The weekly list of free educational events and resources for the association community…
Ukraine. If you’d like updates from Ukraine plus expert commentary, I created a Twitter list of Ukraine journalists, academics and others.
Russian tanks vs. global networks. Steven Johnson points out the contrast between the dismal perspective of the mainstream media on events in Ukraine and the energizing, hopeful perspective he sees from Ukrainians on Twitter. Bear in mind, he wrote this on Sunday 2/27. He believes this difference exists because Twitter picks up “the shifting momentum of a global event like the Ukrainian conflict” more quickly than the media can. He says this is a “conflict between two very different kinds of adversaries: tanks versus networks. Much of the world right now is fighting alongside the Ukrainian resistance through networks—networks of information, finance, travel.” Let’s hope and pray the networks can overcome the tanks. By the way, he’s worth a subscribe.
Useful learning. WBT Systems introduces us to action mapping, an instructional design method developed by Cathy Moore to “save the world from boring instruction.” The focus is on activities that help learners practice the skills they need to improve job performance. Sounds like a practical approach to session and course design, doesn’t it?
Career wellness. Many professionals (maybe you!) are reevaluating why, where and how they work—the disruption caused by a two-year pandemic will do that to you. Finding meaning in work that aligns with your values and goals is a healthy sign of career wellness. Achurch Consulting explains how people working remotely can take a strategic approach to enhancing their career wellness.
SEO advantage. Results Direct describes how WordPress makes it easy for associations to manage reader- and SEO-friendly websites. You don’t have to keep up with ever-changing Google algorithms or be an SEO expert if you use WordPress alongside some handy plugins—they will take care of all that for you.
Crappy hiring practices. At Nonprofit AF, Vu Le has a lot to say about standard (awful) hiring practices. I can just see you reading his post and yelling “Yes!” and “Seriously!” in agreement because that’s what I did and I haven’t applied for a job since 2004. He’s not just tearing things apart; he also suggests how to improve the hiring process.
Cross-team collaboration. The bigger the association, the more likely staff have their heads down focused only on their department’s work because that’s about all they can handle. Suzanna Kelley at McKinley Advisors explains how to begin aligning and sharing work across departments, taking risks together, and making faster progress toward mutual goals.
Networking groups. Lisa Boylan at Associations Now shares a networking success story from the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits. Their EMPOWER groups bring together “like-minded professionals to ‘empower’ one another with shared experience, perspective, support, business development, and inspiration.”
Quick hits
Lost passwords: Who has access to your business’s most important systems? (Ray van Hilst, Yoko Consulting)
Why you shouldn’t work first thing on Mondays—the author dedicates that time to professional development. (Hannah Herman, Zapier)
Good eats
Skip down to the list of free webinars if you prefer takeout.
I had the urge over the weekend to make a Ukrainian dish for Sunday dinner. I looked at a bunch of halushki recipes, jotted down ingredients, and winged it—easy to do for a dish like this. Instead of making the traditional dumplings, I used ready-made potato gnocchi, which I added to sautéed mushrooms (lots), onion, bacon (lots), garlic, Savoy cabbage, smoked paprika, coriander, salt and pepper along with some of the reserved pasta water. Seriously delicious.
I’ve been stretching my leftovers, so the only other dish I cooked was Mediterranean braised ribbonfish. I love the flavor combo: olives, fennel, red bell pepper, onion, celery, tomatoes and garlic. Get out the wine!
Here are the educational events scheduled for next week. If you have a free webinar or event coming up, please send me the link by Wednesday afternoon the week before it’s scheduled. I’ll be happy to feature it as long as it’s not too product-centric.
Fri 3/4 at 12 p.m.* – EventTech Chat
A weekly conversation about meeting and event technology, including software, hardware, and audiovisual for in-person and online events. More info/register.
Host: Brandt Krueger, founder Event Technology Consulting
*All events are online at Eastern Standard Time unless otherwise noted.
