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Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

  • 1.  Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-06-2019 19:33
    Edited by Moira Goggin 08-15-2019 13:51
      |   view attached
    1. @Jerry Norman has asked me to provide a copy of the slide deck I prepared last year on my view of 90 Minds Growth Strategy – 1 year, 3 years, 5 years. The file is attached.
    2. A few years ago, @Jim Woodhead and @Jerry Norman were guests on Enterprise Software Podcast and presented a great recap of the founding of 90 Minds and how the group has grown and changed.  You can listen to Episode 57 here.
    ​​​

    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 2.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-07-2019 15:26
    Thank you for this!

    ------------------------------
    Karen O'Lane
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-07-2019 15:31
    Thanks Moira​

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    Alan Clark
    Eide Bailly, Inc.
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  • 4.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-08-2019 14:49
    What prep do the rest of us need to do before the meeting?

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-08-2019 16:52
    I hope to have some more suggestions for everybody next week. 
    Meanwhile, remember that our theme is around expanding and deepening member engagement. So, take a hard look around your past experiences to perhaps find groups and/or situations that increased their member involvement. In particular we are trying to crack the nut of involving Acumatica partners who won't have the sort of arcane break-fix incentives to participate regularly on the forums. Perhaps explore the acu-connect site and understand how those vendors and members might connect. Look up Tim Rodman (sort of the Wayne Schulz of the Acumatica world) and see how he engages (try the augforums.com or google search).

    Our Academy effort has several pieces to it, but I encourage you to think of other educational initiatives you've encountered or experienced and go review what their goals were and how they functioned. 

    I am satisfied that what we are trying to accomplish has not been done by somebody else, so I'm not looking for an exact model. But spending time examining and pondering roughly similar activities will prep our minds for more productive analysis and synthesis.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-14-2019 19:26
      |   view attached
    2019 Semi-Annual 90 Minds Board Meeting Agenda

    Attached is the agenda to date. 

    Please make suggestions, comments, and as Jerry said, share your input on the agenda before the meeting. 

    It would be helpful to have your feedback by August 21, 2019


    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 10:44

    Last year, we had time for the board to meet and discuss the review at the meeting and vote to approve before delivering the final review and recommendations to @Moira Goggin. 15 minutes isn't going to be enough time. It would also make more sense to me to peg that around the morning break.

    Have the revised bylaws been distributed? It would be good to get comments and questions out of the way beforehand.​



    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    Consultant
    90 Minds
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 12:01
    We will distribute the revised Bylaws before the meeting, so everybody can digest them. Moira will also distribute paper copies of them with markups to help our focus during the meeting.

    Robert & I just now discussed the Exec Dir review item on the agenda. We now think it's better to move it off of Denver, and deal with it electronically shortly after.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 14:00
      |   view attached
    1. I've edited the subject lines on our two Denver meeting threads to make it easier to find info.  The post with map, menu, room confirmations, and anything related to logistics now has "logistics" in the sujbect line.  This thread, which deals more with background, homework before the meeting, agenda, and reference materials has been edited to include "meeting prep and homework" in the title.
    2. Attached are the bylaws with markup and comments.  Please review these before the meeting and if you have any questions, use this thread and an @ mention for Robert Wood in your post. 
    3. I'll updated the agenda and removed the Exectuive Director review.  I'll wait to post an updated agenda until all comments on the draft are completed.  Please review the agenda and post your comments/suggetions/changes by August 21, 2019. 
    4. Thank you.



    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    BYLAWS_Revised_July_2019.pdf   188 KB 1 version


  • 10.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 14:09
    Edited by Robert Wood 08-15-2019 14:10
    Are we holding any elections at the meeting for officer roles?

    Edit: Never mind. I see it.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 15:57
    I tried to create an agenda which helps us concentrate on thinking about what our organization should look like if its Sage 100 foundation declines. We have only an hour of distracting (but necessary) admin business. The rest will be free-wheeling. 

