One of the key benefits and services of an association is its educational opportunities. These usually come in the form of a conference or handful of in-person events; some written materials - full books or shorter guidebooks; an online repository or library of essential materials; live webinars that are recorded for playback on-demand; maybe even an online community.
But because these are often staffed and created by different reporting units within an organization, they may have no relationship with each other. They may be offered and sold at different price points or to different markets. Worst of all, the content from one to the other may be incredibly inconsistent!
In preparing a handbook that was originally related to a certification program being launched at an organization with which I worked, our instructional design consultant instructed us on the need for a “strong educational brand” - she used this term in her final sales call with us. She and her firm then delivered an eHandbook that was “harmonious with [our] branding” and “…establishes the look and feel as well as approach to this type of educational asset.”
While her work was centered around this new handbook product, she - and our various internal teams - weren’t thinking big enough. Our association provided all kinds of educational content, we just didn’t think of it in a holistic way. We thought of all these things separately: our two “Fundamentals” conferences* each year; our community pages; our topical resources; our certification program - and from my perspective running the membership program, new member acquisition.
It was that “Fundamentals” brand that was key: we already that “strong educational brand” however it was limited to our two events per year (and the associated event app) plus the loose online repository of PowerPoints attendees were given access to after the event (amusingly, these presentations changed little from conference to conference yet were uploaded into new and different online groups after each one).
There was amazing potential to expand the “Fundamentals” brand, but we had to separate the content from the medium and separate education from certification.
The “Fundamentals” brand had much broader potential:
- A collection of complementary and supplementary tools to learn the “basics”
- Tailored and curated by the "student" in the way that works best for them
- Informational yet can also be interactive and engaging
- Ongoing and timeless
- Flexible
- Unlimited by travel or budget or technology
We knew there was a demand for year-round educational content. Members who couldn’t attend those two conferences each year asked for it. It was among the most requested content for chapter events. Even our national subject matter groups requested it.
We had to starting thinking about all our educational offerings as part of the “Fundamentals” brand:
- The two national multi-day events, but also additional conferences on specific topics and ready-made chapter events
- More publications: the handbook but also sections broken out a la carte or tailored to specific industries
- Webinars and classes - both live and recorded
- Our resource library and a library of books and other content not produced by us but with education value for the good of our members
- An online community to ask basic questions - a “safe space” to be new
And it was this online community that was key. Those collections of repeated PowerPoints were each tied to an interactive bulletin board no one used. Instead of uploading the same presentations over and over, attendees could be given access to the newest versions of them as part of their registration. It would also include access to their own community (for a year or some meaningful period) where they could ask their own basic questions and participate in scheduled Q&As with established experts - similar to an AMA on Reddit.
Different parts of the “Fundamentals” brand could be branded or upsold at every opportunity. Registration at an in-person event might include access to the community, but the printed handbook would be extra (at a discount to buying it alone). A webinar might be bundled with an ehandbook on that topic but access to the community would cost extra - as would access to the topical pages.
Associations have a lot of competition and chief among them are other resources for information and education. This is especially affecting the ability to acquire and retain younger members. Broadening the definition of what education means for an association might be one key to fighting back.
* We used a different word than “Fundamentals” but I changed it so the organization can remain anonymous.
