The association management software world is known more for its smaller "mom and pop" vendors than for big software players. It's fairly unusual for venture capital money to be invested in this market (though it has happened on a few occasions, as noted here.)
So today's announcement that Avectra has landed $26 million in venture capital […]
Our e-mail marketing, web sites and voice mail campaigns are green, right? It depends how you look at it. Certainly, in the scheme of your entire marketing plan, electronic options have a low carbon footprint. But then think of all the e-mails sent by every association all over the world and the electricity needed to […]
Jeff Cobb links to an incredible array of free eLearning resources today on his Mission to Learn blog. Check it out!
So I am sitting here at the Maryland Psychological Association Convention, in deep dark Linthicum Heights, Maryland (no, I’d never heard of it either) at my vendor table, waiting for people to start showing up. This is pretty exciting, I’ve never been a “vendor” before! I’ll have to see if I can use my charms to get a new member or two… ; )
And I had a giggle to myself about something.
You know the 1:10:90 rule? It obviously doesn’t add up to 100.
Pop quiz.
Is that because:
a) the author was thinking outside the box?
b) the author was doing some funky math - i.e. the 1%er is also a 10%er?
or c) it’s all about creative license and abstract thinking?
Have a good Friday!
I can’t believe I didn’t notice this interesting post until now. In it, Jeff de Cagna writes about the architecture of participation. He describes the definition of “architecture of participation” as “the collaborative design of pathways for meaningful engagement in and substantive contribution to the association’s work”, and goes on to suggest six design principles for association professionals to follow in order to be able to experiment with creating these pathways.
I agree with what Jeff is saying in this article, but I find the concept of “architecture” worth thinking about in this context. The idea of building blocks, modular Legos, which can be moved and shaped into variously shaped structures as a way to illustrate the new association model does work. But on the other hand, the whole idea of open networks, social media, ungovernance even, seems to me to be much more organic even than a concept of “architecture” and “design” - which anyone who has studied either will know are arguably not in the least bit “free flowing” or organic, as fields of study, but rather all about imposing structure onto our environment via a long and history of theoretical ideas. Architecture, by definition, is “the art and science of designing buildings and structures…driven by the creative manipulation of mass, space, volume, texture, light, shadow, materials, program, and pragmatic elements such as cost, construction and technology, in order to achieve an end which is aesthetic, functional and often artistic” (from wikipedia).
To take the thought one step further, you can look at the wikipedia definition for “enterprise architecture”:
“Enterprise Architecture is the description of the current and/or future structure and behavior of an organization’s processes, information systems, personnel and organizational sub-units, aligned with the organization’s core goals and strategic direction. Although often associated strictly with information technology, it relates more broadly to the practice of business optimization in that it addresses business architecture, performance management, organizational structure and process architecture as well.”
This is, obviously, a perfectly decent way to describe associations, as they stand. And I realize I am taking this all extremely literally, here, but as Jnott always says, words matter, so I’m having some fun thinking about the words.
And I wonder if there might be a different way to describe the new model of associations, which are (or strive to be) more organic, continuously evolving, with some necessary hierarchies but less rigidly structured, and in which that “organicism” is precisely the thing that allows members and volunteers and staff to power the association through innovation.
One of my favorite parts of the AASL National Conference is taking a pre-conference school tour. This year I selected Tour 1: “An All-Day Tour Shows How Rural Elementary, Middle, and High School Librarians Bring Resources to Distant Desert Towns.” There were eleven of us on the tour — and those who weren’t missed both an exceptional Nevada experience and some fascinating schools and school librarians.
Let’s start with the librarians — those visiting and those being visited. With eleven passengers in a small bus — driven by a former gym teacher — the two-hour plus drive quickly became a fluid discussion group involving everyone — and the “everyone” was pretty diverse: a librarian from a DOD-dependents school in Germany, an energetic Spectrum Scholar from Brooklyn (studying at Simmons), librarians from Hawaii, from a Navajo school in New Mexico, from the state agency in Washington, from schools in Alabama, Vermont, north coast California, Massachusetts. Going and returning, the conversation was rich — issues of funding, testing, weeding too-old collections, educating faculty and administrators in the values and resources of libraries. Everyone seemed to gain — a new perspective here, an innovative strategy there. When I could, I contributed to the conversation. Mostly I listened. These conversations nourish me and help me find paths and connections through the Greenroo space.
