Do boycotts work? Sometimes. But it's complicated. Often, when it comes to hosting conferences, it turns out it's the workers at the destinations who get hurt the worst and the boycott doesn't always have the intended impact desired. Could there be a middle ground for organizations hosting meetings in states that support legislature that *doesn't* align with an individual's – or an organization's – values? SocialOffset is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation created to provide event organizers and...
Sep 20, 2022•44 min•Ep. 168
Today’s Nonprofit Business Model often relies heavily on meetings and events. Whether it is for commitment to cause, content, or community; all we know is that the value proposition for an association often finds an important channel in its events. But what happens when attendance begins to slide? What happens when the value of that value proposition doesn’t seem to be what it used to be? Can Event Design Save Your Conference? Ruud Janssen is an events industry powerhouse. You may have already s...
Sep 12, 2022•50 min•Ep. 167
If you work in the association industry, sooner or later you think about getting your CAE. The Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential is the marker of a committed association professional who has demonstrated the wide range of knowledge essential to manage an association. Rogue Tulips Consulting’s education program, The 501c League, supports aspiring and current CAEs with study groups, programs, and resources. Join host KiKi L'Italien as she interviews Cecilia Sepp of Rogue Tulips and ...
Sep 06, 2022•41 min•Ep. 165
Nonprofit board members know their organization must be financially healthy to do the most good, but some people find financial statements hard to decipher. Join host KiKi L'Italien as she interviews author of the book, Money Matters for Nonprofits, Melisa Galasso. Melisa is the founder and CEO of Galasso Learning Solutions LLC. A CPA with nearly 20 years of experience in the accounting profession, Melisa designs and facilitates courses in advanced technical accounting and auditing topics, inclu...
Sep 06, 2022•37 min•Ep. 166
Data privacy rules continue to expand, and even if you are well informed on GDPR, you may not know why you need to know about the WISP. A Written Information Security Program (WISP) is a set of documents that details an organization’s security controls, processes as well as policies. In many states in North America, a WISP is a legally required document, to show the organization’s IT security and data protection status. It takes into account the policies and processes that should be in place to ...
Jul 26, 2022•45 min•Ep. 164
No matter which part of the political spectrum you fall on, you are likely unhappy with the opaque and difficult-to-track political process – especially when it comes to policy development. Patrick Utz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Abstract and he is building the future of lobbying & advocacy. A former engineer at Boeing, Patrick leads Abstract focused on its mission to increase government transparency. Association Chat host KiKi L'Italien talks with Patrick about Abstract.us and the drive to...
Jun 28, 2022•34 min•Ep. 163
Vision boards are a visual way to set goals. A person can create many types of vision and dream boards depending on whether they are trying to set short or long-term goals. Join us for this quick discussion and learn more about vision boards and why and how to create them!
May 26, 2022•17 min
Guest experts David Clarke and Penny Heyes of The Trust Bridge joined host KiKi L'Italien to talk about the greatest cyber security challenges facing associations today and how association leaders can best navigate ever-changing data protection and privacy regulations. Guests: Penny Heyes, Chief Commercial Officer and co-founder, The Trust Bridge David Clarke, Chief Technology Officer for The Trust Bridge and leading authority on security issues with experience across Finance, Telecoms, and the ...
Apr 05, 2022•48 min•Ep. 161
For this episode, nonprofit mavens Allison Fine and Beth Kanter joined Association Chat host KiKi L'Italien for a discussion about the information and tools nonprofit staffers and board members need to effectively use artificial intelligence without alienating the human stakeholders and donors on whom they rely. Allison Fine is among the nation’s preeminent writers and strategists on the use of technology for social good. Beth Kanter is an internationally recognized thought leader in digital tra...