Fri 3/4 at 4 p.m. – Hitting a Wall: Tips for Your Job Search Fatigue
Have you hit the wall on your job search? Are you looking for some tips to motivate you to forge ahead? Hear tips to climb the wall of job search fatigue. More info/register.
Host: Fridays@4
Presenter: Janelle Spratley, HR Generalist
Mon 3/7 at 1 p.m. – Why Nonprofit Professionals Should Volunteer (Chatting with Agnes & Cecilia)
This series of 15- to 20-minute videos covers hot topics and issues related to 501c organization management. New episodes are posted around 1 p.m. every Monday. Check out Cecilia’s Nonprofit Executive Spotlight series too.
Guest: Michael Butera, President & CEO, Association ActiVision
Hosts:
- Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips LLC
- Agnes Amos-Coleman, MBA, CMP, education, conference, event, certification consultant, Amos-Coleman
Tue 3/8 at 11 a.m. – Did They Learn It? Can They Do It? Can You Prove It?
Are you brand new to testing and assessments? Confused about the difference between validity and reliability? Looking for ideas on what goes into to putting together a good test? Learn strategies for developing assessments that are both valid (they measure the right knowledge, skills, competencies) and reliable (they are consistent in that measurement) to provide stakeholders with actionable, defensible results for informed decision-making. More info/register.
Host: Question Mark
Tue 3/8 at 1 p.m. – Biggest Shifts About to Happen in AMSs
Associations are giving everyone a voice like never before, using open APIs to enable grassroots voting, smarter committees and stronger online community. Associations also are setting in motion better data analytics and visualization to deliver unique industry insights available nowhere else. Meanwhile tech giants are consolidating the industry by fully integrating software solutions to add seamless email marketing, accounting and post-COVID phygital conferencing, while the Cloud, in its second decade, is helping databases to connect anything to anything more securely at less cost. It used to be that your AMS could never quite keep up, but now the roles have reversed: are you keeping up with your AMS? More info/register.
Host: ReviewMyAMS
Presenters:
- Teri Carden, founder of ReviewMyAMS
- AMS experts Owens Gollamandala and Thomas McClintock of Empowered Margins
Wed 3/9 at 11 a.m. – How to Write an RFP (Request for Proposal) for Merchant Services: Improving Your Business Process and Net Income
When evaluating new merchant service providers, knowing how the credit card industry works is crucial. Your fiduciary obligation and reputation are on the line, and you have compliance standards to meet and risks to mitigate. We will demystify the credit card processing flow, players, terminology, and musts to consider. Get prepared to write your RFP and evaluate your perspective merchant service providers based on the criteria most important for your organization. Learn how to identify the gaps in your current payments ecosystem and what to ask to reduce these issues in your future state. 1.5 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: U.S. Transactions Corp. (UST)
Presenters: Julie Duncan, Association Practice Leader, and Wade Tetsuka, CPA, President, UST
Wed 3/9 at 11 a.m. – Live Q&A: Building World-Class Digital Communities
In 2022, events will drive the creation of rich digital communities for professionals everywhere. How do you attract an audience to your community? How do you engage them before, during, and after your events? What do successful communities have in common? 0.5 CMP credit.
Host: PCMA
Presenter: Mia Masson, Head of Content at Swapcard, and manager, Evolve, an online community and virtual event series
Wed 3/9 at 11 a.m. – Streamlining Access for Your Users: A Case Sudy from OpenAthens, Silverchair, and the American Academy of Pediatrics
Hear about the challenges, solutions, and benefits around how content platform migrations affect your access models. OpenAthens and Silverchair have collaborated on dozens of integrations, including the recent launch of The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) unified publication portal. AAP will offer insights into the business benefits they’ve experienced as part of the partnership. More info/register.
Host: Silverchair
Wed 3/9 at 12:30 p.m. – Been There. Done That. Lessons Learned.
