Sector and AuSAE News

  • 25 May 2016 3:12 PM | Deleted user

    A ‘can-do’ combination


    Every five years, the Australian Institute of Radiography and the New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology come together for the NZIMRT-AIR Scientific Meeting. What’s the reasoning behind the joint event? “Open-mindedness,” says David Leach, Conference & Events Manager at the Australian Institute of Radiography. “There will be a regular group of people that attend the conferences every year and for them to network with different people who do similar work but with regional differences helps expand the delegates' thinking and conference experience. You find out the latest in teaching and training at local universities, new research, how new technology is being implemented and how this affects interdisciplinary teams. You also get to experience an array of speakers you haven’t seen before. I think it is exciting for people to go to an international meeting as well. You can learn so much from each other.”


    The most recent event took place in Wellington in July 2015, but Leach’s journey began back at the MEETINGS trade show in Auckland 2013 as a fully hosted buyer. “We met a lot of good suppliers face-to-face, it was very personal. I then went to Wellington post-event to look at options. It was very successful.”


    It was the start of a positive working relationship with Tourism New Zealand. “The support from Helen Bambry, Business Events Manager Australia, and the rest of the team in Australia and New Zealand was fantastic. They were very approachable and provided a tailor-made approach to make this event a success.”


    Dollars and sense


    Leach says that one of the keys to success was to maximise the number of delegates attending from Australia. “An online push was in our best interest. Tourism New Zealand supported the creation of a new website for the conference, one that emphasised the pre and post offering and had a greater destination focus. We also had a number of people over to present and get people interested in attending.”


    Beyond funding support, Leach also benefitted from local knowledge about suppliers and off-site activities. “They pointed us in the right direction. We held our conference dinner at Te Papa, The Museum of New Zealand, which was excellent and added a cultural setting. Those choices help to attract delegates. We ended up with more than 750 attendees in Wellington, including more than 300 from Australia. That was a good result.”


    Organisational assistance even included ensuring a solid business case for the event. “Tourism New Zealand organised some financial meetings in Australia outlining changes to GST and doing business internationally in terms of conferences. We needed to work out how that affected tax, rebates, currency and pricing. It was good to see Tourism New Zealand being proactive with that and it helped us put a better system in place to make the process easier,” Leach adds. “At the end of the day, those figures make a significant difference to your bottom line.”


    Positively Wellington


    Wellington had the combination of suitable venues, good access to international flights and a local pool of sector specialists to be a fitting host. “In an area like Wellington there is a significant pool working in medical imaging and radiation therapy, and we had a very enthusiastic local committee. Their local knowledge helped greatly to flavour the programme, along with their knowledge of funky little cafes for local breakfast meetings which added a real Wellington flavour,” Leach says. “Wellington is a very easy city to get around, the venues and accommodation are close and it is very walkable. We were blessed with very nice weather and it was wonderful, there was no need to bus delegates around. It made a huge difference to the whole experience.”


    Pre-conference events included a mix of learning and leisure: a meeting at Victoria University provided the opportunity to learn from local academics; while a Lord of the Rings Tour with Flat Earth New Zealand Experiences was a very popular ice-breaker. Leach says: “Post-event, Tourism New Zealand gave us ready-to-go itineraries with good options that people could choose to undertake independently. They were a good teaser for people to take the time to explore.”


    The overall feedback was overwhelmingly positive and Leach praises multi-purpose venue the TSB Bank Arena. “Positively Wellington Venues were really good to work with. It was really nice to have such a ‘can do’ attitude. TSB Arena was a basketball court when we arrived and we were amazed at how well it worked for us. We had the trade exhibition and plenary in the same area, separated with rigging, draping and temporary walls which worked really well. The exhibitors liked being so centrally located. As soon as we left, the venue became an ice rink. Hats off to them for their ability to turn it around so quickly!”


