Network art director and designer Heather Winkel was named one of Folio’s Rising Stars: Ten Under 30 yesterday.
In Heather’s time at Network, she has taken on design and art direction for a number of our client’s magazines. Most recently, Heather’s work with AAMVA on MOVE magazine was honored with several industry awards.
Congratulations Heather!
2 Comments November 3, 2010
1. Social media is no longer a separate medium; it is another communication channel that needs to be utilized with the same planning, thought and interest level as traditional media.
3. A digital strategy is not the same as a social media strategy.
4. There is a need to evaluate how “free” is impacting your space, market, or membership. Free continues to change the rules of the game for associations. Information that is abundant should be considered free; scarce information is valuable and worth paying for access.
5. How can your next product or offering meet a new or emerging need in your marketplace?
6. Develop assets that provide advertisers with the access they need. Association media products –whether print or online—not only need to place the profession or field in context for the members, but they also must allow advertisers to be a part of that relationship.
7. Meeting attendees want real value above all else: tools that will help them justify their profession to stakeholders in the industry.
8. Technology available for communications and meeting enhancements are developing at a rapid pace. Time and resources must be devoted to regularly reviewing these tools to ensure your association is not missing out on opportunities for the members you serve.
9. Use that technology wisely: Announce a membership special to your attendees or promote a new book or member tool.
11. Provide more than an “approval toolkit” for members to have their boss approve the conference registration and expenses. Make sure every attendee goes back to the office with a new suite of tools, knowledge and insight, so that next year’s conference is a given in the budget.
12. More than ever, leaders need to be developed at every level of your organization. Leaders at all levels exist to serve and to improve their own immediate environment every day.
14. Acting with integrity is an essential ingredient for any organization, especially in the association space. Making decisions with integrity will always improve the big-picture, long-term view for your association.
15. Create white space–space to think, to experience, to enjoy. Consider how the concept of white space can apply to your work life and your home life, and turn off the things that suck white space out of your life.
16. Make sure that your work aligns with the direction you want for your life. Find a true North and it will help get you through tough economies, tough bosses, tough assignments.
17. Inclusive environments are not optional for our workplaces. It is considered a requirement for many constituents.
19. Take a good look at the operational technologies used in your office. Where can you make changes that will allow for more sharing at a lower hard cost? Consider open source software like OpenOffice or enterprise apps like Google Enterprise for calendars, documents and e-mail.
3 Comments August 30, 2010
Association’s (like the rest of the world) want more out of the technology investments that they are making. They want to invest in technology solutions that will fill a space and gap within their industry or organization. Investments in licensing, hardware and break/fixes continue to make this a challenging proposition. There are alternatives, however, to high-priced tech solutions. Associations and businesses are finding ways to lower their costs and still provide staff access to the tools they need.
Consider Alternatives: Microsoft is not evil, just a choice that can be made. There are a number of Microsoft alternatives out there.
Executive Conversation: If you want to look at alternatives to Microsoft, plan to engage executive leadership to consider new options. You will need support from a number of key organizational consituents to get both buy in and implementation
Hardware: Both Network and the Society of American Florists have been successful in working with thin box dummy machines. The desktop machines that provide access are inexpensive and meant to be quickly replaced if there is some type of failure. Staff time is not spent supporting a desktop environment.
Open Source: move away from robust desktops into open source solutions. Consider options like www.openoffice.org for word processing or www.drupal.org for content management.
Google!: Consider Google enterprise as an option to an Exchange server for email, calendars, shared documents and other key functions. There is robust functionality and use, and for $50 per person per year it can be a good alternative.
Server Virtualization: Virtualization can give organizations flexibility and redundancy in their environment.
Tech budgets will always be scrutinized, but they do not need to be a necessary evil to your organization. Others are tapping into lower cost options without losing the functionality and demands of the organization.
Special thanks to Renato Sogueco, CIO of Society of American Florists, for teaming up with Jim Cooke, VP, Network for this session.
Leave a Comment August 25, 2010