What was perhaps most striking about the three school librarians who spent so much of their scarce time with us was their absolute commitment to their schools and students — and the fact that they overwhelmingly chose to see the richness in their tight communities more than the challenges. Resources were not abundant. Chatting with a parent volunteer who worked with the librarian at the first school — the Natchez Elementary School in Wadsworth (on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation), I commented on the nice-looking, round mats piled up — just the right size for a child to curl up with a book and read. She told me they bought dog beds — available inexpensively at many big box stores — rather than the more costly bean bags and that the wood chip smell faded quickly. I noted that several tour colleagues made notes for the future. In the Johnson Elementary School and Gerlach Middle/High School — connected to each other — the two librarians supplement their meager budgets “pushing pizzas.” When asked about their challenges, though, they focused instead on the high level of support from their small community — fewer than 100 students in K-12. The entire elementary school population — 38 students (no one was absent yesterday)gathered to greet the visitors and sing. The high school library (40-some students) is also a branch of the Washoe County public library, open one night a week to serve adults unable to get to the library in daytime hours. It included an audiobook collection (used primarily by drivers of the large gypsum trucks that regularly passed us on the highway), a career center and a small childrens collection. The conversations in all three schools were expansive and valuable. So, Sherry, Katie and Debbie — thank you.
Then were was the country itself. We had glimpses of Pyramid Lake — a lake with no outlet, a residual body from a prehistoric lake, fed by the Truckee River — inside the reservation boundary of the Northern Paiute. Roads often took us along the Truckee, with trees — and autumn color — marking the proximity of water in the desert. Salt flats were another frequent sight. Fedex and UPS trucks zipped past us — testimony to people and businesses we couldn’t always see. Cattle crossing signs — a novelty to easterners — seemed more common that stop signs.
Bruno’s restaurant in Gerlach was our lunch stop. Arriving too early, we were advised to go another eight miles up the road to Planet X Pottery, “open most of the time.” The galleries were, indeed, open and the pottery was well-worth the side trip. If you have no immediate plans to visit the Black Rock Desert, you can visit planetxpottery.com
Back at Bruno’s for lunch, nothing on the outside prepared us for the meal inside. Bruno himself was cooking — an Italian feast, from the array of antipasti to the hand-made ravioli (for which they are rightly famous) to the perfectly-marinated and cooked beef and chicken. Carafes of red wine were on the tables. Bruno came to Nevada as a young man — who had apprenticed as a butcher — in the years immediately following World War II. Once in Nevada, like many immigrants he did everything — from working for U.S. Gypsum to racing bicycles. Eventually, he purchased a roadside restaurant — in Gerlach — and began to put his early training in butchering and cooking to use. The result is impressive. Inside and out, it looks simple. But the dining room is lined with pictures of family and friends and feels welcoming. Bruno’s daughter and son-in-law were there — and it’s definitely a family business, with at least 3 generations working in the restaurant. Burning Man — the art festival — takes place each Labor Day weekend less than a mile from Gerlach — and the professional crews that set up for Burning Man are a year-round presence. So — if you’re going to Reno or Tahoe or anywhere near — do go out of your way. Go to the tiny town of Gerlach — for great food, art, the old wooden water tower, and some very friendly people.
If someone’s zipper is down, or if they have something on their face, do you tell them or not? Was speaker at lunch meeting and asked why skipping lunch. Told story of how years ago had significant amount of catsup on my face, gave entire presentation, walked around the room, and when leaving found over a hundred people noticed but didn’t mention it. No more eating two minutes before intro for me.
Which led to riveting question: if you noticed someone’s zipper down, would you tell them? And if yes, how. Answers ranged from no to maybe to depends how well know them to yes. Men said they’d tell men as easily as a woman; and women said they’d tell men as easily as a woman. Consensus that best way to do it is quietly/privately say “your zipper/fly is down” without adding anything else. Also thought if someone said “XYZ” (examine your zipper) wouldn’t know what talking about; and expressions about barn doors would be clueless or closer to uncomfortable than direct approach (”your barn door’s open”, “don’t let cow out of the barn”).
Real Simple says this: “In many cases, it’s not your place to step in. ‘If you’re in a large group or the person is the CEO of the company, you don’t have to say anything,’ says Jodi R. Smith, president of Mannersmith, an etiquette consulting firm based in Boston.”
Take it from me, Jodi R. Smith and others - if they’re in a large group, and if they’re a CEO, it would be really nice/helpful to tell them. Wouldn’t you want to know?
I’m a big fan of Soundview Executive Book Summaries for three reasons: 1) they provide me the gist of books so I can (hopefully) participate in conversations about them even before I’ve had a chance to read them, 2) listening or reading the summaries provides me with enough information to decide if I’d find value in reading the full book - thus, serving as a filter, and 3) the MP3 versions are about 20 minutes…
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