    Leaving a legacy


    Leach points out that the trans-Tasman relationships created are now thriving between the five-year events. “There is a research network, ANZMRRN, that was presented and promoted at the meeting and that has since gained further traction, which is great. Our Twitter journal club @medradjclub discusses research papers from our joint JMRS journal and that has been boosted since the joint event, too. I noted a number of New Zealanders coming to the Australian event this year, and I think that will happen a bit more, with Australians going to the next NZIMRT event, too. It is creating those new networks and building those relationships.”


    For further information about Tourism New Zealand please visit www.businessevents.newzealand.com

  • 25 May 2016 2:01 PM | Deleted user

    Showcasing Social Enterprise


    The social enterprise movement has been growing globally, and those seeking good local examples need look no further than Christchurch. When the organisers of the Social Enterprise World Forum told Alex Hannant that a bid for its annual event from Oceania would be positively received, the post-earthquake city seemed an excellent contender. “The story of Christchurch was something that provided a frame of reference globally,” says Hannant, Chief Executive of the Ākina Foundation. “On the positive side, in spite of the trauma and huge disruption, there’s been an unleashing of creativity and innovation. It’s about communities taking control of their future.”


    Bidding for a major international conference is not without its challenges, however. “We were aware of it being a large undertaking. We saw huge potential but also a certain amount of risk,” Hannant admits. “The support we got from Tourism New Zealand was just exceptional. While I was primarily concerned with ensuring it was financially viable, the Conference Assistance Programme took the weight off our shoulders, setting us up with a PCO and working with Christchurch & Canterbury Convention Bureau to put together a strong bid document.” From budget considerations, to letters of support from Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Christchurch, and Jo Goodhew, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, and pre and post-conference touring options to attract international delegates, it placed New Zealand as a really credible and professional partner, Hannant says. Tourism New Zealand provided funding assistance for travel to and accommodation at SEWF 2015 in Milan to pitch the bid in person. “The organisers came back saying it was simply the best bid document they’d ever received. It really clinched the deal.”


    Leaving a positive legacy


    The Social Enterprise World Forum will take place 27-29 September, 2017. It will be the largest conference held in Christchurch since the 2011 earthquake, with up to 1,200 delegates expected from around New Zealand and the world. Attracting leading social enterprise practitioners, policymakers, business leaders, philanthropists and investors, Hannant hopes the event will be a catalyst for New Zealand’s burgeoning social enterprise sector. “There’s a lot of momentum around social enterprise and how it can be used as a tool to support results in a number of government portfolios, from regional economic development, to Māori development, to tackling persistent social and environmental challenges. We’re also seeing a groundswell of interest from philanthropic and business communities. The benefits of this event are a two-way street. It’s an opportunity for New Zealand to showcase its best work to the world, while the world’s leading social enterprise practitioners can share best practice and accelerate social enterprise development here. This event will be a platform for some of these central government organisations and private organisations to really make a statement of intent about how they will move forward. It is a natural place to announce bold actions for the future.”


    Breaking with convention


    Innovation will not just shape the content, but also the organisation of the event, Hannant adds: “We want to break a lot of conventions around what a conference looks like. SEWF 2017 will be more like a ‘theme park’ than a conference.” Alongside traditional plenary sessions in the Isaac Theatre Royal, events will range across multiple sites in Christchurch CBD, from the Arts Centre to the Transitional Cathedral, to give a different experience and feel. Hands-on workshops will potentially open to the public for the benefit of the wider Christchurch community, while local social enterprises will be showcased within the programme. “By having multiple streams and options on offer, we will create space and opportunities for community building, transfer of knowledge, doing business, and interacting with the city and the local social enterprise community.”


    Hannant is working to ensure strong national, regional, and international representation and participation, and is optimistic about a positive turnout from further afield. “The biggest barrier to attendance is distance and potential cost. But, anecdotally, we've heard people are already saving their money. New Zealand is one of those places where everyone wants to go, and this is that one opportunity to make the trip of a lifetime.”