Apr 05, 2022•42 min
The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) laid out our current global situation in stark relief and as United Nations General-Secretary António Guterres declared it is "Code Red" for humanity. We are now past midnight and if the most recent Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow is any indicator, we are justified in saying our governments have failed us and we have to assume that we are now on our own. It is now too late for sustainability, and regeneratio...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 5 min
The Impact of Tech M&A on Associations Why should people care when one tech company is acquired by another? This interview features Kevin Bruffey, president of Protech and Pat McGlynn, general manager of Togetherwork’s associations business unit to talk about the recent acquisition of Protech by Togetherwork and what all of that means (and could mean) for the innovation of solutions, current customers and association professionals, and for the association industry as a whole.
Nov 03, 2021•36 min
We've got some big problems to solve and associations are in a position to help bring the right people together to solve them. But what does it mean to be an association professional today and what role will associations play in solving these big issues in the upcoming months? What role *should* associations play? Can a stronger association community help? For this episode, Association Chat host KiKi L'Italien talked with Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE about her role as CEO for ASAE: The Center for ...
Sep 23, 2021•31 min
Is your association's value proposition as strong as it could be? Are your governance, operations, and culture aligned to support strategy? Join Tecker International senior consultant KiKi L'Italien as she shares the connection between community, content, and culture and how to use these elements to fortify your association's value proposition to members. In this episode, KiKi shares real-world examples of how other associations have improved everything from meeting attendance to online communit...
Sep 22, 2021•46 min
Sep 22, 2021•59 min
We are in the midst of a Creator Renaissance and Vivian Chan is ready for it. Vivian believes that disruption often starts at the intersection of things — with many of the best ideas coming from outside one’s immediate domain or industry. As a technology executive, Vivian has been involved in the launch monetization, sales, and marketing management for three different waves of disruptive technologies — Analytics, Cloud, and AR/VR (the intersection of 3D and AI). With more than 20 years of experi...
Jul 29, 2021•28 min
As a professional "Idea Whisperer," Tamsen Webster helps people find, build, and tell the stories of their ideas. She combined 20 years in brand and message strategy with four years as a TEDx Executive Producer to create The Red Thread®, a simple way to change how people see...and what they do as a result. (Though as she'll tell you, everything she knows about people, speaking, and change, she learned at Weight Watchers.) Today, Tamsen is a globe-hopping keynote speaker who consults with enterpr...
Jun 08, 2021•58 min
The world suddenly changed, but should your AMS? Maybe not. What non-dues revenue sources are lying in wait with your current AMS? Maybe more than you think! For this episode of Association Chat, we talk about APIs and how your current AMS could be helping you with everything from virtual event fees, certification exam charges, e-Learning proceeds to eCommerce sales and so much more! What AMS does all that? Most of them now, because they have increasingly robust APIs! We ask: What are Applicatio...
Apr 14, 2021•53 min
Are you ambitious? Goal-oriented? Successful? Shhh...! Imposter syndrome is the dirty little secret of overachievers. Do you have it? *Imposter Syndrome can look like: a sense of being a fraud fear of being discovered difficulty internalizing success On this episode of Association Chat, we talk with guest Cynthia D'Amour about overachievers, imposter syndrome, and how to combat fear around failure. Cynthia D'Amour has spent the last 20 years helping leaders be successful. She is a champion for o...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr
What’s the first thing you typed into Google today? Was it a question? What kind of question was it? Questions are a phenomenal place to start if you ever want to get closer to understanding something – whatever it is. And that’s what I’m thinking about today when it comes to business and how we can better show up for ourselves and the people we serve. So I invite you to come along and think about it with me on this week’s inaugural episode of Amplified Growth with me, KiKi L’Italien....
Mar 04, 2021•9 min
Who is Julius Solaris, what is EventMB, and what happens when a founder steps back from the role he is most known for in a company he started 14-years-prior? On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, Julius Solaris announced he was stepping down from his role as Editor-in-Chief for EventMB. I talked with him on Thursday, February 18th at 5 pm ET to look back at the creation of EventMB, its highs and lows over the years, its acquisition, and what he sees on the horizon for the events industry, EventMB, and ...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Find out what the acquisition of Fonteva means for the association industry! For this interview, I talk with three guests playing a big role in the recent acquisition of Fonteva, an enterprise AMS focused on the association industry. Neal Platt --- Neil has served as CEO of Togetherwork since its founding in 2016. He has more than 20 years’ experience as a software and payments entrepreneur and executive, nurturing and growing successful fintech companies. He spent 11 years building CashEdge fro...
