I ran across the crowd-sourced data science company, Kaggle (Kaggle.com) the other day and by golly, did it ever get me thinking. For those of you who like me had never heard of Kaggle, it’s a data science company that does a few things that could revolutionize association management. And the really cool thing is, this revolution has nothing to do with data science (well, not much anyway).
So, let’s start with a look at how Kaggle describes itself – I’ll share the following from its “About” page:
Kaggle is the world’s largest community of data scientists. They compete with each other to solve complex data science problems, and the top competitors get invited to consult on interesting projects from some of the world’s biggest companies through Kaggle Connect.
Kaggle provides cutting-edge data science results to companies of all sizes. We have a proven track-record of solving real-world problems across a diverse array of industries including life sciences, financial services, energy, information technology, and retail.
The keyword you may have gleaned from the above statement is “community.” In part, Kaggle operates like an association. It attracts and serves the interest of a community of like-minded people who share a passion for the organization’s mission – in this case, solving data science challenges.
Like many associations, participation in Kaggle is voluntary and extra-curricular. Unlike most associations, Kaggle has no dues, chapters or formal membership trappings – though members are rated and ranked for participation and performance on various data science challenges.
While it is entirely possible Kaggle could evolve into a formal association of data scientists, today it is a social construct and a business. These two sides of Kaggle are interdependent. The social side enables, and in part is responsible for growing the business side.
Kaggle exists to solve data science challenges – it earns money by doing this. To solve these data science problems, Kaggle engages its community in competitions. The community member (or members) who solve the problem earns a prize, which is often a substantial amount of money. For enabling the competition, Kaggle earns fees and grows its reputation, which attracts more data scientists and more competitions.
Can you see where this is going???
OK, I’ll cut to the chase. If Kaggle can put members to work solving data science problems and get paid for managing the process, could your association use the same approach for addressing whatever industry challenges your members have expertise solving? Sure, there are all kinds of associations where this does not make sense – at least as it directly relates to a competition among members… But, for those associations serving industries where businesses or organizations commonly seek the expertise of consultants (or might benefit from innovative solutions that come from outside the normal bounds of the “enterprise”) it’s easy to see how Kaggle’s approach could be put to work.
Revolutionary benefits.
What makes Kaggle’s approach revolutionary is the way offers associations both a non-dues revenue stream and powerful incentive for growing membership. It creates shared value by supporting an association’s mission and the best interest of members.
Kaggle White Label…
One more idea – and this one is for the folks at Kaggle. Let’s say you’re an executive who runs an association where your members ARE data scientists. How great would it be if Kaggle offered a white-label version of its service that could be customized and deployed for your organization and members through your website?
The social association does more than tweet.
If this blog does anything, I hope it spurs some discussion among the many association management pros who view the social association as one with an active Twitter feed, Facebook followers and an active LinkedIn group. What Kaggle illustrates is the power of social business as a force for solving problems, generating revenue and engaging people. Isn’t this why you’re in the association business?
Published by: Arj Devadas, Director of Sales & Marketing, ACGI Software
Photo Sources: 12designer.comKaggle.com