    He now plans to work closely with Tourism New Zealand and partners in the next phase of marketing and promotion of the event, particularly at this year’s SEWF in Hong Kong. “At the handover ceremony, we have a 15-minute window to make a big impression and we’re creating a really compelling video. New Zealand sells itself in a lot of ways and we’ll be using that iconic imagery to have an impact on delegates. The support from Tourism New Zealand so far has been a great experience; hand on heart I have never felt so supported by a public sector partner. The amount of excitement and momentum this event is already generating is gigantic.”


    For further information about Tourism New Zealand please visit www.businessevents.newzealand.com

  • 24 May 2016 3:48 PM | Deleted user

    So I am finding this hard to believe, but it has been 10 years since we published We Have Always Done It That Way: 101 Things About Associations We Must Change. The book is essentially a collection of 100 blog posts written by Jeff De Cagna, David Gammel, Mickie Rops, Amy Riccardi and myself, with each post raising a different issue that we felt associations need to deal with if they are to adapt to the reality of the 21st century. We talked about the danger of combining strategy and planning, the need for innovation, the possibility of getting rid of committees, the dysfunctions of our boards, and challenges associations face in areas like certification, professional development, and technology.


    And here’s the depressing part: 95 of the 101 things we talk about are just as relevant today as they were ten years ago. Seriously, I looked at every post in the book this week, and nearly all of them felt like they could have been written today. I only found 6 that I felt were no longer relevant or were areas that associations had since caught up with:

    • Using blogs
    • Selling digital downloads
    • Using social security numbers as database identifiers
    • Embracing social media in general
    • Using video within social
    • Using RSS feeds

    To be honest, I don’t really know if the social security number thing has changed, but I’m giving the community the benefit of the doubt on that one.


    So congratulations, association community–6 down, and 95 to go. And I’m glad to see you handled the really tough ones, like selling PDFs online. And hey, it only took you ten years! At this pace, you’ll have caught up to the issues you were facing in 2006 by the year 2174!


    And in case my sarcasm isn’t coming through loud and clear, let me state it more plainly:


    I am outraged. The fact that we as a community are evolving this slowly in this day and age is simply unacceptable. This actually makes me want to give up on the association community. Seriously. If this is the best we can do in ten years, then maybe I should stop beating the drum for change and just accept the fact that this community, for the most part, is going to fade into irrelevance. There are a few associations that are evolving*, of course, and I am now at the point where I just want to get together with them and plot a new course. Forget the community as it exists today. Let’s just start redefining what association success looks like, and move forward. If you want to stick with the way you’ve always done it, that’s fine. Just stay out of our way.


    That is why nearly all of my blogging about associations is on a new site, associationsuccess.org. The folks behind Association Success share some of my frustration with this slow pace of change, my commitment to innovation, and my belief in the power of organizational culture. Join me there. 


    [*Disclosure – we work with several associations whose stories are linked to above] 


    This article was originally sourced from Social Fish and was written by Jamie Notter.

  • 24 May 2016 3:43 PM | Deleted user

    Are you thinking of hiring a community manager? Here’s a sample community manager job description for you.


    But wait! You need to think about a few things first.


    For example: Note that the position can be more or less administrative/operational, more or less technical, and more or less publicly visible. You may want your community manager to be someone behind the scenes who quietly ensures the system is running smoothly and questions get answered – or you may want your community manager to be a very visible and active part of the community, posting discussions, responding and conversing with members, being a public resource. Do you need more of a people person? Or do you need more of a technical help-desk administrator? Should your CM also be a subject matter expert, someone from the industry you serve? Should your CM be responsible for creating and curating lots of content, as well as marketing the community outside the community itself? And how does this position differ from your social media manager (or how does it relate to the activities your SM manager does? Make sure you have addressed these questions before you hire the wrong person.


    Once you’ve thought these things through, here are some general CM responsibilities you can use to put together the right description for the person you need.


    SAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTION: ONLINE COMMUNITY MANAGER


    TECHNICAL/HELPDESK/ADMIN:

    • Oversees all technical and system administration aspects of the community. This includes working with the community platform vendor to address, resolve, and communicate any issues related to the features and functionality of the community. 
    • Provides technical support to members and staff. 
    • Manages and troubleshoots regular platform upgrades. 
    • Recommends and implements new community features as appropriate.

