Tech Talks Education

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2018 Education

Tech Talks will offer five hours of targeted education in the areas of technology and communications for those working at small and mid-sized associations.

Tech Talks is not for the large association IT director, full time webmaster, or database guru. It is for the CEOs, Marketing and Communications Directors, Membership Managers, Associate Directors, Education Planners and more who wear many hats and want to grow their knowledge, stay on top of association trends and policies to improve their organizations. Schedule subject to change.
 

Opening Session (8:30 - 9:30 am):

Building Sustainable, Strategic Social Media Marketing

Steven S. Vrooman, PhD, Chair, Department of English and Communication Texas Lutheran University
From deciding what platform to use to identifying posts that will actually be seen by their members, associations have a love-hate relationship with social media. On top of that, these “free and easy” platforms have evolved to a point where paid posts and constantly changing algorithms have part-time (or in many cases “occasional”) social media managers and marketers feeling lost.

Could we get people coming back to our content not because we tricked it into their feed or even bought an ad, but because they wanted it, sought it out, maybe even missed it while they were gone? Of course we can! But it means making some changes.

This session will help you create social media destinations for your members, explore posts that convert reach into engagement, and show you how to build content that aligns with your mission and brand. 

Discover a sustainable pathway for strategic social media, with real-world examples from associations like yours!  Bring your own examples for a live, crowd-sourced analysis portion of the session where Dr. Vrooman will pull up your site live for collected critique in a massive multiplayer consulting session!
 

Concurrent Education Sessions (10:00 - 11:00 am):

Using Hybrid Events to Drive Revenue & Membership Growth

Steph Pfeilsticker, Hybrid Events Authority
Built on years of research, the hybrid event strategy business model enables associations to implement sound hybrid event strategy to drive non-dues revenue, grow membership and create renewable opportunities. Come learn what you need to know to leverage these powerful events. Hybrid expert and pioneer Steph Pfeilsticker will deconstruct association case studies to show how they did it and how that translates to your association. You will learn how to discern which variables are relevant to revenue growth and how to maximize growth while maintaining a high-quality hybrid event. Hybrid events almost always pay for themselves and many drive significant returns. Even if revenue growth isn’t your objective, this is information you need to know to have accurate financials. Hybrid events aren’t going away. Learn how to incorporate them in a fiscally responsible manner.
 

When Good Data Goes Bad

Mark Jones, CAE, President, enSYNC Corporation
What’s “bad data” and how can it affect your organization? A data audit can tell you if you have misclassified or inaccurate data points, duplications or omissions. Once you’ve identified the problem, you need a plan of action to clean it up.  How can you handle a thorny problem like this? Let Mark Jones of enSYNC – who has seen plenty of messy data – give you some tips.
 

Managing Consumer Privacy Expectations in Marketing Campaigns

Kathrine E. Britton, Esq.
Data powers the information economy and the risks associated with it continue to skyrocket. Data breach, identity theft, loss of customer trust—these are the threats to organizations of all sizes, in all sectors, in today’s marketplace. This session will explore the legal/privacy challenges organizations encounter in marketing and examples of how to work through them. High level topics include CAN-SPAM, Article 5 of the FTC Act, re-targeting programs, cross device ID/targeting, and leveraging social media.
 

How an Online Community Changed Our Association

William Machin, Community Experts, Higher Logic
Melissa Weber, CASN, Manager, Promotional Products Association International

As association professionals, we're often used to hearing feedback from only a small portion of our membership base. For Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), introducing an online community changed that. Through engaging members that they weren’t otherwise reaching and offering something new that was of real value to everyone, their community changed not only how PPAI interacted with their members, but also how they interpreted their needs as an organization. All it took was listening to more than just the loudest voices.
 

Concurrent Education Sessions (11:30 - noon):

Marketing Automation 101: Where Do I Start?

Jennifer Lee, CAE, Chief Marketing Officer, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals
Marketing Automation can be a complex undertaking for associations but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With proper planning, marketing automation can be beneficial to associations by streamlining recruitment, membership communications, event promotion and more. This presentation will touch on the items below to help you gain a better understanding of how marketing automation can help your association integrate and simplify your marketing. 

  • What marketing automation is and what it isn’t
  • How do I know if my association should be using marketing automation and where do I begin?
  • Steps to implementation
     
How To: Capture an Entire Video Series in a Single Day

Carson Coots, Cognitive Films
It’s no secret that creating video content is a necessity in the digital age. But developing, writing, shooting and editing even a single video can be time-consuming.  In this session you'll learn how to leverage your Association connections and events to easily capture serial video content that serves both your members and your mission.

  • How to plan and produce a compelling video series for your association.
  • How to shoot an entire video series in a single day.
  • How to identify shoot day pitfalls and how to avoid them.
  • How to get the most out of your content in the edit.
  • How to tailor your videos for specific social media channels.
     