Hear a panel of event professionals discuss their successful events in 2022. Topics will include: managing health and safety, especially considering Omicron; the biggest challenges, surprises and successes; feedback from attendees, exhibitors and sponsors; managing education sessions; and advice for organizers in the planning stages. 1 CAE/CEM credit. More info/register.
Host: Personify
Presenters:
- Rich Vallaster, DES, CEM, the Events Tradeshow Wonk, Personify
- Susan Newman, SVP of Conferences, National Retail Federation
- Melissa Householder, CEM, Trade Show Manager, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
- Kelly Finney, Trade Show Manager, Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show
Wed 3/9 at 1 p.m. – Change Management: How to Seek the Path of Most Resilience
Thriving in uncertain environments while navigating the everyday stress is a skill that can be learned (and taught). Learn how to support your employees with successful change management strategies, involve and engage employees during change, and communicate about change to help your employees accept change faster. More info/register.
Host: LifeLabs Learning
Wed 3/9 at 2 p.m. – Top Trends in Content Marketing 2022
Hear about the biggest findings from Semrush’s latest State of Content Marketing 2022 Global Report and the key trends for 2022. Learn how to build a successful content strategy, what the anatomy of successful organic content looks like, and ways to optimize your content for success. More info/register.
Host: Content Marketing Institute
Thu 3/10 at 10 a.m. – RD Mobile What’s Working Now: A Tale of 2 Meeting Successes
Are you challenged with how to plan your association’s events amid the current uncertainties? What happens if conditions necessitate shifting your event format at the last minute? Hear how the NAM Council of Manufacturing Associations and CESSE seamlessly navigated these exact situations for their CEO conferences in January. They will share their experiences successfully shifting events from in-person to online, introducing creative new solutions to connect and engage attendees, facilitating sponsor lead generation, and leveraging event platforms to accommodate change. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Results Direct
Presenters:
- Shonzia Thompson CAE, CMP, Managing VP, Association Partnerships of NAM’s Council of Manufacturing Associations
- Christopher Ocampo, Marketing Manager, Council of Engineering & Scientific Society Executives
- Michael Jones, VP of Mobile Technologies, Results Direct | RD Mobile
Thu 3/10 at 12 p.m. – Mastering the Art of Content Journeys in 3 Simple Steps
Creating content for each stage of the customer journey requires thoughtful planning to align your narrative to the needs of your audience. With the rise of digital events, we now have the ability to activate multi-touch experiences that accelerate the path an attendee takes to becoming a customer. Learn how enhance your buyer personas with experience data, design a content journey map to visualize your strategy, and fast-track the path to conversion with digital events. More info/register.
Host: American Marketing Association
Presenter: Allie Magyar, SVP, Chief Product Officer, Notified
Thu 3/10 at 1 p.m. – Association Creative Marketing Masterclass
This course provides a framework for evaluating creative copy and design via practical collateral critiques, and following brand standards while ensuring marketing performance. In this class, Todd discusses banner creative elements that drive clicks and identifies the irrelevant components that don’t affect performance. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Association Academy / Ricochet Advisory Services
Presenter: Todd Unger, Chief Experience Officer, SVP Marketing & Member Experience, American Medical Association
Fri 3/11 at 12 p.m. – Mindful Networking
Held the second Friday of each month, these intimate, virtual conversations are a chance to form meaningful connections with other women and allies in the association technology community. In 2022, we are trying something new! Each Mindful Networking will feature one of our amazing AWTC award winners, followed by breakout rooms with these topics: platform overload, the future of transactions, baking (and her enemy, sourdough), and movies that are stupid that she loves (e.g., Twilight). More info/register.
Host: Association Women Technology Champions
Guest: Kerri L. McGovern, MPP, CAE, Senior Director of Membership, ACC
Fri 3/11 at 12 p.m. – EventTech Chat
A weekly conversation about meeting and event technology, including software, hardware, and audiovisual for in-person and online events. More info/register.
