Technology basics - from digital communications to back office software - for small to midsize associations and professional groups.

1. Taming Technology
Presented April 23, 2010
New York State Conference of Bar Leaders
by Barbara Beauchamp
New York State Bar Association

2. What Bars Really Need
† Internal: IT infrastructure - telephones, e-mail,
computer applications, accounting
systems, etc.
† External: Web sites, social media
presence, online
publications/newsletters

3. Where Can This Apply?
† Web, computer applications, other IT
† Training (CLE) and Marketing:
Presentation/Webinar services
† Accounting/Financial Management
† Member benefits/discounts/services
† Meetings/Event Planning
† Newsletters/Publications

4. Yes! It Can Be Done
† As the saying goes, all it takes is time
and money!
† When time is tight – outsource to
qualified vendors
† Good vendors can become your partners
† When budgets are tight or non-existent –
seek ways to accomplish what you need
using freeware/shareware tools

5. What SaaS Can Do For You
† SaaS = Software As A Service, also
known as Cloud Computing
† Web-based software programs
† Lightens the IT load in terms of servers
and also of programmers/coders
† Reduces costs by using hosted solutions
† Worth hiring qualified consultant to help
select appropriate products/services

6. Google Is Your Friend
† It’s not just for searching anymore!
† Google Business Solutions provides e-mail,
computer applications, search,
analytics, e-commerce, online
advertising, social media elements and
spam protection – for $50 per user per
year
† Google has many free tools that are
Google-branded but work the same as
paid tools including search and analytics

7. On-Demand Presentations
† What’s the difference between an archived
Webinar and On-Demand?
“Like webinar replays, on-demand presentations can be
viewed at any time - but at a fraction of the costs
involved in producing a live webinar and making a replay
available. With on-demand presentations, it’s easy to
track who viewed your material (how much, where
interest peaked, etc.), insert questions, make easy
updates (you can re-record your voice on a certain slide
and easily insert new info/another slide as information
changes… no need to reinvent the wheel), etc. When
viewing an on-demand presentation, too, the audience
can easily rewind and fast forward, skip to segments of
interest, etc.”
- SmallBizTechnology.com blog

8. Options for Sharing Files
† MyBrainshark.com offers free hosting of
presentations and customers can upload, track
and share presentations; presenters can also
add an audio track via telephone
† Scribd.com allows users to post and comment
on documents, presentations, etc. with a social
media component
† Yousendit.com allows free transmission of large
files from computer to computer (FTP) without
the IT overhead and hassle

9. Managing Expenses – Literally!
† Take the pain out of expense and travel
reimbursement with an expense
management solution
† Concur Breeze is an application that
works with the Google framework and
automatically captures credit card
transactions — saving time, reducing
errors and driving policy compliance
† The alternative is manually entering data
into spreadsheets

10. Member Benefits & Discounts
† Provide an “online mall” of benefits and
discount programs
† Offer things like job postings and resume
posting/searching services to your
members
† Collect revenue share (commission)
from sale of benefit/discount programs
and services

11. The Modern Meeting
† Audiences are connected – don’t fight it!
† Join in - enhance the meeting experience with
interactive segments, the ability for remote
participants to ask questions, polls, voting, etc.
† From registration to evaluations, strive to be
fully electronic
† “The benefit of serving members by using advanced technology is
in giving them service while allowing us to do more with what
we've got rather than having to expand our staff.”
- Lawrence Edge, International Development Research Council

12. Newsletters/Publications
† Magnet Mail, Constant Contact, Informz,
etc - many professional service providers
† Designerfreesolutions.com – offers
robust free newsletter management and
e-mail marketing solutions
† Mynewsletterbuilder.com offers live
editing so what you see is what your
recipients see; drag and drop editing and
more

13. What’s Next for Technology
† Demand for customized user experiences
† Add rating/ranking, feedback and comment
features to Web content
† Continue to use Web 2.0 (multimedia and social
media tools) to improve sites
† Is there an App for that? Do you have content
that would work on mobile devices
† Demand for mobile-friendly Web sites