Category: webinars

Research and Information Literacy – Learning More

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
Responsible Consumption and Production of Research

Would you like to learn more about how you can improve your information literacy and become a more discerning and knowledgeable consumer and sponsor of research?

Caveat Emptor co-author Polly Karpowicz and I recently had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) with Jeff Cobb (Tagoras) for an episode of the Leading Learning podcast, where we discussed some fundamental issues in research study design, like primary versus secondary research, qualitative and quantitative research, mixed research methods, the ethics of using people in research, and bias. We talked about the importance of information literacy and how you can increase yours. We also covered topics like data validity, reliability, and statistical significance, and Polly and I shared some valuable tips for the responsible consumption and production of research.

Listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Want something live, where you can hear directly from some of our case studies and have the chance to ask your questions?

  • February 23 – Caveat Emptor (UST Education) with Mallika Bender of the Casualty Actuarial Society – register HERE (it’s free!)
  • March 1 – Caveat Emptor (Association Insights in Old Town) with Mallika Bender of the Casualty Actuarial Society and Marc Beebe of IEEE – register HERE (it’s also free!)

And of course, Polly and I invite you to download the whitepaper, which is ALSO free!

Webinar: Becoming a Responsible Consumer of Research

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
Header Graphic for Caveat Emptor webinar October 26, 2022 - speakers Elizabeth Engel, Polly Karpowicz, Jennifer Blanck, Marc Beebe - hosted by UST Education

Would you like to learn more about the critical skills you need to be a responsible consumer and sponsor of research? Would you like to hear directly from association execs who are doing good work in their own organizations about how they do it?

Join me and my Caveat Emptor: Becoming a Responsible Consumer of Research co-author Polly Karpowicz on Wednesday, October 26 for a FREE webinar where we’ll review the findings of the whitepaper, share a plain-language review of key concepts and approaches in consuming and sponsoring research, and interview Jennifer Blanck (the Association of American Medical Colleges) and Marc Beebe (IEEE) about their stories of association research success.

Learn what you need to know so you don’t have to “beware” and can be confident that you’re setting yourself, your association, your members and other stakeholders, and the people in the profession or industry your association serves up for success in making data-informed decisions that will allow you to achieve your most important goals and solve your most pressing problems.

(Thanks to host UST Education.)

Details and RSVP here.

Curiosity with a Purpose

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

As Zora Neale Hurston described it:

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

When you’re sponsoring a research study, one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is what method(s) to use.

What are your choices?

  • Quantitative v. Qualitative
  • Primary v. Secondary

You also have some decisions to make about data collection. The choices there include:

  • Formal v. Informal
  • Active v. Passive

All of these choices have associated pros and cons.

For instance, surveys (quantitative primary research where the data collection is active and formal) provide numeric answers that can be described by levels of statistical significance and degrees of confidence (see yesterday’s post for more on that). That’s obviously a pro.

On the con side, because surveys provide reassuringly specific answers, it’s tempting to over-rely on them. They’re also more susceptible to design flaws that can introduce bias – and once the survey’s deployed, you can’t correct those errors without invalidating all the responses that have already come in.

So what’s the answer?

Download the new Spark collaborative whitepaper Caveat Emptor: Becoming a Responsible Consumer of Research to find out!

Salon Conversation: Digital Transformation

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
Salon Conversation: Digital Transformation

Join me and Maddie Grant for the next Association Women Technology Champions Salon on Wednesday, October 13 at 4 pm ET.

AWTC Salons are interactive, collaborative gatherings where everyone shares experiences, knowledge, and resources about a topic, and our topic on the 13th will be Digital Transformation.

  • What are your questions about Digital Transformation?
  • What resources on Digital Transformation do you recommend?
  • What are your struggles with Digital Transformation?

The goal of AWTC salons is to provide a welcoming place for sharing diverse perspectives, asking questions, and getting advice from your peers.

Register here to join us.

All are welcome to this free virtual event.

Want to Generate Explosive Membership Growth?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
Want to Generate Explosive Membership Growth?

Join me and the nice folks from Grype Digital on Tuesday, October 12 at 3:30 pm ET for Explosive Growth for Associations Through Better Membership Management, the second episode of their second season of video podcasts.

On the pod, we’ll talk about things like:

  • Levels of engagement (not everyone wants to be maximally engaged, and that’s OK!)
  • Understanding your members’ motivations (hint: YOU HAVE TO TALK TO THEM)
  • How to cater to a broad spectrum of members (each member generally joins for 2-3 things – the key is to figure out WHICH 2-3 things)

Missed the live event? No worries – you can get the recording here.

Digital Transformation: Want to Learn More?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

Maddie and I have a bunch of upcoming free webinars and discussions planned where we’ll be sharing findings and insights from The No BS Guide to Digital Transformation: How Intentional Culture Change Can Propel Associations Forward, and we’d love to see you there:

  • The No BS Guide to Digital Transformation, hosted by PROPEL, with special guest Hugh Seaton, Head of Construction Technology Practice, Cimatri (who will talk about the Construction Specifications Institute case study) Friday, July 16 – register HERE (it’s free!)
  • The No BS Guide to Digital Transformation, hosted by Review My AMS, with special guest Brad Dennison, Director of Content Strategy, Healthcare Financial Management Association (who will talk about the HFMA case study) Thursday, July 29 – register HERE (it’s free!)
  • The No BS Guide to Digital Transformation, hosted by Association Women Technology Champions, with special guest Jen Lewi, MBA, CAE, senior vice president, membership and professional development, School Nutrition Association (who will talk about the SNA case study) Tuesday, August 3 – register HERE (it’s free!)
  • AWTC Salon: Digital Transformation, hosted by Association Women Technology Champions, Wednesday, October 13 – register HERE (it’s free!)