    COMMUNICATIONS/MARKETING/PR/CONTENT:

    • Works with Communications Manager to develop and implement community promotion and engagement strategies and tactics as they relate to the communications division and the organization’s strategic goals.
    • Coordinates with Marketing/Public Relations, Communications, Education, and Foundation and other divisions’ staff to ensure successful coordinated campaigns for communication, fund-raising, and education.
    • Works with Social Media Specialist, Membership, Marketing, and other divisions to coordinate community postings as appropriate across the organization’s other digital channels.
    • Communicates and promotes new community features or procedures to members and staff.
    • Contributes to related communication vehicles and ensure the integration of community for promotion and awareness building.
    • Promotes and evangelizes community activities internally.

    MODERATION/MONITORING & RESPONDING:

    • Creates/manages the moderation and terms of use policies.
    • Monitors discussions, responds in a timely fashion where appropriate (or ensures relevant responders are “nudged” to respond). 
    • Alerts Communications Manager and appropriate staff as issues arise and work with staff to resolve issues.
    • Maintains a Responders List of members and/or staff who can be reached quickly to respond to specific questions.
    • Networks with community members and identifies Community Champions.
    • Works behind the scenes to ensure engagement.

    TRAINING:

    • Develops and maintains community training resources, guidelines, and policies.
    • Trains other staff on how to participate and engage in the community.
    • Provides internal and external community training as necessary.
    • Trains and empowers Community Champions to participate on a more significant engagement level.

    REPORTING:

    • Monitors and measures the success of community engagement (i.e. number of power users, number of discussions, etc.), and provides reports for Communications Manager and executives.
    • Identifies and reports on community trends to internal teams and advises on potential opportunities or risks.
    • Tracks KPIs related to Social CRM goals such as recruitment, retention or outreach goals.

    This article was originally sourced from Social Fish and was written by Ben Martin.

  • 24 May 2016 3:38 PM | Deleted user

    Have you tried using social media as a recruiting tool for your association or nonprofit?


    If you learn how to use social media for recruiting, you’ll find it’s one of the best ways to attract top talent. Employers know this: 89 percent of them use social media to find candidates, and 70 percent of hiring managers have successfully recruited with social media. Not only that, employees are paying attention to potential employers on social media as well – 59 percent say that a company’s social accounts influenced their choice of where to work.


    Plus, if you’re looking to attract millennials to your workforce, social is possibly the best method. Studies have shown that high numbers of millennials, – up to 70 percent – say they’ve found a job using social media. But social recruiting can have a downside as well. It’s exceptionally good at bringing in “passive candidates” people who were not looking for a job until they heard about an opportunity through social media. This can be a good thing – as you’ll see below, it opens up a huge percentage of the talent pool. But it presents some potential problems. 


    Learn more about passive candidates and social recruiting, and see what happens when the world’s worst boss tries to implement this. To view the diagrams for this article, please click here


    This article was originally sourced from Social Fish and was written by Maddie Grant.

  • 24 May 2016 2:33 PM | Deleted user

    Prevention is not possible, prediction is fraught, and that leaves proactive planning.


    When you raise this topic your IT Manager will calmly tell you that staff should "know better" and that it is not their responsibility to check all attachments on all emails.


    So, what to do in advance depends upon where the business support software and data files "mostly reside".


    Stored "in the cloud":

    • Check, with your IT Manager, that there exists a Backup Strategy for each of the business systems that are cloud based, in particular both their software functionality and their data files.
    • Check, by planned demonstration, that the Backup Strategy can render the business fully operational without need to "connect to the cloud". If your IT Manager insists that this is impossible it will confirm that no Backup Strategy exists.
    • Check, periodically, the progress of the IT Manager in resolving the above two circular steps.

    Stored "on the premises":

    • Check, with your IT Manager, that there exists a Backup Strategy for each of the business systems that are premises based, in particular both their software functionality and their data files.
    • Check, by planned demonstration, that the Backup Strategy can render the business fully operational.
    • Should this demonstration fail, check periodically, the progress of the IT Manager in resolving the above two circular steps.

