The weekly list of free educational events and resources for the association community…
Welcome to the last Association Brain Food of 2020. I’ll be back on Friday, January 8 after a (hopefully but probably not likely) two-week holiday break.
Thank you for reading and sharing Association Brain Food with others in the association community this year. If I had a documented personal mission—hmm, perhaps that’s a good exercise for my break—it would include something about helping others to prosper, learn and grow, which is why your comments of appreciation mean so much to me, maybe I’m doing it.
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy holiday season!
I’m sharing more reading recommendations than usual because I’m hoping you’ll have time during the holidays to catch up on your reading. That’s my plan, plus watching ASAE TEC sessions recordings and webinar recordings from the past several months.
Chapters
Chapter training needs survey. Elisa Brewer Pratt, CAE, of Brewer Pratt Solutions invites you to participate in a Chapter Staff & Chapter Board Training Needs survey until Friday, December 25. But don’t wait that long, please take a moment to complete the survey or forward it to a component relations professional at your association.
Chapter financial data. How are your chapters really doing? Billhighway explains how to get access to real-time chapter financial data, reduce the risk of financial mismanagement and alleviate the chapter leadership burden. No, not too good to be true.
Marketing
Digital marketing for education programs. Compare your marketing tactics to the twelve digital marketing channels described by WBT Systems. The post also provides a good primer on programmatic advertising (aka retargeting or remarketing), if you’ve been wondering about that.
DEI
DEI data. At the Harvard Business Review, Siri Chilazi and Iris Bohnet explain how to best use data to meet your DE&I goals. This is one of the most useful articles I’ve read on the topic.
COVID perspective
Anthony Fauci says herd immunity is possible by the fall of 2021, and ‘normality’ by the end of 2021… if 75-80% of Americans are vaccinated. That’s a big if. Alvin Powell has the story at The Harvard Gazette.
A little more optimistic prediction via Tyler Cowen: the best estimate of a complete ‘return to normal’ in the U.S. is late summer 2021 (Aug-Oct 2021), per data scientist and COVID modeler Youyang Gu.
Virtual conferences
Tri-brid event model. If you attended PivotFest at ASAE TEC, you heard Reggie Henry mention the tri-bid event model. Well, here’s the post by Arianna Rehak of Matchbox Virtual Media that describes this focus on three event experiences: in-person, virtual and integrated.
Virtual exhibitor/sponsor data. Shepherd Smith of Gravitate Solutions and Scott Oser of Oser Associates share a list of sponsor/exhibitor benefits, the type of data each of the benefits generates and the value of that data to sponsors/exhibitors—a handy reference when putting together your exhibitor/sponsor prospectus.
Proximity chat. An emerging type of platform known as “proximity chat” could offer a better option for Zoom happy hours and parties, says Gretchen McCullough at Wired. I agree. It would at least offer a different experience. I enjoyed going to a few events hosted on The Echo from MemberSuite which provides this type of conversational experience.
Virtual conference as ritual. Don Neal of 360 Live Media believes a conference can serve the same ritualistic role in our professional lives that other ceremonies and events play in our personal lives. He provides a “few thought starters for the virtual expression of the secular rituals that might help elevate spirits and engage your audience.”
Virtual conference tips. Shameka Jennings, CMP, suggests seven areas of focus as you pivot your in-person events online. She just pulled off a successful virtual conference so her advice is based on experience.
Virtual event risks. Susan Schramm of Go To Market Impact describes five ways to “de-risk” your next virtual (or hybrid) event—”drawn from real-world experiences and scars (my own and others).” It’s quite a comprehensive list.
Quick hits before we get to the list of next week’s free education
- Angry about friends breaking the Covid rules? (Neelam Tailor, The Guardian)
- Psychologists offer three tips for coping with the loss of holiday traditions. (Rebecca Schrag Hershberg and Yael Schonbrun, Greater Good Magazine)
- Eight-in-ten Americans say they don’t generally answer their cellphone when an unknown number calls. (Colleen McClain, Pew Research)
- I love German Christmas markets. I’ve not yet been to one but this year I’m travelling virtually to Rothenburg, Cologne, Berlin, Nuremberg and Munich. I know, France has good ones too. Go explore!
Support your local food bank
Since spring, my local food bank has distributed double the amount of food they usually do because of the unrelenting demand caused by the pandemic’s economic impact. Please consider finding and supporting your local food bank. Many of them have matching campaigns during the holiday season so the impact of your donation might be doubled or tripled.
Good eats
Skip down to the list of free webinars if you prefer take-out. If you’re a home cook, check out the weekly In The Kitchen posts on my Grabbing the Gusto blog.
- Have you ever had wahoo? It reminds me of swordfish and was incredibly tasty in a creamy tomato sauce—a quick recipe for busy nights. I don’t add water, just extra cream, or you could add the juice from canned tomatoes instead.
