As the holiday season approaches, we will see an increase in cyber threats — particularly through phishing emails and other malicious online activity. Cybercriminals know that this is a busy time of year, and they often use festive distractions to slip past even the most cautious among us.
To help keep your company’s data and your personal data safe, here are some key reminders about personal account usage on company devices:

Think Twice Before Accessing Personal Email or Personal Social Media Accounts on Work Devices. 
While it may be convenient to check your personal email or social accounts during the day, doing so on your work device comes with risks. If you must access personal accounts:

• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for added protection.
• Establish secure passwords, avoid using the same or similar passwords for everything. Change it up!
• Routinely change your passwords, make it a challenge for your accounts to be compromised by attackers. Do not hand over the keys to the kingdom.
• Verify sender addresses and think before clicking links or downloading attachments. If you are unsure if the sender’s address is legit, pick up the phone and call to confirm.
• Be cautious with unexpected messages, even if they are or appear to be from someone you know. 
• Beware of any email requesting personal information, containing unexpected attachments, or urging you to click a link — these are common tactics used in phishing attacks.

• Do not download files from your personal email onto your work device.
• If it is absolutely necessary, ensure the file is from a trusted source and utilize your best detective skills. Better Safe than Sorry.
• Double check and confirm if the emails are from a legitimate sender by verifying the sender’s address is correct and is not a spoofed email.

• Always check the full email address, not just the display name. Hover over the sender to reveal the full email address.
• Make sure the domain is correct [email protected] vs. [email protected]
• Do not get distracted by words that seem official - payroll.com or irs.com.
• Be wary of typographic camouflage, hiding a different spelling that looks similar: [email protected] (with an m) vs [email protected] (with an r n)

• If a personal account is compromised, attackers may use it to gain access to corporate information.
• This could lead to data breaches, financial losses, or even company-wide disruptions.

Stay Vigilant in the Scary Season
Keep the horror stories on the screen — not in your inboxes. Stay alert, think before you click, and report anything suspicious or anything malicious you may have clicked on to Association Technologies immediately.

Wishing you a safe and secure holiday season!

• Issue Event Confirmations
  Navigate to Events > Issue Event Confirmations to send customized messages. Select your desired template from the dropdown, which pulls from the Communications > Templates > Samples > Event Confirmations folder. You can choose to email or print confirmations and filter your recipient list by event code, title, date range, or even by name. You can also exclude individuals who’ve already received a confirmation. Once your list is ready, click Issue Confirmations. You can also use this page in order to see everyone who has been issued a confirmation (via the Issue Event Confirmations page).
• Email Registrants from the Event Dashboard
  From the Registrants tab, use the Event Registrants query to filter your list. If the default IQA doesn’t meet your needs, you can customize it to use any query you prefer. Then, click the email icon to send a message by selecting an existing template or create one on the fly.
• Automate Confirmations with Process Automation Plus
  For real-time communication, set up a Process Automation Task triggered by an insert into the Order_Meet table. You can configure the task to send confirmations immediately upon registration or at scheduled intervals. Use an IQA to target specific events and then define which email template to use in the Actions tab.
• Free Event Confirmations
  For free events, iMIS uses a default confirmation page located at Core > Events > Registrations > Free Event Confirmation Page, which references the Free Event Confirmation template in the Order Confirmations folder. Create a custom confirmation page that reflects your organization’s branding and messaging and then use this custom free event confirmation page to reference your organization’s free event email template.

• Use a generic email template and personalize it with dynamic fields like event name, location, and start date.
• Explore the Samples folder in Communications > Templates for inspiration.
• Review out-of-the-box Process Automation Tasks to guide your setup.
• Consider adding additional data sources or multi-instance data to enrich your messages.
• Aside from event confirmations, consider sending additional emails in the lead-up to your event to build excitement, share helpful details, highlight sessions and keep members engaged.
• Segment your audience by using IQAs to target specific groups – first-time attendees, VIPs, speakers, etc. – and send them tailored messages.
• Use a “friendly from” in the format ABC Association Education .
• Standardize and brand your email templates to use headers and footers that meet your organization’s style guide so that all of your messaging is consistent and professional to reinforce your identity and build trust.

• Define your goals. Be specific and outcome-oriented. For example, instead of “Learn about onboarding,” aim for “Understand the challenges users face during the first 10 minutes of onboarding.” This clarity helps shape your questions and keeps the conversation on track.
• Choose the right participants. Your insights are only as good as the people you talk to. Select users who represent your target audience, but also consider edge cases—those who struggle or use your product in unexpected ways. Diversity in roles, experience levels, and behaviors can reveal blind spots and opportunities.
• Prepare a semi-structured guide. A flexible interview guide allows you to cover key topics while adapting to the flow of conversation. Include open-ended questions like “Can you walk me through how you use this feature?” and avoid rigid scripts that stifle natural dialogue.

• Build rapport. Start with light, non-threatening questions such as “Tell me a bit about your role” or “How long have you been using [product]?” This helps participants feel comfortable and opens the door to honest feedback.
• Use active listening. Show genuine interest in what users say. Use verbal affirmations (“That’s interesting”), paraphrase their responses to confirm understanding, and follow up with probing questions like “What made that frustrating?” or “Can you elaborate on that experience?”
• Avoid leading questions. Leading questions bias responses. Instead of “Do you find this feature helpful?” ask “How do you use this feature?” or “What do you think about this part of the experience?” Neutral phrasing encourages authentic answers.

• Talking too much. The goal is to listen, not to explain or defend the product. Resist the urge to fill silences or steer the conversation. Let users speak freely—even pauses can lead to deeper insights.
• Asking yes/no questions. These limit depth. Replace “Did you like it?” with “What did you like or dislike about it?” to encourage richer responses.
• Ignoring non-verbal cues. Pay attention to tone, hesitation, and body language (if in person or video). These often reveal more than words and can signal confusion, frustration, or delight.