Gratitude, Holiday Tables And Mercy December 23, 2014 by Jeff Hurt The holidays are a time of traditions. Macy’s has a Thanksgiving parade. Washington DC has the national Christmas tree lighting. A former boss decorates her yard in honor of the Jewish Festival Of Lights-Hanukkah. Another holds her annual Winter Solstice Snow Party. During the holidays, the Velvet Chainsaw Consulting team turns to thanks and gratitude. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , holidays
Since We Are Already Doing What We Are Doing It Cannot Be Too Risky-NOT! December 9, 2014 by Jeff Hurt We frequently avoid change. We take comfort in doing the same thing over and over again. It feels safe. When it comes to making changes to a conference or association service, we opt to do what we’ve done in the past. It’s easier. We know the outcome. We believe it’s less risky than changing. Putting … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association issues and challenges, conference best practices, risk, status quo, strategic thinking, thinking
The Traps And Transgressions Of Traditional Thinking December 8, 2014 by Jeff Hurt That won’t work for us because we are different than everyone else. We’ve always done it this way. We don’t need to change. We’ve tried that in the past and it failed. These are just a few of the traditional thinking excuses we face every day. Whether we are trying to create a new conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association issues and challenges, conference best practices, strategic thinking, thinking
Eight Terribly Common Association Breaches And Breakdowns November 10, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Sadly, and all too commonly, many associations appear to suffer from the equivalent of attention deficit disorder. If you know someone with ADD, you know what happens when s/he exerts energy in the absence of focus, goals and vision. Many associations are like this as well. They suffer from Organizational-ADD. It all starts with the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association, decision-making, leadership, nonprofit, organizational ADD, volunteer strategies
Nonprofits Contradictions And Real World Disruptors November 6, 2014 by Jeff Hurt I don’t claim to know a lot. But I am pretty confident of these two things: Change is the constant today and continues to accelerate. Our nonprofit associations are dynamic, complex systems embedded within an even more dynamic, complex übersystem: human society. Six Changing Association Contexts Technology has radically altered human society, in at least … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association trends, conferences, disruptive innovation, disruptive technologies, meeting industry trends, nonprofit predictions, nonprofit trends
Association Virtual Event Strategy Benchmarking August 20, 2014 by Dave Lutz Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. – Ferris Bueller Virtual event strategies are evolving fast too! First, many tried to monetize them (instead of viewing them as a campaign). Next, quite a few associations embraced hybrid as their future. Now we’re seeing … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , adult learning, Education & Adult Learning, technology, virtual attendee
Donna Kastner Promoted to Vice President July 7, 2014 by Dave Lutz I’m excited to announce that Donna Kastner has been promoted to VP, Expo/Sponsor Sales & Activation at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting! Donna’s contributions to our client consulting projects and innovation have grown steadily since joining our team two and a half years ago. Most notably, she’s led the charge for progressing our consulting muscles in the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , exhibit, exhibit sales, promoted, sponsor, sponsor acquisition, sponsor activation
What Are You Becoming? June 18, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Dear Meeting And Association Professional: Here are some of my personal reflections, shaped by many of the people I read and those that have touched my life that I recently shared with NACE 2014 participants. I ask you the same thing I asked them… What Are You Becoming? What Are You Becoming? from Jeff Hurt … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , becoming, inspiration, motivation
Going All-In for Conference Improvement June 17, 2014 by Dave Lutz You may have noticed that our blog post frequency slowed down a bit in May. Our team was busy upgrading and converting our blog and website. We’re happy to announce that work is complete and the resources available to the industry we love are more accessible and plentiful than ever! We appreciate and value, you, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , conference improvement, resources
Three Free Event eBooks You Should Read November 26, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Conferences, events and meetings are evolving. We live in a time where change is the constant. Disruptive innovation is the name of the game. If the institution can be disrupted, it will be. Here are three ebooks that discuss some of those event game changers. Mobile Apps: The New Event Essential Mobile is everywhere and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings
