Kathi Edwards

Welcome to my blog!

It’s called the Learning Evangelist because that’s what I am...a lifelong learner who passionately believes in the power of learning. Supporting effective learning is how I make my living; learning itself is my life.

Join me as I explore ideas and ideals about learning, especially how learning opportunities can be more effective for those who matter most: the learners. There are exciting opportunities for engaging learners today, and it’s an exciting time to be engaged in the learning profession!

I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

Initial musings from ASAE

August 12, 2011

Another ASAE annual meeting has come and gone…yet it wasn’t just another ASAE annual meeting. If you were there, and/or follow the Twitter stream (#asae11) and the association blogosphere, you know that already. There was just something about this meeting that struck a very positive chord throughout the association community.

I suspect it has a lot to do with ASAE’s responsiveness to the significant criticism of the 2010 event in Los Angeles. ASAE listened (and perhaps St. Louis did, too), a critical association skill I wrote about early in the week, and made a number of changes in response. Kudos to everyone involved in those changes! The ones I noticed the most were the wide variety of session possibilities (Game Changers, Ignite, Deep Dives, Learning Labs, Conversations that Matter, Innovation Exchange) and the spaces opened up – near all the action, this time – for participants to gather and discuss topics of their choice or just relax (Flash Learning, Online Engagement Lounge, and others). It was probably the first ASAE meeting in a long time (and I’ve been to a lot of them) in which I truly wish I could have cloned myself to avoid having to choose from among what all looked like wonderful sessions.

My biggest regret…

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Strategy is an important element in association management. Whether your mantra is “strategic planning is dead!” or “long live strategic planning,” there is no doubt that in today’s world we need to be strategic about where we’re going and what we choose to do.

In one Sunday session I attended at ASAE’s annual meeting, “Future Trends: State-of-the-Art Environmental Scanning in Associations,” content leaders Jim Dalton and Alan Balkema highlighted new research on trends and environmental scanning, including 50 trends identified in the relatively recent book Designing Your Future: Key Trends, Challenges, and Choices Facing Association and Nonprofit Leaders. The research included how (and if) associations are engaging in environmental scanning. Dalton distinguished two context types associations might use: the general environment – scanning the entire universe using categories known to be major change areas – and the task environment, which is a focus on the immediate conditions faced by members by demographics and market segments. ASAE, for example, used a STEEP model (Social, Technology, Economic, Environmental, Political) for its general environmental scanning. Sunday’s session was recorded, and an article by Dalton on environmental scanning appears in the August 2011 issue of Associations Now.

Dalton offered two critical questions to consider about each of 50 trends on the list:  

(1)    Will the trend have significant bearing on your members?

(2)    If so, how and why will this trend have an effect on your members?

In answering these questions, Dalton says, you convert a trend from the general environment into a strategic issue in your members’ task environment.

I was excited to see a number of these trends relating directly to learning, because in similar trend lists identified over the years, learning issues have been more inferred rather than being the focus of trends themselves. The rise of these trends demonstrates the increasing importance of learning to association management.

So what are these learning-focused trends? They fall into four of the five STEEP categories and are listed below (one in the fifth category can be inferred). Think about them using the two questions above, and you just may identify some strategic learning issues to which your organization should be paying attention. Note: emphasis placed is mine.

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I travel quite a bit in my role, and my first-choice airline is typically Southwest. Among other things, I “LUV” their sense of fun and their customer service. And I really enjoy Spirit, their in-flight magazine. The company’s fun culture comes through loud and clear in its eclectic content mix. Reading the August issue en route to St. Louis yesterday for ASAE’s annual meeting, I came across an article very timely for the association community as we gather to learn and share ideas.

Today’s the first full day of the meeting, and there are lots of tweets, sessions, and expo booths focusing on engaging members in today’s rich social media environment. A lot of what I’ve seen so far seems to focus on how associations can innovate, be creative, and engage members. All fine and good; yet the message that appears to be missing (so far) is the importance and value of listening to members. Not just giving them the latest tools and content…really listening to member conversations. We have so many tools we can use now to “eavesdrop” on those conversations to inform so many aspects of managing our associations, not the least of which are the learning opportunities we offer.

Writer Nicholas Webb, in his Spirit article “Hear Hear: How the best companies are succeeding by listening,” says this:

The days of carefully vetted press releases, a polished brand image, and corporate separatism are over. Also gone are the rampant focus groups and surveys intended to tap customer thought. The transformation has been so complete that companies no longer own their message; rather, the message is shaped by rapidly growing and vociferous online communities. For some businesses, particularly those accustomed to controlling the message, it’s a scary phenomenon; for others, it’s manna from heaven.

Sound familiar? Associations are jumping onto the social media bandwagon in droves; however there are still those having problems letting go of message control and doing more pushing out instead of pulling in. The article highlights what companies like Kodak, Dell, and the U.S. Army are doing to listen to their customers. One thing that really struck me is that one company, Kodak, even established a new position: Chief Listening Officer.

It seems to me that associations spend a lot of time telling members, when they should be spending a lot more time listening. How well does your organization listen to its members? And what could happen if you listen purposefully? Hmmm…here’s a thought: is it a new staff position, or the responsibility of every member of the association’s staff and volunteer leadership? What do you think?

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