We are just wrapping up work on the International Association of Panoramic Photographers (IAPP) website. Actually more than just the website. We’ve always wanted to implement the Full Monty for a non-profit or association and we finally got our chance.

So…What Happened?

We were approached by an old, (well not Old, but former,) colleague from  USAA, Dawn Snow. She’s secretary and defacto webmaster for the IAPP and they found some funding to redo their website. We proposed not only revamping the website so it would be easier to keep up but also connecting it to a membership management system so all of their operations would be easier. The IAPP is an international association with members scattered around the globe. They have no staff, so everything, from website upkeep to membership processing, falls to volunteers, usually the board of directors.

First, we proposed moving their old (1990s vintage) static website to the WordPress content management platform. We found a great commercial template that we could change. Especially important to the IAPP was that it accommodate the wide panoramic images created by their members.

Next, we set them up with a Google Apps for Domains account and moved their association email over to it. They get a branded webmail interface that has loads of storage and the added advantage of Google Calendar, Docs, etc. Future plans call for website integration of  Google Calendar to show workshop schedules and Google Docs for instructional materials. We’ll use two very good WordPress plugins to make this happen.

And then we set them up in the Wild Apricot membership management system. Wild Apricot is a software as a service site for non-profits and associations. It has modules for Members, Events, Donations and Forums. The service provides for a monthly or yearly subscription that’s based on the number of contacts in your database.

IAPP is using the Membership module to automate their new and renewing member functions. Previously, the treasurer took email requests and received checks to deposit. Now IAPP can accept credit cards for membership. And Wild Apricot automates renewals with reminder emails sent to expiring memberships. They are also using the Forums module  for their Classified Ads (something members had asked for) and will use the Events module to manage their conference and workshop calendar and registration.

And…so far so good. Their new site looks great and now many volunteers are contributing to it. Their email management is much easier. And their association management headaches are a thing of the past.

Yea! Finally!

We’ve proposed this solution to a clients before but haven’t had the opportunity to implement it. Since we’ve “been there, done that” as the volunteer leader and manager of a professional association we knew the pain of managing a web presence and managing membership. Especially renewals! Renewals mean revenue and a sloppy or non-existent renewal process means, well, reduced or zero revenue.

Small organizations have a lot on their plate. Making website management easy eases that pain. And we think the “virtual association” concept will do the trick for most associations without the resources for staff. Non-profits, even with a small staff, can benefit from this kind of low-cost solution too.

We’re happy we were able to put the IAPP on a good footing for the future.

Contact us if you think we might be able to help you.

I really like Gerry McGovern (why didn’t I look him up while I was in Ireland?); he always hits the nail on the head. And he drove it home again in his recent post Web content migration: disastrous strategy.

So many organizations think that a new technology solution will fix an old business problem. The only thing “fixed” are the consultant and vendor bottom lines and maybe helping someone climb the corporate ladder by increasing departmental headcount. If only people would allow that the emperor has no clothes and work on both their content AND the processes and people and attitudes that created it.

Gerry calls all of them out.

Content migration-and its first cousin, website “redesign”-are all about pouring sour old milk into new portal jugs. At some stage, we have to address the core web management challenges. Why do we have such bad content?

Ya gotta love anyone who can effectively use a sour milk analogy!

As we (OK, me) get older we start to think about the stuff we accumulate. Personally, I have 4 large totes (those plastic boxes with the two-part lid) filled with my life’s work. It goes back more than 20 years to television programs I shot in grad school. I’ve always kept them in the house, in a closet, much to the chagrin of my wife since they chew up a lot of space.
So what do I do with my media archive?  Well, it sits in the boxes in the closet. I purchased a DV camera with AV pass through with the intention of transferring my stuff to DV or archiving to it to DVD. But that hasn’t happened.
I came across a great resource on media preservation and an organization that conducts workshops.
Two organizations have partnered to produce workshops on media preservation.
Independent Media Arts Preservation, Inc. (IMAP) is a nonprofit service, education, and advocacy organization committed to the preservation of non-commercial electronic media. They conduct workshops on media preservation. And they have some basic information in the form of handouts from their Introduction to Media Preservation workshop.
Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) has a very complete section on their website about media preservation. (from their website) Founded in 1971, EAI is a nonprofit organization that distributes and preserves a major collection of new and historical video artworks. For 35 years, EAI has fostered the creation, exhibition, distribution, and preservation of video art and, more recently, digital art projects. EAI is committed
to providing audiences with access to media art.
I realize that everything is new, everything is digital, but there is an awful lot of history back in the analog archives stored in our basements, storerooms, (heaven forbid) storage units and, in my case, a valuable clothes closet. Once that material is gone how will we know where we’ve been or what mistakes we made that aren’t worth making again?

