Matrix Group International

Tag: Association Management

  • Don’t Pile on the Tech Debt by Developing in an Old Platform

    Don’t Pile on the Tech Debt by Developing in an Old Platform

    I blogged recently about the dreaded tech debt. I blogged about how to identify it and describe it. We all know that tech debt sucks!

    But what do we do about the tech debt we’ve got and how do we prevent it from happening in the future?

    My number one piece of advice is to STOP piling on the tech debt by continuing to develop in your old software or platform. Think you’re not doing it? Here are some examples:

    1. You have an old version of your content management system. You don’t have budget to upgrade to the latest version, but you really need new functionality that won’t cost very much to implement, so you go ahead and approve the work. Why this is bad: When it comes time to upgrade your CMS, this new functionality will likely need to be redeveloped, thereby adding to the upgrade cost.
    2. You have an old version of your membership database and it’s not in your budget to upgrade this year. You need to bring a new Learning Management System ( LMS) online and you want to implement single sign-on between the membership database and the LMS, so you approve the project to integrate with the old membership database. Why this is bad: You’re probably not using the latest SSO protocols, and you’ll need to upgrade the SSO when you upgrade your membership database.

    I know that in the real world, we can’t keep everything upgraded. But we should be upgrading and maintaining our mission-critical systems since they are the most dynamic and most used.

    Make 2020 the year you burn down that tech debt!

  • Matrix Group’s Favorite Tech Tools for Staff Productivity

    Matrix Group’s Favorite Tech Tools for Staff Productivity

    hand with tool coming out of laptopLast week, a group of Matrix Group staff hosted a Tech Talk on our favorite tech tools. The Tech Talk was inspired by a conversation with a client who wanted to know more about Slack, one of our favorite tech tools.

    At Matrix Group, we use a lot of tech tools to do our work, stay organized, stay productive. Here are some of our favorites:

    Password Managers

    We handle hundreds of passwords for our clients. It would be downright irresponsible not to have a way to manage these passwords, so we use Secret Server from Thycotic. The rule is: the minute you get a new password, you enter the credentials into Secret Server. And if a client happened to email you the info (we ask them not to, but you know how it goes), we immediately delete every email that contains the info. With Secret Server, we have multiple access levels, a great search, and an audit trail.

    For personal passwords, we like LastPass and Dashlane. It’s work to get it set up, but once the majority of your passwords are in, the convenience of passwords auto-populating and syncing across devices is life changing.

    Speaking of passwords, we sang the praises of two-factor authentication. At the enterprise level, we use Duo and love that we get a push whenever we’re trying to log into a service or website that requires two-factor. Jaime said it best when he said, “I sleep at night knowing that even if the bad guys got my username and password to something, they still wouldn’t be able to hack my accounts because they wouldn’t have access to my second factor, which could be a code or a swipe in an app.”

    Slack

    Slack is a collaboration tool on steroids. To call it instant messaging isn’t quite right.

    • We use it for instant messaging, document sharing, group chats, group calls, and screen sharing. Maki’s IT team uses Slack for their team meetings and screen sharing with staff.
    • We have governance around when to use and when not to use.
    • We’ve integrated with some of our other tools, e.g., Google docs and Jira.
    • We have a channel for every client and functional team to promote collaboration.
    • We allow a bit of fun through emojis, funny gifs and our watercooler channel.

    Did I mention that we seriously love Slack?

    Document Management Through G Suite

    About a year ago, we migrated our file server to Google Drive and never looked back. We love having access to all of our files, from anywhere, on any device. And since our Google Drive is protected with two-factor authentication, we’re confident that our data is as secure as it can be.

    • We have team and client folders.
    • When creating a document, we don’t save to our personal drives. We saved to the proper directory in the shared drives.
    • Everything goes into Drive: contracts, proposals, project specifications, user personas, site maps — everything!

    Document collaboration has been a dream in Google docs and Google slides. On a regular basis, four of us will work on a presentation together and get so much done because we could all access the document at the same time.

