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Trying to get the attention of the media can seem like a daunting task, especially when you have minimal to no staff dedicated to this. But even with limited funds or staffing, it is still possible to get the media attention that you crave. Below are three ways to get started: Hosting or attending an event While the... read more

Dear Betty, We have a lot of non-members at our conference. I mean A LOT: 43% of our annual conference attendees are non-members. The thing is, the majority of them are active members of their regional chapters (we know because we asked). Why don’t they want to join us, too? What can we do to entice them to... read more

OK, so I put some buzz words into the title of this post that will hopefully act as “link bait” for the association community, but hopefully they are not 100% off-target. It seems that every week (at least), there is another book, blog posting, magazine article, news story, and/or BuzzFeed photo journal about the next generation, and what... read more

Dear Betty, At the request of our Board, our association recently worked with a consultant to evaluate our membership structure. The consultant strongly recommended increasing our dues rates. I’m worried about the impact this will have on our retention rate. How do I explain an increase in dues to our members? How do I ease the blow for... read more

Dear Betty: Should everything we offer (webinars, events, discount cards, publications, etc.) be included with membership? Or should members have to pay an additional fee for some of our programs, products, and services? Should everything also be available for a fee to non-members? Or should some stuff not be offered to non-members at all? How do we know... read more

In February of last year our good friend Alexi Turbow began a 3 part blog post series entitled “Why The Press Release?“. We know you all have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the next installment, so here it goes! There are many great step-by-step articles out there on press releases, but they don’t really... read more

There has been lots of buzz lately in ASAE’s Collaborate community regarding Salesforce based AMS/CRMs for associations. Since we’ve got our fingers on the pulse of new trends in the association world, we thought we’d share our thoughts and let you hear from an expert in this arena. (more…)

I recently had the opportunity to present at AUDC in Austin, TX during their Ignite session. The Ignite session requires individuals to present 20 slides, each slide appearing for only 15 seconds, resulting in a five minute presentation. Given the speed of the slides, presenters were encouraged to use more pictures and fewer words so I used my favorite... read more

API: Application Programming Interface. A vague phrase that offers little insight if you’re not a computer science major, yet if you’ve spent any time around system vendors or website developers they’ve likely thrown the acronym around as if its taught in the third grade of every classroom in America. Fear not, we’ve created a Prezi (a free, online presentation... read more

Yesterday was the official release date of Microsoft’s newest operating system: Windows 10. It’s fast, has a ton of a new features, and makes excellent use of hardware resources. I’ve been messing with this newest addition in a lab environment over the past month or so and absolutely love it. That being said: It’s not for everyone. Microsoft... read more

Part 2 of fusionSpan’s conversation with Elizabeth Engel and Anna Caraveli about their recent white paper: Leading Engagement from the Outside In: Become an Indispensable Partner in Your Members’ Success. Here we dive further into what steps association’s can take now to become more member focused. Did you miss part 1 of the conversation? Make sure to check... read more

After having gone through several Win7/8 to Win10 upgrades, we found an anomaly. Users running Windows 7 and Office 2013/365 may face significant problems with their Office Suite after upgrading to Windows 10. This complication seems limited specifically to Windows 7 and Office 2013/365, and does not appear to affect upgrades to Windows 10 from any other version... read more

Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CEO and Chief Strategist at Spark Consulting, and Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate, Director, Information Systems, NCARB. This week I got to sit down with Elizabeth Weaver Engel (@ewengel), CEO and Chief Strategist at Spark Consulting, and Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate (@GuillermoOZ), Director, Information Systems, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, to discuss their recent white paper, “Innovate the Lean... read more

At fusionSpan, 2015 was an exciting year with a lot of growth, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have time to take a break and celebrate the year. We took an afternoon to have ourselves a little celebration before the holidays. Hope everyone had a Happy New Year – here’s to a great 2016! (more…)

This blog was originally published on September 18, 2013. Are you ready for a new Association Management System (AMS)? If you just answered ‘YES’ or ‘MAYBE’ then read on… Finding the right AMS for your organization can be like Prince Charming finding Cinderella. Sure, you have a glass slipper – you know what you want. Now, how do... read more