    So what next? Join us next month to learn more.


    You can contact IVT on 03 9723 9399 and talk to our staff about your needs.

  • 24 May 2016 2:18 PM | Deleted user

    The ADA has recently launched a brand new website and the site breaks new ground in the Australian association space, with features such as: 


    1. Comprehensive member self-service with the ability for members to update their information, subscriptions, directory preferences etc. All changes are written directly to our membership database.


    2. A jobs board with the ability for members to post jobs, expire them, and of course search and filter open jobs.


    3. Online video and audio education (CPD), with automated tracking in a CPD Logbook

    Anything watched by a member on the portal is automatically tracked for them, with the ability to export to PDF or CSV.


    4. The ability to self-generate a letter of good standing.


    5. Access to a national online library and the Australian Dental Journal.


    6. A library of HR/IR documentation.


    7. A dedicated area for the public – ‘your dental health’.


    8. ‘Find a Dentist’ directory service.


    To view the new website, click here

  • 24 May 2016 2:14 PM | Deleted user

    A streamlined event strategy by the Consumer Bankers Association pays off.


    Seven years ago, the events calendar for the Consumer Bankers Association looked a lot different. CBA produced eight separate meetings focused on different parts of the banking industry, including a mortgage conference and an auto-lending event.


    While each was doing fine financially, CEO Richard Hunt, who was new at the time, wanted to make the most of them all, better meet member needs, and create a larger brand and event platform that would produce a higher ROI.


    “I wanted to provoke a new way of thinking and challenge the status quo,” Hunt says. “I also wanted to position CBA to lead the industry through and beyond the financial crisis, helping member banks adjust their strategies to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer.”


    With the help of marketing and experience design agency 360 Live Media, Hunt discovered the solution: Consolidate CBA’s meetings lineup into one unified experience called CBA LIVE.

    The three-day meeting and tradeshow attracts more than 1,300 attendees, and close to 600 of them are bankers who have decision- making authority.


    “We have geometrically improved our ability to monetize the event, because the value of the audience is much more robust than it ever was,” says Hunt.


    Since the launch of the CBA LIVE franchise, the association has increased event revenue 129 percent by focusing on building smart, sustainable, and customized partnerships and sponsorships.


    Among the unique sponsorships are a VIP reception and dinner where a single sponsor is given exclusive access to senior banking executives, private meeting rooms so a company can meet with clients and prospects, and the ability for sponsors to give three attendees a VIP experience that includes access to an executive lounge.


    CBA LIVE sponsorships and exhibits are reserved exclusively for CBA members, which means that if companies want to participate, they must first pay membership dues, which also adds to CBA’s bottom line.


    Hunt attributes much of CBA’s success to the scarcity principle. By offering only five yearlong strategic partnerships, CBA has been able to increase the value of these individual packages from $20,000 to $200,000 per sponsorship in just six years.


    “By telling [sponsors] they’re going to be only one of five to have that access, we are able to build buzz, and—even better—nondues revenue,” Hunt says.


    CBA has been able to increase the value of these individual packages from $20,000 to $200,000 per sponsorship.


    This article was originally sourced from Associations Now and was written by Samantha Whitehorne.

  • 24 May 2016 2:10 PM | Deleted user

    Fitness Australia, the peak national industry association’s new CEO Bill Moore says running any business can be complicated.


    “We want to simplify that, so we’ve developed the Grow Your Fitness Business Toolbox to address this.


    “Covering all aspects of business life, we feel the Toolbox will help people whether they’re just starting out or want to grow. They need the tools to do just that.”


    The most exciting part? The Toolbox has a collection of business podcasts, videos, templates, tools, guides, articles, news and tips ready for you to access and use at any time.


    We’re giving our members the tools and tips for their businesses be more effective plus improve profitability.


