The story I’m about to share is true…
A couple years ago, after my husband and I bought our first house, I decided to host a New Year’s/house warming party for 20 close friends and family. Being the event planner that I am, I put together the invitations, festive décor, and a simple menu of finger foods. Then I decided to be daring and try a new recipe for homemade chicken and vegetable soup. Sounds pretty simple, right?
I sliced and diced my vegetables, and started tossing them in the pot along with the rice, broth, chicken, a dash of this herb and dash of that spice.
Before long, the soup started bubbling and spitting. All I could see was rice. Too much rice! I lifted the lid and was greeted with a steamy stench. At this point, I started freaking out—the voice in my head shouting, “What to do?!”
I ended up scooping half of my soupy mess into a separate crock pot, adding more broth, more salt and seasonings to the soup, thinning it out to make it taste and smell better. The clock was ticking and I didn’t have much time left before guests arrived, so all I could do was wait and pray this wouldn’t be a complete cooking disaster.
Lucky for me, miracles do exist.
My guests loved the soup and it tasted delicious. There were even some who came back for seconds!
I thought of this moment in relation to a workshop ACGI Software will be co-hosting this month, titled, “Solving Association Alphabet Soup—Make Your AMS, LMS, CRM, CMS and Marketing Technologies Talk to Each Other.” That’s a mouthful itself, isn’t it?
While the soup in my story was not alphabet soup, the message remains the same. In order to get the results you want, you need to combine the right ingredients in the right way.
If you start adding new technologies into the mix of your business operations, without proper planning, you might be taking a big risk that goes the way of my soup.
When you integrate new technologies at your association, the goal should be to enhance the way you do business. This might mean increasing member satisfaction and engagement, attracting and developing new members, deploying new programs and certifications…the list goes on. So, are you ready to nourish your success with a new technology platform? Need a little guidance to get started?
I invite you to join ACGI on April 16, 2015, for The Essential Executive Symposium, a complimentary event in Washington, DC, offering three workshops led by industry experts and association leaders. Arj Devadas from ACGI will co-present a case study with Chris Dugmore, Director of Data Integrity at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). For more details and to register, visit the event page. We hope you can join us!
