Association eLearning

I'm Back

For those of you who subscribe to the Association eLearning blog, you've noticed it's been very quiet for the last year.  I'm finally back from some time off and I'm really excited to be re-engaged in the world of eLearning - although I didn't go far.

In October 2007, I made the strategic decision to merge my consulting business with another, larger firm in Arlington, VA.  The new company is called Kadix Systems.  I'll be maintaining the association work I've been doing for the last seven years, but I am also taking on some new responsibilities in the federal space.  So far it's been great.  I'm loving the fact that both associations and federal agencies are mission focused.  While the procurement process is night and day, the work is challenging and rewarding.

With this change comes new contact information.  You can still reach me at AmySmith@amysmithconsulting.com or at ASmith@kadix.com.  My cell phone is (571) 236-8959 and my office is (703) 236-0919.

Some other new announcements - In August of 2007 I helped co-author the Always Done it That Way book.  We have now sold about 1,100 copies to date and have recently added new postings on the blog.  A second version is coming out in 2008.  It's available for purchase at Lulu.com and on Amazon.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the association community again.  Don't hesitate to contact me.

Be Well!

Educational Crisis Planning - Do It Now!

I was recently reflecting on the five year anniversary of my business and was reminded very quickly of the world events that helped kick start the company.  We started ASC in July of 2001 - and when September rolled around you may remember the turmoil that surrounded annual conferences and travel.

So it is 2006 and I worry more than ever about what associations will do should their annual conference need to be canceled?  While prudent organizations have insurance for such things, the insurance doesn't address the bigger set of questions that will most assuredly come up.  Here are some questions to ponder:

• How quickly can your association disseminate (push) critical information to your entire industry or profession?
• How quickly could you get a vast number of your members together in a synchronous (real time) way?
• Many of us are located in major metropolitan areas - what would happen if your staff could not get to the office?  How quickly could you reach your entire membership?
• If your annual meeting was canceled or indefinitely postponed, what plans have you made to provide members with critical content during the interim?

These were questions that very few organizations pondered prior to September 11th.  However, as the fifth anniversary approaches I'm not sure enough organizations have asked and answered these questions.  The technologies available to us have drastically changed, and I would argue, did so as a result of our technology needs after 9/11.  Many of us use virtual seminar or webinar software of one kind or sort.  But we use it for events that typically require a six week lead time.

What is your education department planning to do if you have 24 hours notice?  Six hours?

Think about how your organization will handle this if a major crisis occurs.  Being prepared and thinking through the options now will provide you with a clear game plan going forward.

Conference Blogging - Great Ideas San Diego

In just a few weeks, ASAE/The Center for Association Leadership will be hosting their Great Ideas conference in San Diego.  A group of approximately 8 individuals, all from various fields in the association industry, are blogging the conference.  We actually did this for the GI conference last year, and for the GI conference in Orlando in December 2005. 

Visit the blog at http://blogs.centeronline.org/greatideas/

The experience is rather interesting in that the group of bloggers, all volunteers, write on a range of topics including their thoughts on presented topics, keynotes, major issues in the industry, etc.  Some of us took photos at the conference in order to show readers exactly what we were talking about.  (I think photos add a great deal of context to blogs, so don't hesitate to do that!).

Onboarding - Time to competency for new hires

Onboarding is a relatively new (and highly illusive) term used primarily by companies in reference to the process of orientation and training of new employees.  The concept is that by introducing a new hire to information early in the employment process (sometimes even before they show up on their first day of work) you can get a new hire up to speed quicker - thus making them profitable at an earlier point.

The concept of onboarding also formalizes what tends to a be a rather informal training process for many employees.  If your association doesn't have the term on your radar screen, you may want to think more about it.  The concept can impact just about every segment or industry and can have bottom line results.

I just got back from ASTD's TechKnowledge conference where Onboarding was a topic of interest.  Randstad (the staffing company) is doing some great things with Onboarding.  They shared their case study at the conference.  Randstad did an impact study of their new program and estimated that in the first six months of 2005, the new Onboarding program helped to generate an additional $4 million+ in sales revenue (a 338% return rate). 

The program includes online courses, coaching sessions with the new hire's supervisor, tests, and other trackable activities all delivered through a Learning Management System (LMS).  The Onboarding process is not a training department function, but a managerial function supported by the training department. 

I am impressed by the the 16 week Onboarding program at Randstad and am spending time researching other Onboarding processes to see if we can identify some best practices.  The concept is a new one with significant bottom-line impact for organizations.  In the association world it is important to keep in mind that these types of training issues impact your association - regardless of whether you are a trade or professional organization.

I guarantee you'll hear more about Onboarding in the future!

Tag Clouds

What are Tag Clouds you ask?  Click on the Tag Cloud link to find out...

This free and fascinating technology that takes RSS feeds, looks at the words in the various sites you "tag" and generates a word listing.  Click here to view the Association eLearning tag cloud here. 

The concept is pretty powerful for learning.  Elliott Masie spoke earlier today at the ASTD TechKnowledge conference about the power of Tag Clouds for learning.  It got me thinking about the possibilities for associations and professional development.

It's Just About Time...but for What?

I am headed to Florida this week for a much needed business planning retreat.  This may sound indulgent but let me assure you that is is nothing of the sort.  Having been so highly engrossed in the day-to-day activities of my business, I forgot to realize this summer that my consulting practice celebrated it's 4th year.  My lack of acknowledgment of this significant milestone highly annoys me...as do many things now-a-days.   

This blog is being posted to stake a claim to the fact that big changes are coming at ASC.  We just launched the first of several white papers on a range of eLearning topics - more are coming.  We are going to reformat the Blended Learning Seminar for association executives - more is coming in that area too.

But I do have to say that I feel that big things are coming.  This thought is pretty scary and exciting all at the same time.

ASAE Annual Meeting

OK, I have to admit it...The Annual Meeting for ASAE/The Center far exceeded my expectations...and I'm happy about it.

I say this only somewhat sarcastically because I always have exceedingly high expectations for conferences.  Expectations that are pretty hard for any organization to attain, I willingly admit.  In fact, I was so disgusted with a national education and training conference (by the way, it wasn't an ASAE or Center event) two years ago, I wrote an article for Executive Update magazine where I ranted about said conference.  Now keep in mind, the association that hosted that conference claims to be at the cutting edge of learning - so I was all too happy to point out that their conference was nothing more than any other conference, where participants sit in cold convention center ballrooms with dim lighting listening to boring PowerPoint presentations....

Welcome!

Welcome to the first association-specific eLearning blog!  I am really excited about the opportunity to begin to publicly share my thoughts and views on various aspects of association professional development, especially as they relate to education technology.

There is a lot going on in the eLearning world that will dramatically impact the association profession in the coming years.  My intention is to publish new thoughts at least once per week.  As always I encourage you to email me with thoughts or comments about my postings or with questions about specific issues you are facing.

My best to you and your organization as you explore the eLearning world!