| Conference Recap by Andy Pawlak |
I recently returned from the Predict conference hosted by Association Analytics in Alexandria, Virginia where AT was a sponsor and exhibitor. This day and a half conference explored the Association Analytics (A2) Acumen product and the many facets of how this tool can help all team members make better data informed decisions
The program kicked off with keynote speaker, Reggie Henry, CAE, the Chief Information and Performance Excellence Officer for ASAE discussing the importance of democratization of data and empowering your teams to be data curious. Reggie noted that ASAE has been an Acumen product user for the past eight years and discussed how they use data to understand current member trends, evaluate current products and services, engagement trends, and identify predictive strategies.
Another theme of the conference was ‘why’. Reading a report is one thing but evaluating the data and asking ‘why’ is at the heart of knowing more about your member/customer. Most organizations know ‘what’ they want to do/accomplish, and some have a strategy on ‘how’ they do/accomplish a goal, but many don’t know the ‘why’ they are doing what they do.
One session in particular dove deep into this topic by breaking attendees into small groups to evaluate a dashboard. We were tasked to evaluate this data and identify the following:
- Our observations – What do you see? What’s trending? Downturn or uptick, if so, why?
- Our insights – What experience can you bring to validate these observations and help answer the ‘why’?
- Why are members not renewing?
- Why are individuals registering more this year than last?
- Why are we still producing this product and/or service if no one is buying it?
- Our issues w/the data – What data clean-up topics should be addressed? What data doesn’t make sense? Undefined data?
The follow-up discussion about the various group dashboard discoveries was informative to understand what other groups saw and the steps they took to get to those observations and insights.
One of our own, Annette Moy, VP, Analytics at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) was a session panelist sharing the success their organization received with the roll-out of their long COVID dashboard using imported external data (https://pascdashboard.aapmr.org/). In addition. AAPM&R won the Heart Award that recognizes organizations that have used their data and Acumen to improve the lives of their members or the general public.
If you are interested in learning more about Association Analytics and A2, please contact Jim Meyers. |
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First, who is Vircom?
We’re a cybersecurity company & software developer that’s been around since 1997.
In the early 2000s, we developed both our modusMail (mail server) and modusGate (on-prem filtering appliance). Both products are still around today and are being used by about one million users across the world.
As time passed and the threat landscape evolved, we needed a SaaS offering to work with Microsoft 365 and G-suite to better protect our customers against targeted phishing attacks, while also expanding our offering to other email related services (encryption, archiving, training etc.).
We decided to partner rather than develop this ourselves. After a nine month evaluation process of nearly every email vendor, we chose Proofpoint in late 2016/early 2017.
Due to our history and branding of modusGate/modusMail, we originally white-labeled Proofpoint as modusCloud, but have shifted away from that brand over the last 18 months. Proofpoint’s brand reputation is second to none, so we started selling it without white labeling so our MSPs could also benefit from their reputation.
Being a cybersecurity company cut from the same cloth as Proofpoint (at one point even their competitor), we’ve become their preferred distributor for Essentials over the years.
- Our expertise in email allows us to offer the best technical support when it comes to Proofpoint Essentials.
- We can do things most vendors can’t with Proofpoint just due to our familiarity with email & ability to use our own products to do things Proofpoint can’t do natively
- We also shifted our development focus to align with Proofpoint, allowing us to make value-added tools to make Essentials a stronger product for MSPs & end-customers.
