Tag: association


Will Nonprofit Trade Associations Embrace Open Educational Resources [OER]?

Openness in education is an emergent practice among many organizations and institutions. Open educational resources (OER) affect the practices of instruction, learning, presenting and teaching. Will nonprofit trade associations embrace OER or will they continue to keep educational resources behind a member wall or for purchase only? Defining OER OER are educational materials such as … [Read more…]

Three Reasons Not To Start An Association Certification Program

“All organizations can develop certification. But not all should!” ~ Mickie Rops, CAE, Credentialing Expert Some organizations think creating a certification program is the sure way to solve some of its problems. Sometime it is a valid way to solve industry-related challenges. Sometimes, it is like using a screwdriver to hammer nails. It just doesn’t … [Read more…]

Considering Certification: Steps To Making A Decision

Are certification programs the golden handcuffs to maintain membership levels and to increase revenue? Many association leaders think that launching a new professional credential may also be the key to more money in the bank. Think again if that’s your primary reason for wanting to implement a new certification program. Certainly it can elevate a … [Read more…]

Are Your Organization’s Learning Opportunities Outdated?

Is your organization offering learning opportunities that are based on an outdated model? Or have you positioned your organization to offer learning opportunities that are proven to be successful today and align with your participants’ learning? No, I’m not just talking about the linear advancement of technology as applied to learning. Technology is a factor … [Read more…]

Are You Still Providing Education Opportunities Based On The Industrial Revolution Model?

Is your organization still trying to make revenue from didactic forms of education and instruction? Are you using a hierarchical, top-down, command and control delivery model? Are you providing content that seems out of context in today’s every changing global market? If you are, you are showing your age. You are announcing to the world … [Read more…]

The Need For Speed And Learning Agility

Your organization’s enduring competitive advantage rests on learning agility. It must be able to respond to new challenges, opportunities, threats and crisis. New, unprecedented complex challenges constantly present themselves. Learning At The Speed Of Change Experienced leaders used to claim that they had seen every problem several times in the past. That’s no longer true … [Read more…]

What Associations And Meeting Professionals Want In Tradeshow Partnerships

Imagine this scenario. A nonprofit trade association decides it wants to add a tradeshow to its annual conference. It’s never produced a tradeshow in the past and wants to secure a third-party planner to produce the show. Typically, an association tradeshow should have a potential of $150,000 or more in revenue to justify securing a … [Read more…]

When Conferences Go Awry

Most nonprofit organizations host some type of annual meeting every year. Generally their bylaws require that they hold at least one annual membership meeting. Similarly, many corporations and associations organize, plan and implement one or more conferences every year that have other goals beyond the annual membership meeting. Some corporations hold customer events to showcase … [Read more…]

Education Deserves Some Respect

In most nonprofit associations, education deserves some respect. Yet it is frequently treated like the Rodney Dangerfield of the association world. To paraphrase Dangerfield, “Education doesn’t get no respect. No respect, no respect at all. That’s the story of education’s life. Education gets no respect.” Members Value Education Typically, education is one of the top … [Read more…]

What Isn’t Going On In Your Conference Committee!

I understand what is going on in most annual conference committees: personal agendas, conference schedule deadlines, speaker favorites, leaders seeking control, volunteers posturing for their own ideas and power. What I struggle to comprehend is what isn’t going on. What Isn’t Happening It seems to me that annual conference committee volunteers should be serving the … [Read more…]