The weekly list of free educational events and resources for the association community…
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~Anais Nin
Engagement. Amanda Kaiser makes a good point: “Every minute, members can decide whether to engage or to lean away.” Open your email or not. Go to your website or to Google. Are you earning their permission to provide content, benefits, events, ideas, answers, and connections?
More on engagement. MCI surveyed association members and customers for their Association Engagement Index 2024. The report recommends taking a multichannel approach; personalizing the journey so members/customers quickly find what they need; and tracking their place on the engagement loop of consume, contribute, collaborate, and co-create. They offer other recommendations alongside the study’s useful benchmarks, such as “frequency of engagement.”
Online learning strategy. D2L explains what you need to know to build and implement a strong strategy for your online learning initiatives, including success criteria, communication plan, and much more.
Non-dues revenue. If you’re a podcast listener, check out Association RevUP from Professionals for Association Revenue. Each episode (25 minutes max) hosted by Carolyn Shomali features association industry professionals discussing an element of association business—culture, sales, partnerships, data, strategy, etc.
Event close. How your attendees leave your event is as important as how they are welcomed, says Julius Solaris of Boldpush. Check out the creative ideas in the post and comments.
Member recruitment. YourMembership describes 13 steps small-staff associations should take to attract and recruit new members. The entire list seems pretty essential to me—are you doing all these things?
Creativity. “Productivity is a drag. Work is divine. The machines can have our chores, but we can’t afford to outsource creation,” writes Sara Tillinger Wolkenfeld at The Atlantic. Amen. Don’t lose what makes us spectacularly human.
Extra credit
The reader’s quest: how literature helps us find meaning and understand the world. | by Henry Oliver, The Common Reader
We are in a writing renaissance—thanks to Substack. | by Sam Kahn, Compact
You never grow old at the table
An old favorite for dinner last week: shrimp and grits. The original recipe is from a chef whose restaurant was a Chapel Hill institution, so you know it’s going to be good. He makes a killer Atlantic Beach pie too.
A newer favorite, flounder with creamy jalapeño sauce. Make a big batch of this sauce and freeze half of it for an encore appearance. On the side, roasted broccoli with red onion, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.
Another favorite for a family meal: southwest sweet potato skillet with ground chorizo and chicken—and all kinds of other ingredients. On the side, creamed collards with mushrooms.
If you’d like to subscribe, please complete the form in the sidebar or at the bottom of this post. I won’t share or sell your email address.
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’m happy to feature it as long as it’s not too product-centric.
Fri 9/27 at 1 p.m.* – SEO Memorial Service: A Fond Farewell To Things That Don’t Matter Anymore
Hear clear and compelling evidence that most legacy SEO metrics and tactics have slim to no impact on SEO outcomes. Learn about a major mindset shift that eliminates most of the metrics and tactics associated with SEO in favor of a single metric that defines and drives organic ranking success, plus a practical, step-by-step methodology for choosing SEO pillar topics and publishing content quickly that ranks fast. More info/register.
Host: American Marketing Association
Speaker: Ryan Brock, Chief Solution Officer at DemandJump and author of Pillar-Based Marketing: A Data-Driven Methodology for SEO and Content that Actually Works
*All events are online at Eastern Daylight Time unless otherwise noted.
Fri 9/27 at 4 p.m. – Open Discussion: How are you keeping political discussions civil at work?
Come prepared to share your organization’s plan on how to keep political discussions civil at work. Are political discussions prohibited? Are employees already taking sides? Share what’s happening where you work. More info/register.
Host: Fridays@4
Mon 9/30 at 8 a.m. – A Conversation about Membership (Radio Free 501c, the podcast of Rogue Tulips Consulting)
Every week Rogue Tulips brings the nonprofit community intriguing guests discussing vital topics affecting nonprofit organizations around the world—and we have fun doing it! Episodes are published Monday mornings in both audio and video format, available on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast (to name a few!).
Host: Cecilia Sepp, CAE, CNP, principal and founder, Rogue Tulips Consulting
Guest: Kimberlee Berry, CAE, Vice President of Membership, NABA
Tue 10/1 from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Wonk Week (Washington DC)
The leading conference for public affairs and advocacy professionals, offering deep dives into grassroots mobilization, lobbying tactics, knowledge management, PAC strategy, and beyond. Meet and learn from industry trailblazers and thought leaders, gaining actionable insights to elevate your organization. Location: Washington DC. More info/register.