- I’m always on the hunt for a good meatball—my childhood memories drive that obsession. On an old Milk Street podcast episode, they were talking about the large amount of bread used in the excellent meatballs in Naples. I couldn’t get that off my mind so I found the recipe for Neapolitan meatballs on their site (paywall) and made them. Yes, they are delicious—my new house meatball recipe. I copied the recipe into a Word doc so if you want it, just email me.
- I love hearty greens on the side of a tomato-based pasta sauce so we had a kale sauté with bacon, onion, carrots, yellow sweet peppers and garlic. Another night, we had roasted broccoli with red onion, garlic and red pepper flakes—that would have worked well too.
- Earlier in the week, I made some roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary. The leftovers went into a fantastic frittata along with some red bell pepper and sad-looking scallions.
Here are the educational events scheduled for next week. If you have a free webinar or event coming up, please send me the link before Wednesday evening the week before it’s scheduled. I’ll be happy to feature it as long as it’s not too product-centric. The next Association Brain Food will publish on Friday, January 8.
Fri 12/18 at 10 a.m.* – Member ROI Simplified: Safeguarding Your Organization’s Future
The most important method for safeguarding your organization’s future is to research, embrace, and maximize your Member ROI. Learn how to measure your current ROI in actual dollar numbers, use the numbers for influencing the membership decision, grow your ROI, and prove beyond a doubt that membership in your organization is a good business decision. More info/register.
Host: Ed Rigsbee, CAE, president at Rigsbee Research
*All times are Eastern Standard Time unless otherwise noted.
Fri 12/18 at 12 p.m. – WEC Grapevine: How We Did It – Pandemic Meetings Considerations & Lessons Learned
In November 2020, MPI delivered a hybrid event in-person at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas, and live online to an audience representing 17 countries. Join a deep-dive conversation about the strategy and execution of the event from early critical choices to duty of care to the realities of hybrid. 1 CMP credit. More info/register (fee for MPI non-members).
Host: MPI
Presenters:
- Melinda Burdette, CMP, Director of Events, MPI
- Drew Holmgreen, Vice President, Brand Engagement, MPI
- Jessie States, CMP, CMM, MPI Academy Director, MPI
- Annette Gregg, CMM, MBA, Senior Vice President, Experience, MPI
Mon 12/21 at 11 a.m. – The ROI Member Recruitment Brochure: How to Create Brochures That Positively Influence Membership Decisions
Learn to determine who should be membership targets, which features of membership should be highlighted, how to develop an effective brochure layout, decision motives for joining, and how to train your members to use the brochure. More info/register.
Host: Ed Rigsbee, CAE, president at Rigsbee Research
Mon 12/21 at 1 p.m. – Part 3 of the CyberSecurity series (Chatting with Agnes & Cecilia)
This series of 15- to 20-minute videos cover hot topics and issues related to 501c organization management. New episodes are posted by 1 p.m. every Monday. Check out Cecilia’s Nonprofit Executive Spotlight series too.
Hosts:
- Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips LLC
- Agnes Amos-Coleman, MBA, CMP, education, conference, event, certification consultant, Amos-Coleman
Guest: Sanjay Deo of 24by7 Security: A Day in the Life of Ransomware
Mon 12/21 at 10 p.m. – How to Develop Metrics, Track and Analyze Data at Digital Events
Digital events now give stakeholders the opportunity to capture and analyze data points, translating it into meaningful results and insights. How do you develop the right data metrics for sponsors and partners of your digital event? Also, what are the questions to ask of the event platforms to ensure you receive the data at the completion of your digital event thereby creating more value for your event stakeholders. 1 CMP credit. More info/register.
Host: PCMA
Presenter: Jennifer Kingen Kush, DES, Founder and Strategist, Kingen Kush Solutions, LLC
Wed 12/23 at 11 a.m. – The ROI of Words: How to Write Website Copy That Will Drive Member Renewal and Recruitment
You can no longer depend on interns or web designers to write your member value copy for influencing renewals and retention. They do pretty, you must do effective. Learn how to write the kind of benefit (or what’s in it for me) copy that will influence the decision to join or renew. More info/register.
Host: Ed Rigsbee, CAE, president at Rigsbee Research
Mon 12/28 at 1 p.m. – The Impact of the Pandemic on the Tourism Industry (Chatting with Agnes & Cecilia)
This series of 15- to 20-minute videos cover hot topics and issues related to 501c organization management. New episodes are posted by 1 p.m. every Monday. Check out Cecilia’s Nonprofit Executive Spotlight series too.
Hosts:
- Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips LLC
- Agnes Amos-Coleman, MBA, CMP, education, conference, event, certification consultant, Amos-Coleman
Guest: Lisa Simon, Executive Director of the International Inbound Travel Association
Tue 12/29 at 9:30 a.m. – Hello 2021 CRP Coffee Chat
Let’s do an early ring in of the new year with a short coffee chat. We’ll swap ideas we’re percolating for 2021 and share wins from 2020. More info/register.