Out of Ideas? Let’s Talk Sponsorships

Stephanie Bomely, Client Solutions Manager, Freeman
Events are incredibly important to sponsors. They enhance business relationships, increase brand awareness, drive sales, and are becoming more and more important to an event’s bottom line. This session will take a look at new and unique sponsorship activations, how different industries approach sponsorship, and how these opportunities can be applied to every market.
 

Continuing the Sustainable Strategic Social Media Marketing Conversation

Steven S. Vrooman, PhD, Chair, Department of English and Communication Texas Lutheran University
An extension of the opening session, Steven will help you create social media destinations for your members, explore posts that convert reach into engagement, and show you how to build content that aligns with your mission and brand. In a small group environment, learn what platform to use to identifying posts that will actually be seen by your members as well as other strategies that will help you explore posts that convert reach into engagement, and show you how to build content that aligns with your mission and brand. 
 

Lunch Session (12:00 – 1:15 PM)

Start Slacking Off: Reimagining the Workforce of the Future

Mark Sedgley, President and CEO, MemberClicks  
Business communication tools are transforming the way millions of people in America work today. Software platforms like Slack are quickly replacing email and other messaging applications as the preferred method for internal communication. With their potential for collaboration and instant feedback, these tools stand to benefit associations more than most.

By taking a deliberate approach to evaluating and implementing the new generation of communication tools in your office, you can improve efficiency, provide valuable channels for collaboration and increase morale while sharing a few cat pictures along the way. In this session, we’ll walk through the myriad of options that are out there and discuss how to find the one that’s right for your staff.

Key Takeaways

  1. Learn how to evaluate whether or not new communication tools are a good fit for your organization.
  2. Gain best practices for implementing new technology tools so that they’re productive, not distracting.
  3. Connect your staff and your members to improve efficiency and drive engagement.
     

Concurrent Education Sessions (1:45 - 2:45 pm):

Hack the Mind: How to Use Psychology to Get More from Your Online Marketing

Andrew Buck, Content Strategist, Mighty Citizen
Your brain is a trickster. It leads you wherever it pleases—while you remain completely unaware of its true motivations. But now, thanks to advances in psychology, we professional communicators can recognize our brains’ habits - and make them work for us. In this entertaining, story-filled workshop, we’ll explore our minds’ most surprising tendencies. And then we'll explore how they intersect with your website, marketing materials, and overall brand strategy. You’ll leave with a new understanding of the subtle, predictable, and (often) irrational ways we humans think. And you'll get equipped with concrete ways to apply these great "brain hacks" to your organization.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

  • Identify the irrational ways humans actually think, judge, and choose
  • Learn to market to—and around—these "habits of the mind"
  • Nudge your users to engage more deeply with your organization in clever ways online
     
Digital and Media Accessibility Best Practices for Association Executives & Web Managers

Ron Lucey, Executive Director, Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities
This session will provide an overview of web accessibility requirements, standards, techniques, tools and strategies for ensuring your association’s web communications effectively reaches everyone regardless of their disability.

Content includes:

  • Overview of applicable federal and state accessibility laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
  • Review of current web accessibility litigation and how you can reduce your associations risk for non-compliance.
  • Update on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0 Level AA) accessibility standards and their applicability to your association’s website
  • How good and poor web accessibility implementation affects different types of disabilities including a demonstration of a leading assistive technology used by blind and vision impaired website users.
  • How web accessibility can positively impact on your association’s Search Engine Optimization with Google and other leading search engines.
  • Identification of free and low cost training resources and testing tools to address web accessibility implementation throughout your organization.
     
Managing the Virtual Office

Steven Stout, Executive Director, Texas Society of Association Executives
Lori Gracey, Executive Director, TCEA
Lindsey Jost, Associate Director, Career & Technical Association of Texas

Virtual organizations aren’t for everyone. Determining if a virtual workplace or integrating some elements of one makes sense for your association requires consideration several elements that may impact your organization’s management and effectiveness but may also boost your team’s effectiveness, morale and provide a valuable staff benefit. This session focuses on the policies and procedures that provide the backbone to managing a virtual office.  
 

Getting Engaged: Where PR and Digital Strategy Meet

David Wyatt, Director, Elizabeth Christian Public Relations (ECPR)
Cynthia Martinez, ECPR, Digital Strategist

Once upon a time, your public relations were one thing and your digital presence were another. Today, digital and PR strategy intermingle with magical or disastrous effects—depending on the level of planning and internal communication. This session will cover the fundamentals of where digital/social media, media relations, and crisis communications intersect.
 

Closing Session (3:00 - 4:15 PM)

Peer Solution Circles

Following some social time over an afternoon treat from Prohibition Creamery, come together with your peers to exchange ideas and find solutions to your most challenging questions. Using this session’s framework, you will connect with other professionals, lean on their expertise to identify and lend your insights to solve their challenges. Be prepared to participate!



TSAE is a CAE Approved Provider. Every program that we offer which qualifies for CAE credit will clearly identify the number of CAE credits granted for full participation, and we will maintain records of your participation in accord with CAE policies.

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