Using free software on your company issued workstation might seem convenient, but it can pose significant risks. These tools often come with hidden costs, such as security vulnerabilities, malware, or invasive adware. Free software is often bundled with unwanted programs that can track your browsing habits, steal sensitive data, or compromise your system's security. This is often done unknowingly or designed in a way to ensure you accidently install the bundled, unwanted programs. Additionally, these tools may not comply with your company's IT policies, leading to potential breaches or data loss. Always stick to trusted, vetted software to ensure your work environment remains secure and efficient.
Take, for example, Wave Browser. While it may offer a free and easy-to-use browsing experience, it's often flagged for bundling adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). Wave Browser has been known to get installed unknowingly and is notoriously difficult to uninstall as it tends to reinstall itself, making it a persistent issue. If you notice any references to Wave Browser on your machine, please contact AT. Another commonly known freeware program, CCleaner, despite its popularity, has been criticized for privacy issues and bundling third-party software that you might not want.
In some cases, when these tools are found on a workstation, it can lead to a complete rebuild of the system to remove the unwanted programs and restore security. This process can be costly, both in terms of time and resources, disrupting productivity and leading to potential data loss. To avoid these risks, it’s crucial to only use software that has been approved and vetted by your IT department. |
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| Over the past few months I’ve been re-evaluating my organizational strategies, how to get through work and personal challenges and accomplish tasks easily and efficiently. I've looked at my email organization, where I take notes, and how I remind myself of upcoming tasks or appointments. |
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This is a continual work in progress and a recent interaction sparked a conversation. I was working with a colleague while they were creating a calendar item. I was confused by their colorless calendar. How do they know which calendar item is a Teams/Zoom call versus a face-to-face meeting or a task to complete and what about planning for personal events?
Does your calendar look like the one to the right? |
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I shared my calendar with my colleague to demonstrate how you can color code calendar items and easily discern which item is which. I’ve been using this functionality for years to help me highlight the importance of each item on my calendar. To the left is an example of my calendar from a day earlier this month.
To get started updating your own calendar, first create a new calendar item. The out of the box Outlook setting includes a dropdown list of colors w/generic options. These color descriptions can be updated to fit your work needs. |
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- Define color categories
- Edit existing color descriptions or create your own
- Though not a color-coding feature, select the Private button to hide the description if your calendar is shared
For further information and instructions, please visit: New Outlook or Classic Outlook |
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| Bonus tip: I use my iPhone Alarm app to remind me of upcoming time sensitive calendar items. I’ll set the reminder to go off 5 minutes before the scheduled call. |
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Continuing from last month’s Usability Tip regarding Homepages, this month I’d like to focus a little more attention on ways you can help end users feel confident that they’ve landed on the right spot (your homepage). One of the easiest, and quickest ways to do that is to have an effective tagline next to your company logo.
A tagline is a concise and expressive phrase that characterizes something and makes it great. It’s very efficient and end users are used to seeing taglines at the top next to the company logo.
Here are some things to think about when coming up with a good tagline:
- Make them clear and informative, explaining what your website or organization does.
- Try to keep the phrase between six to eight words.
- Try to convey differentiation, a value proposition, or a clear benefit.
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| Personalized Member Engagement for Associations |
| PropFuel is a platform that helps improve member engagement by triggering a 2-way dialogue rather than focusing only on one-way broadcast communications. It leverages data collection, AI, and automation to capture meaningful member insight and engage members through a simple yet effective approach: ASK, CAPTURE, ACT. |
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It all starts with an email or SMS question to each member, capturing their unique needs, which then triggers automated personalized actions (such as asking a follow up question, alerting your team to take an action, writing their answer back to their AMS record, dropping them into a nurturing campaign, and more). This approach, called conversational engagement, helps to:
- improve member retention
- personalize engagement
- increase member satisfaction by incorporating the Voice of the Member
See how PropFuel can take your engagement to the next level with member intelligence, enabling you to lead members through personalized journeys and automatically keep your AMS data updated, without any hassle.
Book a Demo |
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| by Jim Meyers |
ASAE Annual 2024 was held from Saturday, August 10th through Tuesday, August 13th in Cleveland, Ohio, the home of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Over 5,000 attendees were treated to four days of education, networking, entertainment, and over 200 exhibitors in the expo hall!
Saturday kicked off with several opportunities to explore Cleveland with tours and preconference workshops. The night concluded with an Opening Reception at Rocket Mortgage Field House where multi award winner Nelly took the stage to get attendees fired up for the next few days of fabulous sessions and networking.
Opening keynote speaker, Amanda Gorman – the youngest Poet Laureate in history, treated the crowd to a very inspirational talk as she was interviewed on stage by Holly Ransom, CEO of Emergent Global on Sunday. Her early childhood speech impediment gave her a gift and strength as she became very good at reading and writing, evidenced by her 2021 poem, “The Hill We Climb” delivered at the 2021 presidential inauguration. My favorite takeaway – ‘Connect with authenticity vs. perfection’.