Host: Brandt Krueger, founder Event Technology Consulting
Fri 3/11 at 4 p.m. – ASAE’s Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP)
Join your association colleagues to learn more about the ASAE DELP. We will have a recent graduate of the DELP as well as an ASAE staff member to explain the program. Registration recently opened, and the program was just revised. More info/register.
Host: Fridays@4
Presenters: TBA
Sat 3/12 at 10 a.m. – Step Up & Step Out: Resetting Resilience in 2022
A free virtual half-day summit featuring women in associations and non-profits of African, Latin, Native, and Asian heritage. Join dynamic panelists, and fellow association and non-profit sisters for a candid conversation about resetting our resilience, how it feels, and what we can do about it. You’ll leave with checklists, real-life stories, resources, connections, and practical tools to recognize and combat the cycle of “doing too much,” and how to halt “being sick and tired.” 3 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: Mariama Boney, Achieve More LLC
Wed 3/16 at 11 a.m. – Looking Forward 2022 (Impact): Trends and Analysis
Lessen your uncertainty heading into 2022 with the latest data in the Looking Forward® Impact survey, the most current and comprehensive examination of 75 critical factors affecting association members and the potential impacts on association strategy. The research covers factors affecting the association environment in six domains, including economic, information and technology, workforce, government, global and stakeholder perceptions. Understand the factors impacting association strategy and identify what associations are doing to strategically adapt. 1.5 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: Association Laboratory
Presenters:
- Dean West, FASAE, founder and president, Association Laboratory
- Nikki Golden, CAE, strategist, Association Laboratory
Wed 3/16 at 2 p.m. – Association Revenue: Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
Associations are crossing new territory as members, attendees, sponsors and advertisers have higher demands and options for their investments. To meet the challenge, our associations must meet the critical task of upskilling our teams and improving our revenue strategies. Hear about a strategic approach to the tactical elements of sales planning, including actions and activities to increase revenue, pipeline quadrants of territory management, and forecasting best practices. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Professionals for Association Revenue
Presenter: Dan McGrath, Vice President, Client Development, COACH MEdia
Thu 3/17 at 1 p.m. – How to Turn the Great Resignation into a Great Credentialing Opportunity
The Great Resignation has left many organizations trying to make do with fewer workers and scrambling to hire talent in this hypercompetitive employment market. But the surge in resignations represents a golden opportunity for learning businesses. More individuals are hungry for effective, efficient ways to gain and demonstrate skills and knowledge as they look for their next position, and organizations need ways to attract and retain talent. The certifications, licenses, certificates, and other credentials offered by your learning business can address the needs of both learners and employers. Get a clear sense of the opportunity the current moment represents and how to leverage credentialing to grow—and have a greater impact in the world. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Leading Learning / Tagoras
Presenters:
- Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, co-founders of Tagoras and Leading Learning
- Ashish Rangnekar, CEO at BenchPrep
Thu 3/17 at 1 p.m. – Association Creative Marketing Masterclass
This course provides a framework for evaluating creative copy and design via practical collateral critiques, and for following brand standards while ensuring marketing performance. In this class, David explains landing page and microsite strategies and discusses the top reasons for failure. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Association Academy / Ricochet Advisory Services
Presenter: David Alexander, General Manager and Chief Communications Officer, Rotary International
Thu 3/17 at 2 p.m. – Behind the Curtain of ASAE’s Power of Associations Awards: What You Need to Know Before You Apply
Learn what you need to know before applying for the Power of Associations Awards. Hear about the application and best practices. More info/register.
Host: ASAE
Presenters:
- Mark A. Vasquez, CAE, Chair of the Power of Associations Awards Committee and Sr. Program Manager, IEEE
- Victoria Forlini, CAE, two-time Summit Award winner and Vice Chair of the Power of Associations Awards Committee, and Director, Meetings, AGU
- Mary Kate Cunningham, CAE (moderator), SVP, Public Policy, ASAE
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 by Wednesday afternoon.
Creative Commons photo by Olga Subach via Unsplash
Association Brain Food 