    Zoom

    Zoom has fundamentally changed our meetings with clients and remote staff. Although we had Webex before, Zoom is just easier to use, the recordings are easier to download, and it integrates nicely with our new conference room.

    Zoiper

    When we moved to our new office, I asked staff if they wanted a physical phone handset. Very few people raised their hands, so we didn’t buy any. Instead, we gave staff who wanted a phone a license to Zoiper and a Bluetooth handset. This way, staff can make and take calls from their own extension from anywhere, as long as they have their laptop turned on. This means staff who are working from home, at a conference, or at a coffee shop are easily available via their extension.

    And for the folks who don’t have Zoiper? Turns out most staff members don’t really take or make business calls on their own. They are either in a meeting in a conference room (all of our conference rooms have nice speaker phones) or they are with a project manager who has a Bluetooth speakerphone. For the rare times we need to call specific staff members, we use Slack.

    Brave Web Browser

    Jaime sang the praises of Brave, a fast, lightweight and privacy-obsessed web browser. Brave blocks trackers, which means you won’t get tracked by Google Analytics, advertising networks, heat mapping trackers, email trackers. Not so great for marketers, but great for you!

    We talked about many tech tools we love, but these were the most important. How about you? What are YOUR favorite tech tools? How are they changing your work and your say?

     

     

  • GDPR: Do You Really Want to be Forgotten?

    GDPR: Do You Really Want to be Forgotten?

    Guest post by Tanya Kennedy Luminati, MatrixMaxx Product Manager

    caution cone on computerWe’re almost two months past the GDPR deadline, and we’re all still alive! (Well, mostly.) Just because the deadline has come and passed doesn’t mean the fun is over, though. As I’m sure you’ve heard, California has a new GDPR-inspired privacy law coming down the pike, and many organizations are into the real-life situations of members asking for copies of their personal data. And some are even asking to be forgotten!

    To make matters even more interesting, several of our clients have reported getting fake GDPR deletion requests via email. Yikes! FYI, from what we’ve heard, the subject is always “Data Removal Request,” and the body text is always “I hereby withdraw my consent for you to … ” Please keep your eyes out for messages like these!

    This underscores the recommendations that many of you (especially our MatrixMaxx clients) have been hearing from us since we started diving into GDPR and GDPR compliance: You shouldn’t just delete someone based on a voicemail or email. Always call and ask: “Do you really want to be forgotten?” This is a great chance to open a conversation with this individual, learn more about why they want to be forgotten, warn them of possible negative repercussions, and perhaps help your organization improve future communications. And, you know, save yourself and your organization from a potentially disastrous situation.

    Here are our recommendations for vetting requests to be “forgotten”:

    • Call and ask if the request is valid, and try to learn more about why they want to be forgotten.
    • Offer them a copy of their Personal Information. Perhaps all that they really want to know is what you know about them. This would be a combination of the info in your AMS (like MatrixMaxx) as well as any other systems in which you hold data.
    • Review the individual’s profile and warn them of potential issues that would come with being “forgotten.” For example, their meeting history will be gone… this could be important for their access to presentation slides or CEU history! Or, if they are actively on a committee, this action will effectively remove them from that committee … is this what they really want?
    • Do the needful to comply with their request, if it’s valid.

    By the way, if you’re a MatrixMaxx client, our recent 18.2 release was packed full of new features to help you manage Personal Data and Privacy for GDPR compliance. Have ideas for other enhancements that could help you in your journey? We’re here for you, and all ears!

    PLEASE NOTE:

    This is one of Matrix Group’s installments on GDPR, Privacy, and Security. We at Matrix Group are not lawyers or GDPR consults; these are simply our recommendations for how to best meet your organization’s needs and member’s needs.

  • The Checkbox War is Over: How to Pick a New AMS Partner

    The Checkbox War is Over: How to Pick a New AMS Partner

    checklist on clipboard graphicI was talking to my friend Ben Muscolino at Benel Solutions. Ben’s company does netFORUM implementations and other AMS integrations. Matrix Group has several clients in common and we love working with Benel Solutions.