    Free-wheeling sessions can devolve into college dorm bull sessions. Nobody wants that here. Our goal is to leave Denver with a pretty clear set of tasks to accomplish over the coming 18 months. I don't think we know what our "target" looks like, but I think we should at least know on which wall it's hanging. Part of the process of finding that wall is defining the questions we must answer about the path to the target. 

    I ask you all to spend some time with the agenda in front of you and mark it up with scribbles about questions that the topics can raise. Put on your business consulting hats and layout a draft of the questions you'd want a client to answer if you were advising them about what business tech they should be investing towards in the next 5 years to ensure they stay competitive. 

    Peter Druckman boiled it all down to one goal: "The purpose of a business is to create customers. Therefore, the only valuable activities are innovation and marketing. Everything else is cost."

    The core question that has dogged me for 3 years now is, "What should our customer base look like in 5 years? What will they find valuable in 90 Minds? When they think of whether to spend money/time with 90 Minds, what are the alternative choices that they consider?"

    I believe that strategic planning is not a one-and-done. Nor is it a straight-through process. It is zigs, zags, and sometimes backtracks. I'm looking forward to another round of the struggle.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 17:33
    I keep looking for organizations that seem to have services similar to 90 Minds'. 

    Does anybody have experience with Spiceworks? It is an Austin company that was just acquired, and its announcement jogged my thinking. This is a company that:
    "started by talking to a lot of IT professionals to see what tools they were lacking. It launched as a software company and pivoted to being a network for IT professionals to discuss their challenges and which software and services provided the best return on investment."

    That's very close to what we've been doing. If you know of anybody who has experienced it, I'd like to discuss it with them.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 22:59
    I'll have to see if I can remember where I had heard of them. 

    --
    Robert Wood
    352-615-5898

    --

    Sent from my portable brain


    ------Original Message------

    I keep looking for organizations that seem to have services similar to 90 Minds'. 

    Does anybody have experience with Spiceworks? It is an Austin company that was just acquired, and its announcement jogged my thinking. This is a company that:
    "started by talking to a lot of IT professionals to see what tools they were lacking. It launched as a software company and pivoted to being a network for IT professionals to discuss their challenges and which software and services provided the best return on investment."

    That's very close to what we've been doing. If you know of anybody who has experienced it, I'd like to discuss it with them.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------


  • 14.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-15-2019 23:44
    I think there is one big missing piece:

    State of the Platform. We know there are changes needed. How is that coming and how is it going to be communicated?

    ---------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ---------------------------------





  • 15.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-16-2019 13:59
    IMO, this is a short-term problem within a longer-term one. I would like to take up the shorter-term element during a regular meeting.

    The longer-term, about how we can use our tools to enhance membership value, will I hope come up as part of our discussions in Denver.

    I might be wrong, but that was my thinking..

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 16.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-16-2019 15:36

    Too funny, great minds think alike...I was just on the phone with TCAG a potential firm to help with design updates and replace Robert for day to day duties on HL. (I was having a heck of a time getting HL pros to respond to our RFQ, the ice is breaking finally). On the call, we went over options and ideas, and I will have news to report in Denver from the various pros I've talked to in these areas.  I've been looking at the platform and our design for member engagement, member retention, member attraction, and leveraging this platform as the central source that ERP users would see as "good housekeeping seal of approval" (slides 2 and 4 growth strategy).  I don't always report the day-to-day work I do, sometimes I wait until I have something cohesive to report, and since all the committees now have a voice in marketing the ideas are expanding and developing, and it's great to see the committees coming up with design ideas and suggestions.   

    There are 1,000s of communities of all types and sizes using Higher Logic.  Some are customer-centric, some member, some educational, some governmental (there is a whole HUG area dedicated to BAR associations).  Fortunately, we choose a platform that has more flexibility then Socialcast, combines our web and community platforms, and is continuously being improved (I get a daily digest form Higher Logic on fixes and enhancements.)