The Expo Hall was the place to be from 10:30 – 4:00 where attendees visited with exhibitors in Technology & Business Services and Hospitality & Meeting Services. Sunday night concluded with parties all over Cleveland, and in my opinion, the best of show was the ‘Succes Crews’ bash, hosted by twenty-five technology solution providers including AT! Speaking of the Success Crew – we gave away $10,000 in cash prizes to some very happy attendees!
Monday did not disappoint with keynote, Adam Kinzinger taking stage in another interview format by Holly Ransom. Kinzinger delivered very honest answers to some tough questions and was applauded with his sincere statement, ‘Do the right thing when it’s really hard’. The expo reopened from 12:00-4:30 so attendees could visit booths if they didn’t check every box on Sunday. Education sessions, exploration labs, and coaching sessions running concurrently gave the attendees excellent guidance to take back to their associations. After this full day, The ASAE Research Foundations ‘Classic’ was hosted at The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame which, as you can imagine, was a rockin’ good time!
The networking lunch on Tuesday was followed by the closing session led by Choir! Choir! Choir! Where everyone was on their feet learning a new way to, as they say, get everyone to let down their guard and sing their hearts out! Closing it out on Tuesday night, the Flats Entertainment District had great food and drinks available at local venues and a surprise drop in by Cleveland’s own, MGK!
ASAE’ Annual Conference is truly an incredible experience and if you didn’t join in this year – mark your calendars for August 9-12, 2025 at the Los Angeles Convention Center! AT will be there, and we hope to see you! |
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| Three Takeaways from #ASAE24 |
Wellness was a common thread at the ASAE Annual Meeting, from boards to members to within leaders themselves.
Read More |
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| How to Lead Through Failure |
CrowdStrike’s president accepting an award for his company’s “epic fail” was good PR. The tricky part: Talking with teams about what didn't work.
Read More |
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We have an archive of our newsletters and industry related
articles available on our website, click HERE to access them.
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| Association Analytics: Data Analytics Network |
Location: Online
Attend the Data Analytics Network meeting scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month. This opportunity is for association professionals to engage in peer-led discussions on topics related to data and analytics.
Upcoming 2024 sessions:
- September 3 - Words Can Be Data Too
- October 1 - IRL Data Science Fair
- December 3 - Year in Review
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| SEPTEMBER |
| 10 |
| 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM CDT |
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| Association Forum: Association 201 |
Location: Association Forum Office, 10 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 800, Chicago, IL
Take Away Tangible Skills to Impact Change in Your Team & Organization
Introducing an immersive 6-hour program designed to empower professionals seeking a competitive edge and elevated expertise in association management. The curriculum blends tactical competencies with essential soft skills, offering a comprehensive exploration of contemporary leadership styles, intrapreneurship strategies, and the latest trends within the association industry.
Throughout the course, participants will embark on an interactive journey, engaging in hands-on learning experiences tailored to accelerate personal and professional growth. By fostering an environment that encourages active participation, this program equips individuals with the tools and techniques necessary to navigate the evolving landscape of modern leadership. |
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| iUG 2024 Annual iMIS Users Conference |
Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA
The 2024 Annual iMIS Users Conference is your chance to jump start your career with the tools, strategies, training, and connections you need to advance both your career and your organization. |
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| ASI's 2024 iNNOVATIONS USA |
Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA
Don't miss the 2024 iNNOVATIONS USA Conference as ASI educates and celebrates their growing community of iMIS, Clowder, OpenWater, and TopClass LMS users and partners. At this 2-day conference they have educational tracks, product development insights, case studies, and recognition of clients who are achieving great things using their suite of non-profit solutions. |
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| SEPTEMBER |
| 25 |
| 11:00 AM CDT |
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| HighRoad Solutions Webinar: Building capacity at the top of the funnel - setting up your paid ads strategy |
Location: Online
Need to help your program and product managers expand reach and build more awareness? Sure, having a budget to spend on digital advertising is of course required, but are you ready to map your ad strategy AND execute? Many teams tend to lean too heavily into the creatives and gloss over critical pieces like audience building and keyword selection that directly influence spending. We’ll review a simple framework you can use to formulate your digital ad strategy and show you how you can setup, manage and report on the results of your campaigns in HubSpot. |
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| SEPTEMBER |
| 25-26 |
| 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM CDT |
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| ASAE LMS Demo Days |
Location: Online
Join us for the just-in-time virtual LMS demo days. The 2-day event is September 25th & 26th will feature presentations from a limited number of industry partners that offer LMS platforms. |
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| 2024 Predict - Acumen User Conference |
Location: The Westin Arlington, Arlington, Virginia
Join us for insightful sessions from our data-loving staff and association thought leaders focused on helping every level of your association leverage Acumen and data analytics more successfully. |
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