    Anyway, we were talking association management software (AMS) companies, how the space is pretty crowded, and how difficult it is for associations to choose between vendors. At some point, Ben quipped, “well, the checkbox war is over, so how do clients choose their platform?”

    The checkbox war is over.

    I think Ben is absolutely right. The AMS market has reached such maturity that nearly all the platforms (MatrixMaxx from Matrix Group included) are able to check off the boxes in the RFPs that we receive. Yep, we let associations manage individual and company-based memberships, meetings, tradeshows, publication sales, digital downloads, sponsorships, subscriptions, fundraising, yada, yada.

    So how on earth does an association pick a platform? I think the answer is you don’t. You pick a partner instead.

    A partner that can help you:

    • Rethink your member experience
    • Work well with the other vendors in your digital universe
    • Guide your business process transformation
    • Get creative with your budget and needs

    Is YOUR AMS partner doing all this for you?

     

  • Lessons from a CIO on Work, Senior Staff Engagement and the Permission-Based Economy

    Lessons from a CIO on Work, Senior Staff Engagement and the Permission-Based Economy

    At AMS Fest a couple of weeks ago, I got a chance to sit down with Reggie Henry, Chief Information and Engagement Officer at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

    I always ask Reggie “what’s new?” and “what are you thinking about?” Reggie *never* fails to impress me his insights and curiosity. Here are some of the things he’s been pondering lately:

    We need to change how we work. Reggie says there isn’t a shortage of tools out there to facilitate work and collaboration, but we’re still too focused on the tools themselves, whether it’s Microsoft Word, or Slack or Skype. Instead, he says the tools should be secondary to the goals and the work, which is why he loves Office 365.

    He gave me a tour of how ASAE uses Office 365 and it’s breathtaking. Every team has projects and each project has notes, conversations, reports and so much more. Staff work within each project to share information, ask questions, author documents, etc. They make great use of Teams, Planner and Delve and I have to admit to being really jealous!

    Senior staff need to use the tools. Reggie says organizations are innovating and investing in fabulous tools and systems, but senior staff are not using them and that’s a mistake. Senior staff need to show their staff that they, too, are interested in the tools, that they are part of the conversations, and willing to try new things.
     

    Be wiling to forget what we know to design the future. Reggie and I talked about how “experts” are often the enemy of innovation because experts think something can’t be done, what can go wrong, what has gone wrong, etc. But how many awesome things have happened because someone didn’t believe it couldn’t be done? I’m thinking about the fabulous badge builder that a junior staff person created in MatrixMaxx. He asked his Product Manager what her dream functionality was and then he just did it.

    How prepared are you for the permission-based economy? We’re moving toward the day when organizations need to get permission for nearly everything they do with member and customer data, from location services, to cookies, to purchase history, to demographics. Is your organization ready to handle this level of granularity in your handling, storage and use of your customer data?

    Many thanks to Reggie for his insights!

  • An Executive Director’s Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Next Conference

    I recently had coffee with Carol Singer Neuvelt, Executive Director of NAEM. NAEM is a professional association that empowers corporate leaders to advance environmental stewardship, create safe and healthy workplaces, and promote global sustainability.

    Carol says that one of NAEM’s biggest member benefits is its peer-led educational program, during which members share what they’ve done at their companies.

    “How do you make sure members get the most out of these conferences?” I asked Carol.

    Turns out Carol has three rules for getting the most out of a conference and she doesn’t hesitate to remind her members of these three rules at every turn.

    1. Learn something. This sounds so obvious, but how many of us decide to learn something? Carol says that if we go into each session with an open mind and a keen intention to learn at least one thing, the conference will be a success.
    2. Participate in the conversation. Carol says passively attending a conference is not enough. We should ask questions during sessions, interact with the speakers and attendees during the breaks, post comments on social media, and otherwise make our voices heard.
    3. Make a friend. This is my favorite pro tip from Carol. She’s basically telling us to get off our phones and make a new friend. At lunch, during dinner, at breakfast, during a reception. Introduce yourself, explain what you do and why you’re at the conference, and look for ways to connect with others.

