The weekly list of free educational events and resources for the association community…
ASAE scholarships. If you don’t have the budget to attend ASAE Annual, apply for the new ASAE-USAE Travel Scholarship made possible by Ross E. Heller, founder and publisher of USAE and CustomNEWs. Complimentary registration and a stipend of $5,000 will be provided to the awardee’s organization to cover the cost of travel, lodging and incidentals. Applicants must be ASAE members.
Non-dues revenue incubator. Non Dues-a-Palooza is offering a free incubator program this spring and summer. Three association execs will get help fleshing out the contours of a new non-dues revenue program and bringing it to life. By the way, Non Dues-a-Palooza is free for association execs this year.
Attention spans. Enough with the goldfish story already! WBT Systems sets us all straight on that particular myth. They also describe the factors affecting attention spans and how your association can overcome each of those challenges so your learners and attendees get more out of your programs.
Value proposition. Mark Athitakis at Associations Now explains why it’s time for a fresh look at your association’s value proposition. Find something that puts your association front-and-center in your members’ professional lives. Glenn Tecker of Tecker International suggests in his comment that you identify “the things of essential value that members can do better together than any one of them can do alone.” That’s the whole point of associations, right?
Evaluating non-dues revenue. Lead Marvels has developed a framework to help associations evaluate and rank non-dues revenue opportunities. Their non-dues revenue scorecard takes seven factors into account, including member value, market insight, effort, and cost.
Obsolete chapter systems. Cecilia Sepp, CAE, of Rogue Tulips asks if your chapter system is from another century. It might be if it requires “boards of directors, committees, bank accounts, and multiple reporting requirements to maintain ‘good standing’ with the national organization.” This “mini-me chapter model” is causing volunteers to opt out, leadership pipelines to empty and chapters to close.
App design. With content and design decisions, remember, says J. Mark Wallach at Results Direct, you are not the customer. He points out several areas on apps and websites where staff preferences and biases override what’s best for the user experience.
AMS warning signs. Selecting and implementing a new AMS is a royal PITA, but sometimes you have to put on your big-girl (-boy) pants and do it. Impexium describes the seven signs you need a new AMS. If any of them ring a bell, well, you know what you have to do.
DEI and Zoom. Maddie Grant at Propel says Zoom has become a tool for diversity, equity and inclusion. I bet at least one of these scenarios will be a revelation for you because we all come to work with different backgrounds, experiences, personalities, and perspectives.
Hybrid employee onboarding. On his eighth day as a new McKinley Advisors employee, COVID hit and Tim Hopkins, CAE, started working from home along with all the co-workers he hadn’t met yet. He and his colleague, Karli Susi, share advice based on that pandemic experience in this ASAE article about adapting your employee onboarding process for the remote or hybrid workplace.
Standard operating procedures. Okay, not the sexiest of topics, but, man oh man, if you need help writing SOPs, Rene Shonerd at Cimatri provides a comprehensive A to Z resource.
Good eats
Skip down to the list of free webinars if you prefer takeout.
Instead of hoarding a dozen oysters to myself last week, like I usually do, I made Emeril’s Louisiana oyster and sausage bake. Since I only had the dozen, I supplemented them with chunks of red drum fillets. I used linguiça instead of andouille, and added red bell pepper, spinach and pasta. I mixed everything together instead of laying the oysters on the bottom of the dish.
Asparagus season continues with this Indian-style chicken and asparagus skillet–so good. Make sure you make plenty of sauce so you can enjoy it with basmati rice.
Our local strawberries are coming in strong, so I made a strawberry Danish braid based on this cheese Danish recipe from Leite’s Culinaria. A package of frozen puff pastry makes it possible to enjoy homemade Danish on a Sunday morning.
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 4/29 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 Daylight Time unless otherwise noted.
Fri 4/29 at 4 p.m. – Facilitated Open Networking Event
Host: Fridays@4
Tue 5/3 at 12 p.m. – Marketing Analytics
Learn about the data analytics available to marketers and what we can extrapolate from them. When we think of where to make improvements to our funnel, we must look beyond dollars to engagement and conversations. Consider where and who your audience is and what their experience is like. What can the amount of time spend on a page tell us when we lack form submissions? Do high email open rates automatically mean it’s performing well? How should you be running A/B tests? 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Data Analytics Network
Presenter: Jen Salazar, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at IEEE Computer Society
Tue 5/3 at 12 p.m. – Conference Survival 2022: 6 Proven Strategies for Putting Powerful Draws on Stage
Recent research suggests only the conferences perceived as the highest quality and more worthwhile will continue to thrive as physical or hybrid events. What can you do to give every community member good reasons to attend your events? Learn six proven strategies for identifying and recruiting the most qualified and marketable speakers, seven kinds of content most attendees will travel to get, and four event design ideas to maximize understanding and impact. 1 CMP credit. More info/register.
Host: MPI
Presenter: Chris Harget, Head of Marketing, Wordly
Tue 5/3 at 3 p.m. – How to Evaluate and Maximize Your Event Technology
As the industry returns to in person and hybrid events it is essential that we take a look at our event technology tools. Things like ease of use for the learner, but no reporting for the provider, defeat the entire educational design. Lack of data analytics will leave your sponsors and exhibitors feeling a low ROI on their investment. Learn about technology tools that will maximize attendee experience, different technology options to best fit your different stakeholder needs, and unique features of your event technology that might be underutilized. 1 CMP credit. More info/register.