Hosts: Billhighway and Mariner Management
Tue 12/29 at 10 a.m. – Nonprofit GAAP – The New Revenue Recognition Standard and What You Need to Know About It as a Nonprofit
Not-for-profit accounting for exchange transactions can be difficult. Recent accounting standards such as Accounting Standards Codification 606 (ASC 606) add to the complexity. All transactions must use the five step approach and additional considerations need to be addressed depending on the nature of the transaction. Learn about these five steps and how to apply them to your organization’s transactions with customers. Understand the differences between contributions and exchange transactions. 1.5 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: US Transactions Corp.
Presenter: Mark Robins, CPA, Partner, Assurance Services at Aronson LLC
Tue 12/29 at 12 p.m. – Tax Implications of the Cares Act
The CARES Act is the largest economic relief bill in US history, allocating $3 trillion to support individuals and businesses through the pandemic and economic downturn. Learn about tax implications of provisions of the CARES Act and FFCRA and begin planning for year end. 1.5 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: US Transactions Corp.
Presenter: Jennifer Eubanks, CPA
Mon 1/4 at 1 p.m. – Welcome to 2021! What’s Ahead (Chatting with Agnes & Cecilia)
This series of 15- to 20-minute videos cover hot topics and issues related to 501c organization management. New episodes are posted by 1 p.m. every Monday. Check out Cecilia’s Nonprofit Executive Spotlight series too.
Hosts:
- Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNAP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips LLC
- Agnes Amos-Coleman, MBA, CMP, education, conference, event, certification consultant, Amos-Coleman
Tue 1/5 at 12 p.m. – How to Give Performance Reviews on Video
Just because you’re on video doesn’t mean you have to miss the opportunity to create moments of honest connections that lead to deeper engagement. Learn how to leverage video for performance reviews, make these conversations more comfortable, and create positive outcomes for you and your team members. More info/register.
Host: Remote Leader Project
Wed 1/6 at 12 p.m. – How to Market When You Don’t Have Time (or Resources) for Marketing
Learn how to allocate marketing resources and prioritize activities in a lean environment to get the most impact for your dollar. Tactics covered will include SEO, automation, social media and more. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Association Insights in Old Town
Presenter: Tim Young, President, Young Marketing Consulting
Wed 1/6 at 1 p.m. – #ExpoChat on Twitter
ExpoChat is a Twitter-based conversation on topics related to the trade show industry. More info.
Wed 1/6 at 3 p.m. – Coaching Volunteer Success
This session is designed to help CRPs use their inherent, and sometimes hidden, skills to coach volunteers toward success for their chapters AND the association. Learn how to identify the coaching skills you already have, explore ways to untangle the conversations, and honor and use diversity of thought. More info/register.
Hosts: Peggy Hoffman of Mariner Management and Laurie Reuben, PCC, of Cheshire Consulting Group
Thu 1/7 at 9 a.m. – How to Give Performance Reviews on Video
Just because you’re on video doesn’t mean you have to miss the opportunity to create moments of honest connections that lead to deeper engagement. Learn how to leverage video for performance reviews, make these conversations more comfortable, and create positive outcomes for you and your team members. More info/register.
Host: Remote Leader Project
Thu 1/7 at 2 p.m. – 2021 Hospitality Predictions
Hear where the hospitality industry is going and what smart meeting professionals are doing to reassure attendees and meet their goals. Learn methods to optimize your relationships with hotels, skills you need to thrive in the coming market, and what is myth vs reality in today’s meeting environment. More info/register.
Host: Smart Meetings
Presenter: Michael Dominguez, President and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International
Fri 1/8 at 12 p.m. – Striving for Sustainable Excellence? Case Study of EAIE 2019 Conference
The EAIE Conference and Exhibition is the largest international higher education conference in Europe and the second largest in the world. In 2019, it gathered 6,200 participants in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Such a large and visible occasion provided the opportunity to showcase the close co-operation between the client (EAIE) and the hosting venue (Messukeskus Helsinki) to build a sustainable event and provide an example that inspires the meeting industry to be more sustainable. 1 CMP credit. More info/register (fee for MPI non-members).
Host: MPI
Presenter: Paula Blomster, Conference Manager, Suomen Messut Osuuskunta
Thu 1/14 at 1 p.m. – LMS Selection: Mastering the Process, Avoiding the Pitfalls
The right LMS can mean the difference between a big success and a big headache, but the selection process can be daunting. In this session, we’ll discuss our time-tested process for selecting a learning management system and highlight the pitfalls to avoid. Attendees will leave the session with a clear understanding of how to lead their organization in choosing the right learning technology. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Hosts/presenters: Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb, co-founders of Leading Learning and Tagoras
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 before Wednesday evening.
Creative Commons photo by Alicia Slough via Unsplash
Association Brain Food 