Feb 23, 2021•29 min
Join me for this talk with Tahira Endean, head of events for the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), about what we've learned about virtual and hybrid events this past year. This year, SITE just held their HYBRID meeting with around 1,200 signed up for the hybrid edition, and delegates joining from 53 global nations. There were smaller, in-person gatherings taking place simultaneously in Chicago and Dallas with public health protocols in place and I have just the person here to talk ...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr
Leveraging your strengths at work makes you stronger personally and professionally. The world seems obsessed with fixing what's broken with people, but if you invest your energy into building on your natural talents (and your team's natural talents), your productivity and engagement will see a boost. We're talking with guest Shaara Roman, Founder and CEO, The Silverene Group Shaara Roman is a mom, wife, board member, entrepreneur, and former CHRO. Shaara and her team consult with leaders to crea...
Jan 29, 2021•47 min
Kristin A. Sherry is a bestselling and award-winning author, globally recognized career expert, and creator of the YouMap® profile which won a 2020 Career Innovator Award from Career Directors International. She is a speaker, trainer, and author of international bestseller, YouMap, and a 2020 Pencraft award-winner in business books for Your Team Loves Mondays...Right? She is the managing partner of YouMap LLC, which certifies coaches, career services and HR professionals as YouMap® coaches and f...
Jan 29, 2021•56 min
Learn how you can shape the future of work through the better engagement of people with guest Troy Pfeffer. Troy developed a world-renowned and highly successful intelligence process of building and capitalizing on a company's internal employee networks. Howspace is an AI-powered digital collaboration tool that brings social learning to the forefront of your process and development initiatives. I also talk with surprise guest Paul Meyer of Tecker International to share about the challenges facin...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min
What is the role storytelling plays in creating deeper relationships? Dave Nadelberg is best known as the creator of Mortified and the cultural movement has now become a podcast, multiple books, a couple documentaries and the new Netflix series, The Mortified Guide. But it all started with a live show, which is still going strong across 20 cities around the world. He and co-creator Neil Katcher recently created a card game called, "I Can't Believe I Did That..." which is both a party game and an...
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 4 min
In a year with fewer in-person meetings and face-to-face interactions, online communities have played an important role in helping people feel more connected. In this episode of the Chat, we find out how the online community leaders for some of your favorite online communities in the association industry stepped up to the challenge in the year of COVID-19, BLM protests, and all the rest! We talk about why they created their groups, the stories they’ve heard, and the lessons they’ve learned. We a...
Dec 03, 2020•1 hr 7 min
So much more becomes possible when more people in an organization are capable, competent, and confident in facilitating or making facilitative contributions. After a long career in higher education, association management, and organizational development consulting, Jeffrey Cufaude has one purpose and passion as he begins his final career chapter: helping people facilitate better.
Nov 24, 2020•58 min
What can association advocacy experts tell us about the overview of the short- and long- term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on associations and how the "association of associations" is engaging policy and advocacy to support the field at this critical time? We'll discuss the current political landscape on Capitol Hill, the status of recent and future Congressional COVID-19 relief packages, and the future for association advocacy efforts as a whole! (Yes, this could get very meta.) The success...
Nov 03, 2020•54 min
In the year of COVID-19, everyone wants to know, "How can I look better on video?" Charles "Chuck" Espinoza, AVIXA Staff Instructor, has over 27 years’ experience in the Audio-video industry with 13 years in the United States Marine Corps-8 of those years as Platoon Sergeant and Marksmanship instructor. Espinoza has contributed to the development of hundreds of audiovisual professionals in his numerous professional training roles, as well as through his leadership in AVIXA, the Audio Visual Inte...
Oct 23, 2020•59 min