Host: Quorum
Tue 10/1 from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Empowering Revenue Teams with Go-to-Market Intelligence
As GTM strategies for B2B companies rapidly evolve, revenue leaders must be empowered with the latest insights and strategies to address new opportunities and challenges. Empower 2024 is built by GTM leaders for GTM leaders with separate and specific tracks curated for sales, marketing, and RevOps and roundtable working sessions focused on sharing actionable ways to build pipelines and achieve growth goals in 2024 and beyond. More info/register.
Host: SalesIntel
Tue 10/1 at 12 p.m. – 2024 Association Trends Study
Learn how association professionals are leveraging technology to provide greater member value, addressing the constantly changing needs of members, and how their attitudes and outlooks about technology have changed. Hear about the findings of the 2024 Association Trends Study and the transformational power of technology and its role in shaping the future of member engagement and association growth. More info/register.
Host: Momentive Software (formerly Community Brands)
Speakers:
- Pam Loeb, Principal, Edge Research
- Tirrah Switzer, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Momentive Software
Tue 10/1 at 12 p.m. – 2nd Annual Data Analytics Network Data Science Fair (Arlington VA)
We are recruiting data nerds to talk about their coolest project. And yes, we want you to create an old school science fair board as your visual! Can we count on you to tell your best data story at the Science Fair? Location: Arlington VA. More info/register.
Host: Data Analytics Network
Tue 10/1 at 1 p.m. – Webinar Wizardry Part 1: Engagement Tools to Keep Your Audience Hooked
Learn about key engagement tools that can transform a webinar from mundane to magical, ensuring high audience interaction; the effective use of interactive features like polls, quizzes, and chat functions to maintain audience interest throughout the webinar; and creating a webinar engagement plan that incorporates interactive elements to keep your audience engaged from start to finish. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: UST Education
Speakers: Nicole Crabtree, Director of Events, and Reilly Moriarty, Marketing Manager, UST Education
Wed 10/2 from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Wonk Week (Washington DC)
The leading conference for public affairs and advocacy professionals, offering deep dives into grassroots mobilization, lobbying tactics, knowledge management, PAC strategy, and beyond. Meet and learn from industry trailblazers and thought leaders, gaining actionable insights to elevate your organization. Location: Washington DC. More info/register.
Host: Quorum
Wed 10/2 at 11 a.m. – Planning a Successful Website Redesign from RFP to Launch
Is a website redesign in your future? Hear expert tips about how to get started, budgeting for a redesign, getting the best results, designing your RFP, and choosing the best partner. More info/register.
Host: Results Direct
Speakers: Laura Graham, Sr Solutions Consultant, and Cecilia Satovich, Executive VP, Results Direct
Wed 10/2 at 12 p.m. – Beyond Events: Building a High Value Sponsorship Program
Hear about strategies for creating a year-round sponsorship program that replaces one-off event income with revenue gains that you can count on. Learn how to solve your sponsor’s biggest business challenges and earn the right to raise your fees, design a clear packaging strategy with customizable offerings, and train your team to approach sponsors with confidence and win-win-win value. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: AIOT
Speaker: Lewis Flax, association sponsorship consultant, Flax Associates
Wed 10/2 at 2 p.m. – How to Dream Up a Gathering You Actually Want to Host (and Five Reasons Your Community Will Thank You for It)
We all have to start our artful gathering practice somewhere, so why not begin by dreaming up a gathering you actually want to host? Come up with a gathering idea that’s meaningful to you and leaves your community wanting more of this kind of time together. Let’s brainstorm some ideas together. More info/register.
Host: Priya Parker, Art of Gathering
Thu 10/3 at 12 p.m. – What’s Going on in SEO: Ask Me Anything with Top Agency Leaders
Ask top industry experts the big questions, challenge the status quo, and learn how to build strategies that thrive in the ever-changing SEO ecosystem. More info/register.
Host: Clearscope
Speakers:
- Allie Decker, co-founder, Omniscient Digital
- Eric Enge, president, Pilot Holding
- Amanda King, consultant/founder, FLOQ
- Wil Reynolds, founder, Seer Interactive
Thu 10/3 at 12 p.m. – Member ROI Group
The live discussions will be predominately in CAE education domains related to member ROI on the first and third Thursdays of the month with some exceptions. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: Ed Rigsbee
Thu 10/3 at 1 p.m. – Supercharge Your Membership Strategy With AI
Learn about diverse applications of AI that extend beyond text and image creation and unlock new possibilities for enhancing member engagement and support. Hear about the current landscape of marketing AI and how it can significantly benefit membership organizations and associations like yours, easy-to-use AI tools that you can implement immediately to enhance your membership strategy and drive measurable results, and actionable AI experiments tailored to streamline your workflow and elevate your association’s processes, making a real impact from day one. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: UST Education
Speaker: Erica Salm Rench, MBA, COO, Rasa.io
Thu 10/3 at 2 p.m. – A Journey Through Finance Digital Transformation
Hear from an association that has been transforming and automating their accounting procedures. This transformation has allowed the finance team to transition from number-crunching to becoming valuable financial resources for the entire association. Find out why they undertook this digital transformation, what components and resources made this transformation possible, what challenges they faced during this journey—from change management among staff to data-related issues, and what long-term benefits have resulted, including improved financial data, staff productivity and shorter closing cycles. More info/register.
