August, 2011 Archives

In case you’ve missed it…

There's a great discussion going on here about the pros and cons of Salesforce.com in the association market. Scroll down in the comments section to see what the different parties are saying. Click here to read more. And feel free to add your own thoughts to the ...

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating…

Working in a homegrown system is malpractice. (Click here to read why.) I continue to marvel at the number of associations I encounter that are still using homegrown software (or worse yet, Excel spreadsheets) to manage all of their association's data. There is a large number of association ...

“They ask, we deliver.”

I was meeting with an association executive recently to discuss how I might help them with the selection of a new AMS. During the course of the conversation, the executive director explained that when the board asked for certain sets of data about the membership, it might sometimes take two days of ...

$15K of research for a $30K project

An association recently contacted me to help them review some proposals they've received from some AMS vendors. The association is looking to replace their existing homegrown system with an off-the-shelf system (a wise choice). They've spent countless hours going through demos, reviewing proposals, ...

Trust is EVERYTHING

I was reminded of this again recently while shopping for a new car. Working with a local car dealer, I had narrowed my choice down to the same model of car with two different color schemes. He didn't have the cars in stock but said he could get them. A week later, he emailed me and said he had both ...

Should your customers be able to cancel online?

Working with a client recently, I was surprised to learn that the association allows individuals who are currently registered for an upcoming event to cancel online. That is, the customer could go online, login, find their meeting registration, and cancel the meeting registration. Their process ...

ASAE Annual Re-Cap

I just returned from the ASAE Annual Meeting in St. Louis, and wanted to share some quick thoughts on the event. The opening reception was held under the Arch, and it was great. But MAN, we could have used some air conditioning! It was hot and HUMID! The opening general session featured some ...