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Tags: media, formats, videotape, preserve, preservation, VHS, U-matic, 3/4 inch, Betacam, quad, Type-B, Betamax, one inch, 1, 2, two inch

(The following is derived from conference proposal I submitted.)

Implementing a web content management system can be a long and painful process. By the time you send an RFP, review vendors, make a selection, refine requirements and specs, configure the tool, develop custom functionality and, well, everything else, you’re done. You’re really finished! When you hear “WCM” in the hallways you flinch. The last thing you want to do is “operate” the damn thing.

But who knows more about how the system works, where the ghosts are, who has th best grease to get the wheels turning? Face it; people will turn to you.

The “last thing” you will want to do is not just operate but plan how you will operate. Unless you want to be the eternal go-to person for all things WCM you have to have a plan for day-to-day operations. Creating an operations plan will take weeks, maybe months, of work but it will save you countless headaches and not a few gray hairs.

Your operations plan will boil down to three key components:

• Services
• Staffing
• Setting Expectations

Services are the WIIFM

The services component is like it sounds: what services will you provide to your WCM community (business and IT). What’s in it for them (WIIFM)? That service set is birthed from clearly defining the processes around your web content management implementation. These will likely include:

• The process for the content you manage (author, edit, review, approve, publish)
• Processes to maintain, modify and upgrade the WCM system
• Processes around users, groups and security

There may be other processes specific to your environment like translation or workflow to print.

Staffing is people.

Who, besides you, will do what needs to be done? What business roles will they play? Who will these people report to? What skills do they have or need? How many are needed today and in the next 12-24 months?

Setting expectations is crucial.

Communication about your operations plan, at all its stages, will set the stage for how things will play out down the road. Buy in from all levels will work in your favor.

• At the worker bee level they will know that someone will be there to help them through this significant change in how they do business.
• At your immediate manager level they will get the correct impression that you actually know what you’re doing. That works for them (to report up) and for you (at review time.)
• At management levels above your immediate unit the perception will (or should be) that you are managing a new, critical business function.
• And laterally, IT (or business) units; depending on your situation; will understand their role and importance in this new business function.

The way you establish your “cube cred” is to execute the plan. When someone requests a new authoring template you fire off the processes to deliver that service:

• Request Intake/Triage Process
• Authoring Template Creation/Modification Process
• New Functionality Training Process
• Operational Reporting Process

Not that you want to become the McDonalds of WCM but it’s the same formula:

• Take the order
• Drop the order in the bag
• Pass the bag through the window (Have a nice day!)
• Close out the register at night to see how sales went

It has be a simple formula to be successful. If your operations are bureaucratic, form laden and sluggish then WCM stinks, or at least it will acquire that odor in a short time.

Enough is enough.

Create enough process, provide enough service, staff enough people and provide enough reports so that your operations are “enough” for your business. Most WCM users do not work where content is the core of the business. They’re bankers or lawyers or scholars or doctors or manufacturers. So, you’ll want lightweight, agile operations so the rest if the business doesn’t get distracted by the everyday operations of WCM.

Establishing a strong operations function for web content management makes the post-implementation job easier and quickly demonstrates the business value of this significant investment.

Jim Howard at CMS Watch has written the article I wished I had all about operating a content management system once it has been implemented. Here here! (CMS Watch is a great resource for this kind of stuff. That’s why it’s over in the ‘roll.)

Not all too often, (actually almost always,) a CMS is installed and, well, that’s it. Done!

A content management system is not “implement and forget”. Its not an install of Microsoft Word. It’s not a toaster that you plug in, push the lever and magically breakfast appears

Implementing a content managment system is more akin to a wood chisel than a screwdriver. You sharpen a chisel when its gets dull so you can work more efficiently. (A screwdriver generally just keeps putting in screws.)

A CMS takes care and feeding and nurturing and adjusments to keep it running smoothly and delivering business value.