- Our Vircom Portal & O365 add-in outlook are unique to us as a Proofpoint distributor
Here’s some examples of what we’re doing to enhance Proofpoint through Vircom. AT clients benefit from all these tools below 😊
Outlook Add-in for 365 that lets users:
- Trust/Block Actions
- Access Web-Quarantine
- Report Spam (which gets sent to a centralized admin dashboard we provide)
- Decode re-written URLs to see underlying link
- Encrypt emails
- Access Archive (if licensed for Professional)
Vircom Portal – MSP Monitoring, Alerts, Reporting, Provisioning
- Alerts on significant customer events
- Helps provision client accounts (especially in larger migrations)
- Deploy/Customize O365 Add-in
- View emails reported from Add-in
- Auto-create rules in 365 using powershell scripts
- User / Billing reports
- More to come
Vircom Technical Support
- Expert technical support, we’ve been supporting email security for over ~30 years
- Migration / onboarding support for individual clients or larger roll outs
- Admin/Internal trainings (to show how to manage the platform)
- End-customer trainings (to show how to use the platform as end-users)
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Beginning next month we will be moving the spotlight away from our own team and onto our delightful clients. For our last AT spotlight we would like to share some of our holiday favorites.
What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Amy: Twice baked potatoes
Andy: Stuffing/dressing; pie….rarely have had a bad one
Ben: Homemade cranberry sauce
Brian: Gravy. It goes on everything
Bryan: Grilled Turkey steaks
Chris: Mashed potatoes and gravy
Cindy: Stuffing with mushrooms
Dave: Stuffing and deviled eggs
Dustin: Green Bean casserole (from scratch, not that canned trash)
Ed: Turkey
Jim: My smoked turkey!
Jontell: Ham and Pecan Pie
Julie: Stuffing
Lisa: Cold turkey sandwich with a little cranberry sauce on it
Mark: Stuffing
Matt: White Castle stuffing
Michele: Crab legs
Noah: Yams and apples
Steve: Pecan Pie
Tricia: Stuffing
Tyler: Corn Casserole
What is your favorite thing to do with your family or your favorite family tradition?
Amy: Create our Christmas village with my son
Andy: Watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Ben: We cannot do it every year, but Disney at Christmas time
Bryan: Food, drinks, board games and football
Chris: Eat
Cindy: Our annual family day in Chicago; we’ve been doing it since our girls were little and used to sit on Santa’s lap at Marshall Fields
Dave: Polar Express in St. Louis at the moment. When the kids are older I’d like to do It’s A Wonderful Life / White Christmas at the Music Box Theatre.
Dustin: Cutting down our Christmas Tree
Jim: Eating together…3 times
Jontell: Roast each other
Julie: We all make dinner together
Lisa: Playing games
Mark: Family game night during the holidays – we get very competitive
Matt: We always go to the Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving to pick out our tree
Michele: Play card games
Noah: Going to the Christmas tree farm the day after thanksgiving
Steve: Watching the Lions (unfortunately they usually lose)
Tricia: We create competitions like minute to win it games, board games, puzzles etc. when we are all together.
Tyler: Driving around and looking at Christmas lights
What are you most thankful for this year?
Amy: My family and friends
Andy: The opportunity to help others. Pay it forward.
Ben: My family
Brian: My awesome friends and family
Bryan: That my family is together
Chris: My fiancée and my son for always being the lights of my life.
Cindy: Both of my girls having great jobs that they love.
Dave: My beautiful wife and children
Dustin: Happy & Healthy Family
Ed: My children-they have made me become an even better person overall
Jim: Everyone being together
Jontell: My parents are in good health
Mark: for our newest little addition - Theo
Matt: Thankful for my wife and kids!
Michele: Healthy family
Steve: My Wife, Mary, my Granddaughter, Sofia and my Beagle, Friedrich Wilhelm Von Beaglestein
Tricia: Projects at our home finally getting completed.
Tyler: Getting engaged! – She actually said yes?!
What’s the most unique dish at your Thanksgiving meal?
Ben: Oven-roasted carrots
Bryan: Grilled green-beans with balsamic and gorgonzola
Chris: We don’t have anything really unique, but I’d replace with turkey with a ham if I could.
Cindy: Oyster dressing that my grandma used to make.
Dave: Parsnip soup my father in law makes, everything else is pretty standard.
Jim: Oyster stuffing – Cindy’s Grandma’s recipe.
