn about a time-tested process for selecting a learning management system and the pitfalls to avoid. Get a clear understanding of how to lead your organization in choosing the right learning technology. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Tagoras
Presenters: Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb, co-founders of Tagoras
Thu 9/19 at 3 p.m. – Small Staff Association Book Group
Join a discussion on the book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. More info/register.
Organizer: ASAE Small Staff Association Professionals Community
That’s it for now. If you can’t attend a live webinar, go ahead and register if the topic interests you. Most webinar hosts send registrants a link to the recording.
Association Brain Food Weekly is published Friday mornings. If your organization offers free professional development for the association community, please send me the link via email or Twitter.
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