Host: PCMA
Presenter: Heather Ranels, MA, MS, CHCP, Founder and President, CE Innovators
Wed 5/4 at 11 a.m. – How to Increase Engagement Through Personalization
Each individual in your community, member or not, has their own set of needs that your association is trying to meet. Traditional marketing has us speaking to segments based on behaviors and transactions. And often, traditional broadcasts are about what the association has to offer rather than what the member actually needs right then and there. Instead of building campaigns around segments and broadcasting information, learn how “The Market of One” connects associations and individuals by asking questions regularly over time to understand and immediately act on member needs. Hear use case campaign examples for member recruitment/renewals, event engagement, and member profile building. 1.5 CAE credits. More info/register.
Host: U.S. Transactions Corp.
Presenters:
- Jemilah Senter, VP, Marketing and Communications, MCI
- Dave Will, Co-Founder and CEO, PropFuel
Wed 5/4 at 11:30 a.m. – Association Tips and Tricks to Leveraging Data to Increase Conversion, Engagement and Growth
Do you ever wonder what’s the magic sauce to growing your membership, engaging members or increasing conversions within your ecommerce flow? Hear what your association peers are doing with their data, their lessons learned and how you can utilize data to inform decisions and help your organization hit its goals. More info/register.
Host: ASAE Marketing Professionals Community
Wed 5/4 at 12 p.m. – Where’s the Interactivity, Bob?!
Some people assume there is a networking button to push during an online or in-person event, but there isn’t. Designing for people takes thoughtful consideration. Learn practical tips to increase engagement in your events and online communities. Find out why we need community, how to create a culture of sharing, how to design spaces for real people online and in-person, and how to help members build meaningful relationships. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Association Insights in Old Town
Presenters: QiqoChat co-founders, Sandra Nam and Lucas Cioffi
Wed 5/4 at 1:30 p.m. – Convince Your Boss, Convince Your Board: How To Get Your Membership Site Project Green-Lit By Your Higher-Ups
Learn the formula to find the budget you didn’t know you had, the data and approach you need to make your case, how to inspire your team to take a member-centric approach that will prioritize the membership site, and how to uncover where you can increase member engagement and member retention. More info/register.
Host: Grype
Presenter: Ronja F., Member Engagement Specialist
Thu 5/5 at 12 p.m. – IT Strategic Plan Roundtable
This ASAE member group will talk over approaches and tools for creating an IT strategic plan—coming out of this Collaborate thread. More info/register.
Host: ASAE Technology Professionals Community
Thu 5/5 at 2 p.m. – Fueling Engagement with Mobile App Platforms
Learn how to fuel engagement using mobile apps. Hear about the state of the industry, using mobile apps to fuel engagement, generating mobile worthy content, keeping the conversations going, and integrating with the rest of your ecosystem. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: 501Works
Presenters:
- Michael Jones, VP, Mobile Technologies, Results Direct | RD Mobile
- Alexa Kade, CEO, Clowder
- Sameer Mulla, CEO, mosaic apps™
- James Marquis, CIO, 501Works
Fri 5/6 at 9:30 a.m. – NYSAE Engagement Lounge: Keep Your Members for Life
Engage your new members early and keep them for life. Hear tips on communicating the value of your association to new members leading to improved retention and their lifelong relationship with your organization. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: New York Society of Association Executives
Presenter: Anne Ferrante, Sr. Vice President at American Pet Products Association
Fri 5/6 at 1 p.m. – Data & Analytics: What, Why & How to Measure Event Performance
Data (and corresponding actionable insights) make it possible for you, as the event professional, to gain buy-in from your stakeholders to continue the program, increase the event budget, hire more resources, and effectively secure your seat at the table as a strategic advisor. Learn what metrics matter today, how to make a plan to capture data, and most importantly, how to turn that data into actionable insights that resonate with stakeholders and clients. More info/register.
Host: Event Leadership Institute
Presenters:
- Joseph Colangelo, Co-Founder & CEO | Bear Analytics
- Nick Fugaro, Founder & CEO | Vivastream
- Howard Givner (moderator), CEO and Founder | Event Leadership Institute
Fri 5/6 at 4 p.m. – Launching an Ambassador Program OR Creating an Ambassador Program: It’s Not a Foreign Concept
An Ambassador program for your association builds strong branding through consistent messaging delivered by enthusiastic spokespersons. Learn how to create messages that reflect your mission and values, get leadership buy-in to launch your Ambassador program, identify and train your Ambassadors, understand how this program can help your association during a crisis, and create an Ambassador toolkit. More info/register.
Host: Fridays@4
Presenter: Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications
Thu 5/12 at 1 p.m. – Results Recharge: Driving Conversions with Beth Arritt
You work hard to drive visitors to your website—potential members, attendees, sponsors, and more. But how do you get them to convert once they’re there? Beth will share real-life successes and lessons learned for turning data into dollars, such as promoting content to attract prospects without big spends, bringing visitors to your website to foster conversion, using data to map conversion pathways, and automating and providing highly personalized experiences to increase conversion rates quickly. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Results Direct
Presenter: Beth Arritt, Association Evangelist for Higher Logic and former VP of Marketing at the American Association of Airport Executives
Fri 5/13 at 12 p.m. – AWTC 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. Each Mindful Networking will feature one of our amazing AWTC award winners, followed by breakout rooms with changing topics (selected by our featured guest). More info/register.
Host: Association Women Technology Champions (AWTC)
Guest: Tadu Yimam, Vice President, Digital Engagement, NACUBO
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 licensed photo by Nikolay Zakharov via Unsplash
Association Brain Food 