Special note: the October 13 event is part of AWTC’s salon series, modeled on French salons, focused on interactive discussions, sharing diverse perspectives, and getting to ask your questions and share your experiences in a safe, welcoming environment.

PROPEL will be hosting three additional sessions throughout the fall, one with each of our case studies, reg links also forthcoming.

Rethinking Revenue: Your Membership Plan

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
webinar information - Rethinking Your Membership Plan, PIA Case Study, Wednesday, September 30

What happens when your membership plan becomes reality?

Join me and Dana Anaman (National Association of Professional Insurance Agents) Wednesday, September 30 at 10 am ET as we take you through our journey to increase membership for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. We’ll discuss how we approached membership recruitment, onboarding, engagement, retention, and renewal – the full membership lifecycle – to increase membership.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How we created a membership plan for PIA and what we thought was going to happen
  • What really happened when PIA began implementing this membership campaign
  • What PIA learned and how we’ve pivoted as a result
  • The results we achieved to increase memberships

Missed the session? No worries – you can view the free recording here.

Hosted by: Atigro, Charles River CFO, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, and Social Innovation Forum

What’s Blockchain?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

And why should associations care?

Shelly Alcorn (Ubiquity University and Alcon Associates Management Consulting) and I will be presenting for CalSAE on The Perils and Promise of Blockchain Wednesday, September 30.

“Hm,” you may be thinking, “I’m not IN California. Why is Elizabeth telling me this?”

Because CalSAE’s annual ELEVATE meeting has been converted into a series of Virtual Summits taking place for four consecutive Wednesdays in September, starting September 9.

  • Building Capacity – Wednesday, September 9
  • The Essentials – Wednesday, September 16
  • Thriving Associations – Wednesday, September 23
  • Trends Watch – Wednesday, September 30 (that’s when Shelly and I are presenting)

Quoting the CalSAE Virtual Summits site:

The buzz is unmistakable. The next technological wave is beginning to crest and blockchain is leading the way. Advocates claim it will revolutionize trust on the internet and, perhaps counterintuitively, lead to more privacy for individuals. Detractors have concerns about misuse, security, and what the overall socio-economic impact may be of blockchain being deployed at scale. Is it all just hype? How can we develop a better understanding of how blockchain may impact us as individuals and leaders of organizations? In this session, we’ll answer those questions, talk about what blockchain is and how the technology works, discuss how it’s going to affect the association industry, and provide a roadmap for associations to use as they begin to help their members prepare for the impacts of this disruptive technology on their industries and professions.

Shelly and I pre-recorded the session, which is based on our recent free whitepaper of the same title, so we’ll be able to be active in the chat with participants. That means: Come ready with your questions about blockchain, because we’ll be ready to answer them!

Learn more about all the sessions on all four Wednesdays and register for one or all four here.

Content Curation: Your Association’s Secret Weapon Against Information Overload

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE
Content Curation: Your Association’s Secret Weapon Against Information Overload

Did you miss the webinar Hilary Marsh (Content Company) and I gave last week on content curation and why your association needs to get on board with it to help your members and other audiences deal with information overload?

You’re in luck! Thanks to our host Impexium, there’s a free recording available at the Impexium website.

In the webinar, Hilary and I:

  • Outline the problem of information overload.
  • Discuss what content curation is – and isn’t.
  • Share the Association Content Curation Maturity Model we developed (it’s the groovy image that’s the header for this post).
  • Tie specific recommendations about what you can do right now to improve to the model.

Want to learn more?

Well, listen to the webinar of course. You can also download our free whitepaper on which it’s based, Cut Through the Clutter: Content Curation, Associations’ Secret Weapon Against Information Overload, just published this May.

Your Members Are Overwhelmed

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

That’s the bad news.

We’re all feeling a little overwhelmed by the volume and variety of information coming at us, having trouble determining what’s accurate and relevant, placing that information in meaningful context, and successfully using it to make sense of our increasingly complex world.

The good news is that you can help your members!

Hilary Marsh (Chief Strategist, Content Company) and I just released a new FREE whitepaper, Cut Through the Clutter: Content Curation, Associations’ Secret Weapon Against Information Overload, and on Wednesday, July 1, at 2 pm ET, we’re giving a FREE webinar about it.

In our session, you’ll learn how your association can use sophisticated content curation strategies effectively to move your association from a “nice-to-have” option into becoming a vital partner in your members’ professional success.

We’ll discuss what content curation is and isn’t, share the association content curation maturity model we developed in the process of our research, and provide concrete steps your association can take to curate internal and external information in a way that helps your members achieve their most important goals and solve their most pressing problems.

Register now.

Thanks to the nice folks at Impexium for hosting!