Jontell: Dressing
Julie: Green beans with gorgonzola vinaigrette
Lisa: Turkey bread
Mark: Swedish Farmer’s cheese - Bondost
Matt: White Castle stuffing
Steve: Creole Weenies
Tricia: Onion casserole
Tyler: Liverwurst Dip
What are you most looking forward to this holiday season?
Amy: Getting together with my brother down south
Andy: Some time off w/family and friends. Also looking forward to Tuba Christmas, White Christmas sing-along at the Music Box Theatre, and making luminaria bags w/the kids on Christmas Eve.
Ben: Hanging around the house on days off with the kids on their holiday high
Brian: Spending time with family that doesn't involve attending a funeral, it's been a tough year🙁
Chris: First Christmas with the baby 😊
Cindy: Time with my family
Dave: It’s awesome to create the holiday experience and see the joy it brings my children.
Dustin: We have to travel to see family so it’s always a bit stressful, but always nice to spend time with family.
Ed: This will be my first time spending the holidays without my sister and parents as they will be spending time overseas. So if anything, looking forward to relaxing!
Jim: Having a house full of family!
Jontell: Spending time with my homies
Lisa: Having the whole family together
Mark: Having the entire family home for the holidays
Matt: White Castle stuffing
Michele: Spending time with the whole family
Noah: Snow!
Steve: Seeing my Granddaughter
Tricia: Taking a vacation!!!
Tyler: For Santa to come down the chimney!
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We are so excited to share that Association Technologies was awarded the Partner of the Year Award at the Association Analytics Predict 2022 Conference!
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| Today’s Threat Landscape: What Associations Need to Know |
Diligence, documentation, and accountability can make your association less vulnerable to today’s evolving online security and privacy concerns.
Read More |
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| Seven Things to Include in Your Social Media Guidelines |
Whether the goal is properly representing your association, avoiding controversy, or staying out of legal trouble, strong social media guidelines go a long way. Here are a few things to include.
Read More |
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We have an extensive archive of industry related articles
available on our website, click HERE to access them.
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| Webinar: NiUG Partners Product Showcase |
Location: Online
Join us as we show you some extraordinary products that can help you and your organization achieve amazing results while using iMIS! This online product showcase will provide you with information on some of the many products that can work with iMIS and RiSE. Come see this showcase to enhance your use of iMIS and help take your offerings to the next level, save you time and stress, and add efficiency to your processes and offerings to your constituents. This online event is complimentary to everyone in the iMIS Community! In fact, it is FREE for members, non-members, iMIS Solution Providers, Consultants and preferred Vendors. |
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| HighRoad Solutions Webinar: Budgeting for Growth - Adding MA To Your Technology Stack |
| We’ve shared how to build the case to your Board for changes or additions to your technology stack. Now it’s time to talk budget. How do you justify the spend for something that will demonstrate results and ROI, but needs time to build momentum. How do you offset the costs of your investment? Join us as we share tips and insight on how to budget for a new technology that your board won’t reject outright. |
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| NOVEMBER - DECEMBER |
| 30 - 1 |
| 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM CST |
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| Association Forum's Holiday Showcase |
Location: Hilton Chicago
For more than 30 years, Holiday Showcase has been the place for our association community to celebrate achievements, network with colleagues and friends, and build for the future. Join us as together we learn, share, and lead our industry into 2023, more resilient and better prepared to propel our organizations into a prosperous new year! |
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| ASAE Technology Exploration Conference |
Location: Virtual and In Person in Washington, DC
The Technology Exploration Conference (TEC) is tailored to the needs of an increasingly technology-driven community. CIOs, CEOs, technology professionals, and other professionals with roles or interest in digital and mobile solutions can all find the education, solutions, and connections they’re looking for. Your colleagues at TEC may come with different experiences and expertise, but they also bring similar challenges and goals. Join us for an exchange of intelligent insights and bright ideas to take back and share with your organization. |
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