    Some platform changes in the works - directory listing of firms, visitor center for potential members, a pinned posts of thread titles to entice interest, updates for a sleeker design, scrolling banner at top, affiliate ad space, and of course the new Events Manager that we started using today.  We are removing the 'leader board' and replacing it with 'ribbons' for user profiles.  Cross-posting is now off, and I've got the Member Centric team fixing the arrow colors on our mobile app.  There are lots of changes that have been suggested, discussed, and will be implemented. 

    If you want to see how other groups use Higher Logic, visit these sites, and it will spark ideas as we engage in continued platform discussions – (most of these are custom designer themes):
    https://www.dynamiccommunities.com/home
    https://www.ppa.com/
    https://www.naceweb.org/
    https://www.fsae.org/about-fsae
    http://www.toastmasters.org/
    http://aphanet.org/
    https://www.astc.org/
    https://www.nsacct.org/home
    https://www.imanet.org/?ssopc=1
    https://www.jamasoftware.com/
    https://www.splicesoftware.com/
    https://www.nacdl.org/



    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------



  • 17.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 14:25
    I think the question of the platform is a bigger one and a key part of the strategy.

    We have frustrated members and it's not just being fueled by Therese, John, and Jeff. 

    In my opinion, it should be part of the agenda in Denver.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    Consultant
    90 Minds
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 18.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 14:30
    Based on what I've read in various posts, I agree with Robert that we should add discussion about the platform to the agenda.

    ------------------------------
    Karen O'Lane
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
    ------------------------------



  • 19.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 15:02
    @Moira Goggin do you know where Toastmasters is using it? That's news to me. It's not their main website as best I can tell. ​

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 20.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 15:04
    @Moira Goggin I guess Toastmasters may be using it for their main site, but if they are, it's not as a community platform.

    Their main site does have the look and feel of HL. But there's no community aspect to the site. ​

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 21.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 17:40
    No, I don't know where Toastmasters is using it, merely that they are, I was hoping you'd have more info. @Robert Wood :)  I put together a list of sites to help the board with ideas of how other organizations are using this SaaS product.   

    1. It would be good to have this on the agenda, how much time should we spend on this topic? 
    2. Would this include time for a status on the list of fixes in the works (see my post above)?
    3. If we need more than the 15 minutes made available with the review off the agenda, what topic should be removed or length should be changed? 


    ​​

    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------



  • 22.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 20:05
    A discussion about the Higher Logic platform and creating a development schedule is useful. We've adjusted the agenda for it. Look for a new posting.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 23.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-19-2019 20:09
      |   view attached
    Here is the updated agenda


    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------



  • 24.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-20-2019 13:17
    I think I figured out where Toastmasters is using it. They're using it for their main site but they aren't using it to drive the community. It's used as more of a marketing tool. There are lots of interesting aspects to that site if it's working the way I think it is. I'm also curious what else they are integrating at this point. 

    I can show what I have access to in Denver.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ------------------------------



  • 25.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-20-2019 14:29
    You're an active TM. If you can find the time, you might be able to find a person at HQ to explain their thinking on it.

    ------------------------------
    Jerry Norman
    President, 90 Minds
    Smartbridge Partners
    512.419.1444 x112
    ------------------------------



  • 26.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-20-2019 14:34
    Thinking at WHQ? Hmmmm....

    ---------------------------------
    Robert Wood
    DDF Consulting Group, Inc.
    Ocala FL
    352-615-5898
    ---------------------------------





  • 27.  RE: Denver Board Meeting 2019 and meeting prep & background info

    Posted 08-26-2019 18:07
      |   view attached
    FINAL AGENDA includes the room change from Directors Row G to Directors Row F

    ------------------------------
    Moira Goggin
    Executive Director
    90 Minds, Inc.
    ------------------------------