    I loved these tips so much, I had to share. They’re so obvious and yet so wise and so needed. I hope you’ll think about these tips as you head out to your next conference and encourage your staff and co-workers to do the same.

  • What Does Digital Transformation Mean for an Association or Non-Profit?

    What Does Digital Transformation Mean for an Association or Non-Profit?

    What does digital transformation mean for an association or non-profit? What does this transformation look like?

    These were two of the questions posed by Teri Carden, Founder of ReviewMyAMS and organizer of AMS Fest 2017, held a couple of weeks ago in Chicago. AMS Fest is a conference devoted to bringing together Association Management Software (AMS) companies and association executives looking for a new system to power their organizations.

    I saw lots of scribbled answers about using data to make better decisions, paying attention to data, having advanced analytics, next generation data maturity, etc.

    To be honest, these answers leave me cold. If an organization has great analytics and uses it to make better decisions, has it been digitally transformed?

    Webster defines transformation as “an act, process, or instance of transforming or being transformed.” The verb transform has multiple meanings:

    1. to change in composition or structure
    2. to change the outward form or appearance of
    3. to change in character or condition

    To transform something, therefore, is to make it new or completely different. If organizations do something different or differently, it has not necessarily been transformed.

    In my mind, an organization has been transformed when it no longer recognizes itself. When it engages in activities and behaviors that would have been unthinkable five years ago. When its decision-making and governance have been upended. When it attracts and retains a different class of members and staff. When members say “I don’t recognize my association.”

    And while a transformation is not necessarily positive, I think the only type of transformation we should concern ourselves with is the kind that is positive – the kind that results in growth, and ushers in a period of self-renewal.

    Data and data analytics no doubt play a huge role in any digital transformation, and even paying attention to data may represent a big change in some organizations. But analytics is only a means to the transformation that many organizations seek and desire today.

  • Why There is Still Room for a Small, Local Player in the AMS Space

    Why There is Still Room for a Small, Local Player in the AMS Space

    Last month, some of the largest AMS (association management software) companies (YourMembership, Abila, Aptify and NimbleAMS) joined forces to create Community Brands, which they describe as “a powerful and unified family of brands and a connected eco-system of software and services to better serve associations, nonprofits and government entities.”

    One can quibble over whether or not Community Brands will be a “family” of complementary or competing brands. But for a company like Matrix Group, with our web-based MatrixMaxx AMS, the big question is: In this age of mega-mergers, is there still room for a small, local player? Can we compete with the big guys for clients and talent?

    I’m confident that the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

    Many years ago, the book club at Matrix Group read Small Giants by Bo Burlingham, Editor-at-Large at Inc. magazine. In the book, Bo writes about 14 companies that are small and growing or small and choosing to stay small. In all cases, they have chosen excellence over growth.

    Excellence over growth has always been my mantra. If growth made sense in any given year, we went for it, but never at the expense of technical excellence, customer service, customer intimacy and terrific user experience.

    Sure, in many ways, being small, niche and custom is anti-trend. Aren’t we all shopping at Amazon and big box retailers? Aren’t we most impressed by the companies that have big, booming growth and huge total revenue numbers (often ignoring net income; we rarely hear about that). But on the other hand, there’s a movement to support small, local businesses. Think of the millennials who prefer independent coffee shops, bookstores and clothing shops.There’s a reason they prefer small and local and I’d wager it’s because they get a more personalized, friendly, and tailored experience.