    Fitness Australia registered fitness businesses now have access to resources on marketing, growth & development, as well as guidance on human resources, finance and management skills, through the Grow Your Fitness Business Toolbox initiative.


    “A critical role for Fitness Australia to date has been of registration and standards development. Now we want to focus heavily on helping members to grow.


    “Fitness Australia focusing on members and membership growth means supporting the industry as a whole and its key stakeholders. It’s also about understanding the complexities of running a business to ensure they comply with regulations and guidelines, as well as having access to the latest sales and marketing strategies.


    “As the peak national body for fitness, the industry can and should look to us to lead the way to continuing education and standards, as well as supporting the fitness industry and everyone in it to build a healthier and fitter Australia,” says Bill.


    This article was originally sourced from Fitness Australia and was written by Ortenzia Borre.

  • 24 May 2016 1:46 PM | Deleted user

    Since 2013 Catholic Community Services has trained all its care workers and coordinators in reablement, reports Jackie Keast in this series showcasing how leading aged care providers have embedded wellness approaches.


    Even before the current policy push towards wellness and reablement, Catholic Community Services NSW/ACT (CCS) was actively working towards a holistic wellness model underpinned by a belief that older people can improve their health despite frailty.


    The model was based on the World Health Organisation’s definition of health as “a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, and saw wellness defined as an active process of making choices towards a healthy and fulfilling life.

    “We believed that our most valuable citizens should be afforded the opportunity to embrace wellness no matter what life stage,” community services general manager Janis Redford told Australian Ageing Agenda ahead of her presentation at the upcoming Active Ageing Conference 2016.


    Ms Redford said consumers had told CCS that at different points in their lives they felt they weren’t given a voice in the management of their own health and wellness, and the organisation believed it could facilitate this.


    CCS is on the beginning of a journey but has a clear vision and strategy, said Ms Redford, with many initiatives currently in development. Key to this is placing consumers at the centre of design and evaluation. “This gives us the best information and feedback to inform our development strategy,” said Ms Redford.


    Developing the Approach


    Among initiatives that led CCS towards its current approach was participation in the NSW Government’s Better Practice Project in 2013, a funded pilot to develop and implement a reablement program. It saw clients reduce their personal care hours as care workers took a “doing with”, rather than “doing for” approach.


    Since then, the organisation has trained all its community workers and coordinators in reablement, which Ms Redford said has made significant difference in how personal care and social support is delivered.


    “We are seeing that people are calling the shots on what they feel they can do and… completing those aspects as opposed to community workers completing the whole tasks,” said Ms Redford.

    “We are also seeing that with task modification, and through prescriptions of aides and equipment, people continue to be further empowered to achieve more for themselves.”


    In the year following, CCS developed a formal health and wellness framework, with six key focus areas: being active; healthy eating and drinking; staying connected; lifestyle; clinical care and healthy mind.


    Ms Redford said the development of this framework was crucial to seeing out CCS’s vision, and forms the foundation of its program and services.


    It has established a health and wellness unit with a dedicated manager to implement the framework, which it plans to expand further. There is also a dedicated steering committee to guide the process. “This has been important for keeping the health and wellness framework front of mind when there have been so many other distractions with sector reform,” said Ms Redford.


    Keys to Success


    Among the lessons CCS has learned along the way is that success requires long-term organisational investment. “We would like to have been further advanced in the implementation of our framework, however truly embedding changes and culture change takes time. The evidence of significant benefits to our customers makes this investment very worthwhile” said Ms Redford.

    CCS recognised staff and organisational culture were key to embedding wellness successfully, said Ms Redford.


    In particular, it saw staff training as crucial and ongoing, and is currently developing the second wave of reablement training to build on prior learning.


    The Active Ageing Conference 2016, hosted by Australian Ageing Agenda, takes place on 4 August at Swissotel, Sydney


    This article was originally sourced from Australian Ageing Agenda and was written by Jackie Keast.


The Australasian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE)

Australian Office:
Address: Unit 6, 26 Navigator Place, Hendra QLD 4011 Australia
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Phone: +61 7 3268 7955
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