Spark Consulting

DECEMBER 7, 2022

So yeah, you have to do the hard, unglamorous work of looking at your data periodically to see what messages on what platforms are resonating and with whom, and what actions are being taken and by whom, and then use that information to inform your next steps in relationship-building.

Communications 195

Communications Team Report 195

Spark Consulting

JUNE 10, 2020

We’re all feeling a little overwhelmed by the volume and variety of information coming at us, having trouble determining what’s accurate and relevant, placing that information in meaningful context, and successfully using it to make sense of our increasingly complex world. That’s the bad news. Register now.

Content 195

Content Process Strategy 195

Spark Consulting

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

When you download your copy, you’ll have the option of taking a three question survey and sharing contact information if you’d like to be kept in the loop about that. We’re hoping to put together a true Community of Practice of associations who are ready to lead change. Get your copy at [link].

Case Study 221

Case Study Survey Industry Team 221

Spark Consulting

JUNE 2, 2021

To discover the answer, download the full whitepaper at [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required. And the cycle repeats. Which sounds, if not easy , then at least simple. So why aren’t we doing it? The post What IS “Digital Transformation” Anyway? appeared first on Spark Consulting.

Technology 195

Technology Tools Process Industry 195

Spark Consulting

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

When you’re sponsoring a research study, one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is what method(s) to use. What are your choices? Quantitative v. Qualitative. You also have some decisions to make about data collection. The choices there include: Formal v. All of these choices have associated pros and cons.

Survey 195

Survey Innovation Strategy Leadership 195

Spark Consulting

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

One of the things we learned is that we CAN rapidly gather information from our members and other stakeholders and use that to create minimum viable product style tests, then take what we learn from those tests and use it to create the next iteration of that MVP, or to change directions entirely.

Event Planning 195

Event Planning Review Strategy Project 195

Spark Consulting

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

ISACA, the association for professionals in assurance, governance, risk and information security, provides a great practical example of how to do this: [link]. Volunteers can even earn spiffy digital badges.).

Member Engagement 195

Member Engagement Examples Industry Organization 195

Spark Consulting

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Fortunately, my group had decided on an informal fishbowl format , and we had a spiffy printed handout to supplement the whitepaper the session was based on. And as a speaker, I realized that I’m rusty, there, too.

Conference 416

Conference Maine Content Process 416

Spark Consulting

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

That could look like a more well-informed survey. Once you’ve had the opportunity to hear from them, in open conversation, what’s going on in their worlds, looking for places where that differs from what your paying members are facing, you have firm foundation for further research.

Survey 305

Survey millennials Project Conference 305

Spark Consulting

JUNE 3, 2021

To learn more about all of these, and what your association can do to overcome them and use what makes member relationships special to accelerate your transformation efforts, download the full whitepaper at [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required. The post Why Do Associations Struggle With Digital Transformation?

Technology 195

Technology Industry Innovation 195

Spark Consulting

JUNE 7, 2021

To learn more about how you do that, download the full whitepaper at [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required. The post Culture Change + Vendor Selection appeared first on Spark Consulting.

Strategy 195

Strategy Leadership Resources Technology 195

Spark Consulting

OCTOBER 5, 2020

The conversation was based on Hilary’s and my recently released whitepaper, Cut Through the Clutter: Content Curation, Associations’ Secret Weapon Against Information Overload. We discussed topics such as: Why now? Why focus on content curation now, when there are so many pressures on association resources?

Content 195

Content Course Resources Strategy 195

Spark Consulting

MAY 10, 2019

Remember, it’s completely free, and you won’t be asked for any information or put on a mailing list.

Social Media 150

Social Media System Education Technology 150

Spark Consulting

JUNE 1, 2021

And don’t forget to check out some of the other FREE Spark collaborative whitepapers, too: Cut Through the Clutter: Content Curation, Associations’ Secret Weapon Against Information Overload (PDF), co-authored with Hilary Marsh, Content Company, May 2020.

Case Study 150

Case Study Innovation America Content 150

Spark Consulting

MARCH 29, 2022

People are clearly still interested in those topics; let’s make sure the information I’m sharing is still good. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to revisit them, provide some additional context, and potentially update them. Here’s the original list: Membership 101: The Welcome Series (2017).

Tips 195

Tips Survey Marketing Technology 195

Spark Consulting

APRIL 25, 2018

The MCI Group recently released the American Engagement Index 2017 (the link takes you to a page where you can enter your contact information to get your own copy, and you really should). It’s not an easy nut to crack.

Certificate 170

Certificate Content Industry Products 170

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 31, 2021

For most people, it was a connection you made with another person, whether that was in the hallway between sessions, on the shuttle bus, in the buffet line or at your table at lunch, or at one of the formal or informal social events. What did the organization that put on the event ask about in their event evaluation?

Recruiting 221

Recruiting Recruitment Maine Conference 221

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 3, 2022

I still remember that event marketing piece that had no information about the date, time, or location of the event. Visual through-line: You don’t want your members and other audiences to delete/ignore/immediately recycle without reading your lovely marketing pieces because they have no idea who it’s coming from. ‘Nuff said.

Tips 195

Tips Marketing Sample Library 195

Spark Consulting

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Thanks in part to the recent release of the Looking Forward 201 4 survey by Association Laboratory, associations execs are once again thinking about our members’ experience of information overload. This dynamic is both a source and result of our information overload. I’d like to question that.