    I spoke with a few clients over the past few weeks and they told me that they like working with Matrix Group because:

    • We have an amazing staff
    • Our work is of very high quality
    • We offer superior technical solutions on the AMS and custom sides of the business
    • We are easy to work with, easy to reach
    • We listen and respond to their needs
    • They never feel like just another client among hundreds or thousands
    • We have a track record of success
    • They know we’ll do what it takes to help them be successful
    • They get customized, personal attention and ideas

    While small companies don’t have a monopoly on the above characteristics, somehow, smaller companies are more likely to take the time to really get to know their customers.

    As for the war on talent, I absolutely love this opinion piece by columnist Gene Marks in Inc. Magazine. He talks about why it’s better to work for a small company over a large company. In fact, I have refugees from large firms who tell me they enjoy have a large voice in the company, having an outsized impact on clients’ success, and easy access to senior leadership.

    For sure, going up against a behemoth like Community Brands will be challenging. But I gotta stay true to my core belief that we can compete with any company and help our clients make the world a better place. I know that Matrix Group and the MatrixMaxx AMS can compete based on technical solutions, customer service, price and customer intimacy. No question about it.

     

  • Members Want Curation and Insight from Their Associations – Part One

    Members Want Curation and Insight from Their Associations – Part One

    One of the best parts of my job is conducting user interviews. Nearly every Matrix Group project starts with a User Persona exercise where we interview staff to glean their most important target audiences. Then a team of Matrix Group staff interview people in each group. Whenever I can, I help conduct these interviews because I like doing them and I learn so much about what members and non-members want, their pain points, their challenges, and what ultimately motivates them to act.

    Over the past year, across industries and professions, across trade association and professional societies, here’s what people have told us:

    • Surfing to find out what’s new is dead. It doesn’t happen anymore. Any web surfing is done to meet a specific need.
    • People are overwhelmed with data and information. When they Google, they get too many results. They find their association home pages too cluttered.
    • Members wants their associations to keep them up to date on important trends and give them insight into the future.
    • Members want fewer emails, shorter emails, less cluttered web pages.

    Over and over again, we heard, “Our association needs to tell us what we should be paying attention to. I don’t want the same news I can get elsewhere. Tell me the 5 or 6 most important things I should be doing, reading, attending.”

    Even if Matrix didn’t do interviews for you this past year, I bet your members would say much the same things. And if your members are hungry for curation and insight, what are YOU going to do about it?

  • Should You Crowdsource the Session Topics at Your Next Conference?

    Should You Crowdsource the Session Topics at Your Next Conference?

    Teri Carden, Founder of ReviewMyAMS, has a unique take on conference sessions. She crowdsources several of the sessions at AMS Fest. AMS Fest is an event that brings together AMS (association management software) vendors with association executives looking for a new AMS. It’s basically corporate speed dating.

    Teri held AMS Fest events in Chicago and in Washington, DC last year. She accepted proposals to speak at AMS Fest. But she didn’t choose who got to speak and she didn’t pull together a committee to review and vote. Here’s what she did instead:

    • At registration, each attendee got 5 star stickers.
    • The session descriptions and titles of prospective sessions were posted on a long wall without the name of the presenter or presenter’s organization (no popularity contest here!).
    • Each attendee voted with their stickers. Attendees could cast one star vote for the top session of choice, or they could cast up to five votes for the session they really, really wanted to see.
    • The top vote-getters got to present.

    Yup, it meant that some folks who prepared sessions didn’t get to speak BUT it also meant that conference attendees got to hear speakers on topics they really wanted to hear about.

    What if a session was a bust or it got really sales-y? After one particularly sales-y presentation, Teri introduced a sales-o-meter, which allowed her to gauge the audience’s preferences and yank a speaker off the stage. As Teri put it, “My event, my rules, and it’s all about giving the attendees quality, content heavy, sessions. Vendors need to know that there is a time and a place for selling and the crowdsourced sessions aren’t it.”

    Crowdsourcing is not a new concept to associations. Want to start with something simple? You could ask members to recommend and vote on topics. You can ask attendees about their most pressing challenges on your registration form and then source speakers for those topics.

    You might be surprised at what you learn and you’d be gaining valuable insight into what’s keeping members up at night.