Welcome to fusionSpan

Comparing data between systems is necessary for businesses that are looking to migrate, adjust or back up data. The issue, however, is that data comparisons are tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming. Users have to detect changes that occurred in multiple cells under the same record, with…

fusionSpan currently offers a multi-system software package called “fusionConnect,” marketed towards member-based organizations of all sizes. fusionConnect is a three-part software that allows the sharing of data within multi-system infrastructures. It includes Storage, Sync and Log Management. Log Management is an important part of fusionConnect.…

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…

Dashboards have always been a crucial part of analytics. As the demand for Business Intelligence (BI) tools increase each year, the amount associations spend on BI products has followed suit. Robust platforms, such as Einstein Analytics and Domo, mainly charge fees by user count. This…

The end of Your AMS Journey is in sight – you have undergone testing and training, and are now ready to prep for launch. In fact, preparing for go live is something the team has to keep in mind throughout the entire project. Here are…

Your organization has been hard at work throughout the implementation and data conversion phases of the project. The team has made great progress, but all the activity has been predominantly conducted by the core project team working on perfecting individual modules of the overall project.…

Data conversion, or data migration, is the task of bringing over relevant data from your legacy system to your new CRM. This is one of the most crucial steps for a successful AMS implementation. Bad data will result in a failed project, no matter how…

Well, it’s time to begin! In Your AMS Journey, Implementation is the execution phase of the whole endeavor. In Step 6 you defined the scope of your project, and the System Implementer (SI) will now begin to bring your vision to life. The key is…

NetForum Enterprise is a feature-rich association management system (AMS), but most associations will inevitably find themselves needing to customize. That’s fine – NetForum allows customizations. The challenge comes in down the road when you’re looking to upgrade and the customization does not support new functionality…

As we close 2020 and move into 2021, association leaders may be looking for ways to increase their organizational efficiencies – a kind of new year’s resolution. Association leaders should resolve to review how technology supports the organization’s processes. Unfortunately, many organizations delay examining their…

With the discovery stage complete, you and your staff let out a sigh of relief. The team is happy the implementation is moving along, and members are eagerly anticipating all of the features they expect the new AMS will bring to make their lives easier.…

By this stage of Your AMS Journey, you have made all the crucial decisions regarding choosing a new product and implementation partner. With your platform and partner selected, now it is time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. To begin, you will…

So what should I look for in my next Association Management System? As implementers, we often get asked this question is some shape or form during the AMS Journey. For those following this series in order, we have asked “why do we need a change…

In our latest Non-Profit Tech Podcast, fusionSpan’s Justin Burniske talks content creation with Hilary Marsh, Chief Strategist of the Content Company and returning guest Elizabeth Weaver Engel, Chief Strategist of Spark Consulting, LLC. Associations are content machines, and we are all looking for ways to…

While the general concept of project management is undoubtedly utilized by associations for key initiatives like events and membership management, many associations can augment their various teams’ efficiency and program effectiveness by establishing a Project Management Office (PMO). For anyone unfamiliar with this term, a…

As many organizations are striving to make teleworking as normal as possible, there is a large focus on the implementation of new tools and software. Most team members are fully remote and on their own wireless network, making a VPN a must-have. What is VPN?…

What is Happening If you use Salesforce or a platform built on the system, then you are probably well aware of the Salesforce Spring ‘20 release, which came out on February 17, 2020. Although the releases are a regular Salesforce event, the latest one contains…

Technical Writing? Let’s start by answering the question – what is technical writing? It’s typically defined as writing direction, instruction, or explanation for specific technological and occupational fields. What used to just be creating how to manuals has evolved into encompassing all sorts of documentation…

It’s inevitable. In every implementation of a new AMS solution, we eventually come to the question of what information needs to be collected for particular transactions – joining, registering, subscribing, etc. Inevitably, we are often handed a set of forms that are either throwbacks to…

In this Podcast, Justin talks with Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CEO and Chief Strategist at Spark Consulting, and Shelly Alcorn, Chief Operating and Curriculum Officer about their white paper, “Blockchain for Associations: Separating the Hype from the Promise.” Their paper addresses the topic of blockchain, its…

In the previous blog we made the case for a business hub for your association (if you haven’t read it, please do). In this blog we will go over implementing the hub with free open source software. To recap the point we are trying to…

In this podcast, Justin Burniske chats with Rhea Steele, Chief Operating Officer of DECA Inc. on how to strategically implement new software systems at your association and how to successfully facilitate the change management that occurs with the implementation of systems. Here are some helpful…

Associations are increasingly adopting multiple software systems to obtain the best of breed for each focus area. They are moving away from integrated systems that have multiple modules that manage varied IT functions but only excel in one or two. That means most associations use…

Roses are red, Violets are blue, We love Salesforce reports And we hope you do too! Salesforce provides standard report types which can be used to build reports summarizing and analyzing your organization’s data. Salesforce reports are a powerful tool that helps you and your…