Content 150

Content Survey Review Leadership 150

Spark Consulting

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Are you sharing information about something that’s open to the public? Are you sharing information about something that’s for your members only? Are you sharing information about something that’s available only to a sub-set of people? (You Use public channels like Facebook, Twitter, and unprotected areas of your website.

Social Media 150

Social Media Communications Course Resources 150

Spark Consulting

DECEMBER 4, 2017

You can collect it formally AND informally. Informal data collection is what you learn from your day-to-day interactions with members, like your email and phone exchanges with them, or talking to them at in-person events. Dealing with informal qualitative data is a lot more challenging. How am I going to get it?”

Survey 150

Survey Report System Team 150

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 1, 2013

The basic premise of the white paper is: Information overload, while not a new problem, has gotten so much more severe in the last few decades as to turn a difference in quantity into a difference in kind. Switching from an information creation mindset to an information curation mindset is one potential way out of our dilemma.

Conference 150

Conference Innovation 150

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 25, 2016

If you’ve been persuaded by the information I’ve shared about The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm the past few days that we do have a large-scale problem that associations are uniquely equipped to address (and I hope you have), the next question is: where do we start?

Education 150

Education Maryland Ohio Case Study 150

Spark Consulting

MARCH 28, 2018

My Steal Like a Fundraiser: Innovations in Cause-Oriented Fundraising for Associations co-author Sohini Baliga and I recently had the opportunity to talk with some smart people about the information in the whitepaper. Special for those of you who prefer to learn from methods OTHER than reading: Two are videos; one is a podcast.

Strategy 150

Strategy millennials Video Innovation 150

Spark Consulting

APRIL 25, 2019

To learn more about how the technology actually works, via a clever (if I do say so myself) analogy about two people going to a ballgame together, check out the full whitepaper, Blockchain for Associations: Separating the Hype from the Promise , downloadable for free at [link] , no divulging of any information about yourself required.

eBook 150

eBook Cost Technology 150

Spark Consulting

JUNE 9, 2021

The post Digital Transformation: Where Do I Start? appeared first on Spark Consulting.

Case Study 195

Case Study America Recruiting Recruitment 195

Spark Consulting

MARCH 3, 2021

While waiting for the broadcast to start, participants were invited to answer a few questions about themselves (location, demographic information, ranking of key priorities), then each deputy mayor was given the floor for a short presentation on her department (health, education, housing, etc.). The format her team chose was extremely clever.

DC 195

DC Maine Education Team 195

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 1, 2016

Information overload – we all experience it personally, every day, with our emails and social media feeds and online media and print media and broadcast media, and that’s hard enough to manage. But in 2016, our associations ALSO struggle with information overload.

Social Media 150

Social Media Recruiting Recruitment Marketing 150

Spark Consulting

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

What message are you sending when you keep bombarding them with information about programs, products, or services they’ve told you they’re NOT interested in? It’s much easier – and faster – to just send all the information about everything all the time to all those “Dear Colleagues.”

Social Media 150

Social Media Committee Tools Products 150

Spark Consulting

MAY 7, 2019

To learn the answers, check out the full whitepaper, Blockchain for Associations: Separating the Hype from the Promise , downloadable for free at [link] , no divulging of any information about yourself required. The post How Will Blockchain Affect My Members? appeared first on Spark Consulting.

Cost 150

Cost Technology Industry Education 150

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 24, 2016

You can find out more about how Shelly Alcorn, my co-author, and I think associations can leverage these unique skills by downloading your free copy of The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm at [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required.

Certificate 150

Certificate Education Marketing Innovation 150

Spark Consulting

MARCH 13, 2015

Their basic thesis is that the environment in which our organizations operate has changed – we have to move faster, with less hierarchy and more sharing of information, and learn how to be digital native institutions. Clear demands information at everyone’s fingertips. Sounds hard, right?

millennials 150

millennials Review Project Texas 150

Spark Consulting

AUGUST 23, 2016

I’ll share more about how later this week, or you can find out now by downloading your free copy of The Association Role in the New Education Paradigm at [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required.

Education 150

Education Class Technology Innovation 150

Spark Consulting

OCTOBER 26, 2015

To quote my co-author, Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate , Director of Information Services for the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards : “There’s no bigger waste than investing resources working on the wrong thing.” The whitepaper addresses a simple (but not necessarily easy) concept.

Innovation 150

Innovation Content Resources Process 150

Spark Consulting

MARCH 17, 2014

The whitepaper shares both theory and techniques to help senior teams have better conversations, make more informed choices about risk and opportunity, and ultimately, be more effective in forming and implementing their strategies as a result.

Strategy 150

Strategy Leadership Team Cost 150

Spark Consulting

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

It occurred to me that other people might want this information, too. I’ve had several clients hire me recently to do webinars/presentations on basic concepts in membership.

Recruiting 150

Recruiting Recruitment Survey How To 150

Spark Consulting

MAY 9, 2017

To download your free copy of Include Is a Verb: Moving from Talk to Action on Diversity and Inclusion , visit [link] , no divulging of information about yourself required. So that’s where we start, with creating the shared understanding necessary for meaningful action.

Innovation 150

Innovation Leadership 150