Host: 501Works
Speakers:
- Bereket Haile, Controller, RIMS, the risk management society®
- James Marquis, CIO, 501Works
Thu 10/3 at 3 p.m. – Curious Leadership Shift #3: Creating a Curious Culture
Learn how to create an organizational culture where curiosity thrives, employees feel empowered to ask questions, and collaboration leads to groundbreaking solutions. Hear how the three shifts—Growth Mindset, Operations Excellence, and Curious Culture—work together to transform your leadership and organization. Leave with practical tips to inspire a culture of curiosity that fuels ongoing innovation and growth. More info/register.
Host: Lateral Solutions
Thu 10/3 at 3 p.m. – Custom App Development Process for Nonprofits/Associations
Many nonprofit/association leaders want to build a custom web or mobile app for their organization, however, they’re not familiar with the process and unknowns like technology, user flow, timeline and cost. Learn about the process of building a custom app, including the cost and timeline. More info/register.
Host: Simpalm
Fri 10/4 at 1 p.m. – Talk with CAEs
An online space for CAE candidates to ask questions about the CAE (e.g., exam preparations, eligibility, exam content outline, study strategies, practice questions, tips and advice, etc.) and current CAEs to share their knowledge and experience with the exam. More info/register.
Lead facilitator: DeeJay Hastings, CAE, Executive Consultant, Lewis Association Consultants
Tue 10/8 at 12 p.m. – Driving Change, Impact and Growth in Your Organization
Go beyond traditional change management to explore a number of additional concepts, such as the impact and role of a multi-modal approach to change management involving communication, coaching, training, monthly reinforcement, and events; when to use and not use external vs. resources; and using change management to drive competitive differentiation, impact, and growth. More info/register.
Host: Braintrust Professional Institute
Speakers: Randall Craig and Ronja Francoeur, Braintrust Professional Institute
Tue 10/8 at 1 p.m. – Unlocking the Power of Effective Data Governance
Learn what data governance is, why it’s important, as well as the policies, roles, and responsibilities that enable an association of any size to operationalize data governance processes. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: UST Education
Speaker: Emilio Arocho, Senior Director of Managed Services, Association Analytics
Wed 10/9 at 1 p.m. – Bridging the Gap: Nurturing Student Members as They Transition to the Workforce
Explore proven and tailored strategies to engage student members, showcase the value of continued membership post-graduation, keep them connected to your association, and seamlessly guide them through the transition from student to professional membership. Hear success stories and case studies from an association that effectively retained student members. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: UST Education
Speaker: Ryan Graham, Chief Revenue Officer, PropFuel
Thu 10/10 at 11 a.m. – Why You Need Security Operations: The Power of Proactive Protection
Learn about the impact security operations have on attack remediation and recovery, and post-incident security hardening; the crucial questions to ask your IT provider; and how security operations mitigate the dwell time, downtime, and cost of cyberattacks. More info/register.
Host: Artic Wolf
Speakers:
- Chris Ecker, CTO at DelCor Technology Solutions
- Jason Anderson, Senior Sales Engineer at Arctic Wolf
Thu 10/10 at 3 p.m. – Be a Smart SaaS: Being Strategic About Specialized Systems
Learn how to evaluate and select the most cost-effective SaaS solution that aligns with your specific needs, optimize your use of SaaS investments to achieve maximum value, streamline system operations and minimize complexity within your SaaS environments, and enhance system performance and leverage existing investments to achieve better outcomes. 1 CAE credit. More info/register.
Host: UST Education
Speaker: Justin Burniske, MBA, Principal Consultant, Co-Owner, Meta-Dao
Association Brain Food Weekly is published Friday mornings. If you’re offering free professional development to the association community, please send me the link via email by Wednesday afternoon the week before it’s scheduled.
Creative Commons licensed photo by Trisha Downing via Unsplash
Amazon.com and AssociationBrainFood.com links allow me to earn a royalty on any sales or leads that result from clicking. Thank you!
Association Brain Food 