Following the Complicated Integrations Made Easy with Zapier – Part 1 article, we will now look at how we can leverage Zapier to easily build an integration with no actual coding. There are hundreds of Zapier connectors that we can use to integrate various systems together.…

We’ve all gone through change —sometimes good, sometimes bad—but worst of all is the unknown. The transition of your Salesforce organization from Salesforce Classic to Lightning Experience (LEX) can seem like a daunting change with a lot of unknown, but there’s a lot to be…

One of the most common questions we get from associations is how to integrate various applications and IT systems. Through integrations, you can copy data from one application to another, or event in one system can trigger an action in another. There are a few…

In the previous post, we went through an overview of SSO with a domain cookie. In this post, we’ll dig into some of the technical considerations when implementing this SSO solution. System Overview As an overview, here are the responsibilities of each website from the…

There are a number of different implementations for Single Sign-On (SSO). SSO is generally approached in one of two ways – The first is a browser-side implementation which usually involves an integration that redirects the user to an Identity Provider’s login page (Identity Provider is…

Is your organization’s website performance aligned with your business goals?  Without properly leveraging your website’s data, it is difficult to know how you can improve your web presence and improve your users’ experience.  We recommend using Google Analytics, a powerful free web analytics service, to…

Todd M. Tolbert, the Chief Administrative Officer at the Internet Society, joins us in this episode of Non-Profit Tech Podcast, hosted by fusionSpan’s Justin Burniske. The conversation touched on a range of topics around data including the differences between data privacy and data protection, common…

Last week fusionSpan was at Community Brand‘s User Conference – Xperience18! Five days packed with lots of learning, sharing and connecting. Here are a few highlights! fusionSpan was networking We had a booth. Community Brands has compiled quite a cornucopia of products, which in turn meant…

In less than two weeks (May 25, 2018), the most significant change in data privacy in 20 years and protection regulation goes into full effect. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is aimed at protecting the personal and sensitive information of all EU residents,…

netFORUM Enterprise is a feature-rich system out of the box. But if your organization selected netFORUM Enterprise, they also likely selected it for the flexibility allowed through customizations. Being able to customize means you’re not dependent on a vendor’s roadmap to get the features your…

By now, you may have heard about the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is rattling companies from technology titans like Facebook to small businesses with a website. In short, the GDPR is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and…

Organizations choosing enterprise-level Association Management Systems (AMS) likely do so for a range of reasons. They know they’re getting a product with a rich feature set and all kinds of configuration options. They know they’ll have a greater deal of flexibility. But, likely most important,…

“Did I lose my special treat?” A frequent question from my son. We’ve created a system in our home where if he behaves, he gets a “special treat” after dinner – usually in the form of 22 minutes of TV. While there are some issues…

Your work communication style typically refers to the way you communicate. For example, are you a more direct or indirect communicator? Many organizations use a tool like DiSC or Myers-Briggs or Strengthsfinders to help employees figure out their preferences, and those of their teammates, in…

Underutilize technology and it will rust away… As part of an office redesign, an organization I used to work at installed all new screens in the conference rooms. They also installed two large touch screen projectors that allowed for an “interactive” presentation. Instead of sitting…

Tired of receiving the “You have one or more certificates in your Salesforce org XYZ* that will expire soon…” notices? Or worse, when your CEO receives it and sends a panicked email to you at 3 in the morning? You can solve the countless email bombardment,…

You know what’s no fun? Chores. They are what you might call a, “necessary evil.” One of the hardest transitions in life is when you first leave home, and you suddenly realize A) just how many chores your parent(s) or guardian did that you took…

This morning, Dropbox’s 2012 hacked data, approximately 68M customers’ password sets, were published online. There is a significant possibility that your account has been compromised, and you should change your password NOW. Like, literally right now. Take a break from this article, access your Dropbox…

Everyone gets complaints. Complaints about their service, complaints about their products, complaints about the cost, complaints about the noise (more on that last one in a minute). Which is why at fusionSpan we have a help desk system that allows us to track everything. A help…

No one would argue that a website is an essential component of any new business. Even my grandmother has a website! Yet for so many organizations they completely ignore their site after spending gobs of hours to build it, completely forgot about like Woody from…

Happy Wednesday all! We’ve survived the long weekend and are back in the swing of things at work. As you’re buzzing by in the productivity lane today, take just a small detour and evaluate how you get your work done most days. If you caught a glimpse…

Dan Labert, the executive director of NACBA We’ve recently rebranded the podcast as the Non-profit Tech Podcast, presented by fusionSpan. This week I spoke over the phone with Dan Labert, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys about his recent move…

At this point everyone will agree that software systems have permeated all areas of business. From HR to Marketing to Accounting to Customer Relations, every area requires the staff to utilize some tools or application to complete their job. Yet at many, if not most organizations, there are…

