Association Management
When the Team Travels to the Future and the Board Lags Behind—How Do You Develop Leaders for the Digital Era?
What happens when your team drives the DeLorean Back to the Future and the board isn’t along for the ride? The office might boast the latest technology with a staff that is ready and able to grow and change. But if the board is stifled by narrow perspectives and retro thinking, do those other pluses…
Read MoreA Day of Blue Sky Thinking—Recapping .orgCommunity’s 2021 Innovation Summit
Greg Larkin, our keynote speaker at .orgCommunity’s July 14 Innovation Summit, was quick to admit that he was feeling a little rusty being in front of an audience for the first time in over a year. “I’m freaking out,” was what he actually said. Personally, I counted down the days until my reentry to…
Read MoreStrategies for Innovation Stop Groundhog Day Thinking
In the movie Groundhog Day, actor Bill Murray is condemned to live the same day of his life over, and over, and over again. Groundhog Day thinking is the seductive loop that lurks in offices and conference rooms tempting us to reject fresh ideas for recycled solutions. How do you resist the pull of the…
Read MoreDiversity Rules the Global Economy, Step Up to Success
We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now. Martin Luther King, Jr. The proof that we are citizens of the world, no matter how fiercely we choose to localize, was one of the pandemic’s profound lessons. Technology has created an interdependent global economy. What happens in a…
Read MoreLabor Shortages Loom—Learn to Hire and Manage Freelancers
Anyone who has spent time here in Chicago knows that the weather can turn from sunshine to flurries in the time it takes to stroll a block down the Mag Mile. This fickle about-face seems to be happening everywhere. We spent the last year urging people to stay home. Now the focus has abruptly changed…
Read MoreDigital Transformation—Once an Option, Now a Necessity
When do you stop having a choice? In May 2019, when the panel discussion below was first published in the .orgSource newsletter, digital transformation probably wasn’t top of mind for most association leaders. Since 2020 taught us that only the digital survive, new strategies and approaches for IT are on every agenda. The question is…
Read MoreNormal Left the Party—Survey Reveals Associations Want Her Back
What should we call it—the New Normal, the Next Normal, Another Normal? Please let go of normal. When the DJ stopped playing oldies, Normal left the party. Since well before the pandemic, I’ve been urging my colleagues and clients to consider that stability in the digital marketplace is a dangerous illusion. Guiding our association clients…
Read MoreA Publishing Strategy Makes Content Magic
What magic will– It’s a tall order, but no wands or capes are involved. A publishing strategy that unifies mission and messaging to deliver the information your members need accomplishes all that and more. The challenge lies in navigating an industry that is an epicenter of disruption and regularly reinvents itself. If you follow my…
Read MoreMaximize the Marriage of Marketing and Technology by Understanding Trends
When marketing got hitched to technology and changed its name to MarTech, their relationship caught fire. That marriage is making an indelible impact on the way associations operate and their ability to engage with members. The MarTech stack, or the digital platforms that professionals use to understand and reach their audiences, is changing so fast…
Read MoreFrom Problem Child to Genius—Energizing Chapters
The smiles are back! Yesterday the CDC announced that anyone who is fully vaccinated need not wear a mask in most circumstances. But wait. The comments on my Facebook page tell an interesting story. Everyone isn’t jumping on Open Table or heading to the movies. Some of us are quite happy, thank you very much,…
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