6 Professional Development Myths Busted
I am approaching this article with a few beliefs about professional development already in place. First, for an association to be successful, constant learning is essential. Second, countless learning opportunities are available that are free or low cost. Third, learning is for everyone; from the receptionists to the mail person to the executive director. However, there […]
Human Capital: Nurture Personal Value to Increase Organizational Success
The value of a business is a function of how well the financial capital and the intellectual capital are managed by the human capital. You’d better get the human capital part right. ~ Dave Bookbinder, Author of The New ROI: Return on Individuals The concept of human capital is not spoken about enough. As I imagine […]
Here to Stay: Associations Adapting to Social Media
Social media has changed the game. When I started in social media about ten years ago, associations were asking: Do we really need to worry about this? and Is social media just a fad? A decade later, that ship has sailed, but as an industry, we still do not understand the ways that social media impacts every part of […]
Writing an eBook: An Experiment in Co-Creation
Our interest at AssociationSuccess.org in harnessing collective knowledge has two levels: we are excited both by the insights generated through collaboration, and by the innovative potential of experimenting with ways of harnessing them. Our mission, as we see it, is both to source cutting-edge ideas, and to spark them. SURGE Spring, our recent virtual conference, was […]
More Than a Logo Change: Rebrand Reflections
Your association’s brand is your image, or the perception of the association by your target audiences. In short, it’s your association’s personality. Often we think of a rebrand as changing your association’s logo—but it’s more complicated than that. Rebranding also involves your color scheme, tagline, and messaging. It includes your print and digital communications such […]
Two Learning Trends to Watch Out For
We research the trends that are impacting the market for lifelong learning that you can read about here. In this article, we want to highlight two trends in particular that we feel are relevant to AssociationSuccess.org readers. VIRTUAL CONFERENCES Associations have been slow to jump on this growing trend. According to our most recent research, under 16.2% of associations […]
Shifting Your Digital Focus to Unlock Potential
Association leaders need to shift their focus from looking at how digital technologies can make their operations easier, to concentrating on gaining clarity about their community’s needs to do better in their careers. Associations view themselves as different from for-profit corporations. True, they are mission driven, not profit driven. But in one respect this mission-driven […]
Creating a Knowledge Community: Where Technology Meets Need
I believe that technologists too often focus on technology. Key organizational problems are no longer technology specific, and technology issues themselves are not the target of our broader problem-solving efforts (or at least they shouldn’t be). Instead, technology is implicated on a broader, more strategic level, across the entire structure of the organization. This means that […]
Surveys, Research and Bias-Free Questions
The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) has been around for almost 50 years. We are multi-sector and multi-discipline with members in universities, corporations, government, non-profits, and all areas of science. Recently, we have noticed a change in the makeup of our membership, with many younger members joining the organization, in addition to our mid- to […]
Bake Learning Into Culture
I am lucky to work for an organization that values lifelong learning. For me, keeping on top of my field and enhancing my skill set does not come second to my day-to-day work—it is an integral part of it. How can organizations make professional development a part of their culture and the air that they […]