Adam Thocher, Executive Director at AAPOR I got to talk with Adam Thocher about his new position as Executive Director at the American Association for Public Opinion Research and what it’s like being a part of an Association Management Company (AMC). We also discussed what…

I thought I had been assigned a simple task – To find an event registration system for a client that has an annual conference. The main goal of this group is to improve end user experience while still being able to incorporate their business requirements. Seemed like a…

Mark Ace, President at Kavi Corporation We got a chance to talk to Mark Ace, President of Kavi Corporation, about his recent blogpost, “Five Characteristics of High-Performing Teams.” We also discuss the ways different organizations are leveraging their technology in order to accomplish their collaboration…

Edward Grandi, Executive Director at the National Genealogical Society I got a chance to sit down with Edward Grandi, the Executive Director of the National Genealogical Society. We talked about his approach to leadership, how he works to get the most out of a small staff organization,…

Teri Carden, founder of ReviewMyAMS.com Welcome to the inaugural fusionSpan Podcast! Our first episode of the Non-Profit Tech Podcast is with the creator of ReviewMyAMS.com, Teri Carden. She discusses the value of an association management system (AMS), how associations are using their AMS, and when…

“What do you do for a living?” Many people seem surprised when I answer that I work in IT. Almost as if the phrase “woman in IT” is some kind of mythical creature, akin to Big Foot or a unicorn. But should they be surprised?…

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…

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…

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…

Scanning a list of the top 100 Twitter account and you’ll find a lot of singers, actors, athletes and other celebrities. Only a handful of accounts are branded as organization accounts. Organizations that do break into the top 100 represent social media companies, news organizations,…

A little while back we were looking for a backup solution for our office. We have a small network of about 10 computers and it’s a mix of Mac OS X and Windows 7/8 workstations and a couple of Linux servers. Our main criteria for…

Yesterday, April 21, 2015, Google went live with the search algorithm that will boost the rankings of mobile-friendly pages. Let’s take a look at what this means to your Association: When was this first announced? Google released that they are experimenting with a new mobile friendly ranking algorithm in December 2014…

netFORUM Pro is a widely adopted association management system (AMS). It provides several interfaces that can be used for member interaction. eWeb or “external web” which is a web based interface where members can perform certain actions – like purchase renewals, buy products etc. xWeb…

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…

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…

Dear Betty: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised over $100 MILLION to date for the ALS Association. Why didn’t we think of that?!? I know we can’t just copy it outright, but is there anything associations can learn from the phenomenal success of this…

Congratulations to Caroline from the South Carolina Bankers Association for winning fusionSpan’s 2014 netFORUM Pro Consulting Giveaway. We look forward to working with you in 2015! (more…)

Last Friday the fusionSpan team got together to celebrate the holidays. We shared great food, libations, and many laughs. Our talented party planner, Linh, prepared a wonderful spread, with the help of our baker, Jessica, and chef, Sheree. We had a blast playing holiday themed…

As I enter the large exhibit hall at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center, I’m immediately surrounded by hundreds of people, all here for one purpose – to see what’s “new” in the technology world. Wandering around the ASAE Technology Conference and Expo, one…

The holidays are right around the corner and we wanted to take this time to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to our company’s growth. We have had some big and exciting changes this year with our new office space located in downtown…

Dear Betty: Fall always makes me think of back to school, school supplies, and learning new things. What do I need to add to my marketing backpack for success this fall? Gentle Reader: There’s nothing like that first hint of coolness in the breeze, that…

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) based in Arlington, Virginia, is always looking to add new and exciting elements to their Annual Family History Conference. After the 2013 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, the discussion to offer live streaming began. With only 10% of the their membership attending the annual…

We are using Canvas LMS but want to use our own existing authentication, so our users don’t need a second set of credentials to login to Canvas. I struggled a little bit with this so thought of posting this for reference. To get Canvas LMS…

First, what on earth is an infograph? Infographs (aka information graphics) are visual representations of information. You have probably encountered an infographic without realizing it. Examples include metro or mass transit maps, weather charts, site plans, and graphs. A good infograph will: 1. Show (large) amounts…

One of our clients, a small-staff association, wanted to improve user experience during the annual conference registration . In the past they just used their AMS, netForum Pro to register attendees but increased customer service calls forced them to look for an alternate solution. This time…

In the spirit of giving (and with your tight budgets in mind!), this holiday season fusionSpan would like to help a small-staff association by giving away 8 hours of free netFORUM Pro consulting. fusionSpan is proud to be a Certified Implementation Partner with Avectra, an Abila…

Communication skills are important to all aspects of life, including work. It doesn’t matter if your expertise is in political science, economics or journalism – everyone needs to be able to communicate. This means anyone within your organization can be tapped to work on your…