Upcoming: Membee User’s Meeting – June 2017

Posted on January 18, 2017 in Associations, Membership, Nonprofit

Membee’s User Meeting is a longstanding, self-organized group of energetic Membee users that meet annually to make sure Membee is working hard for their organizations. Use this post to learn more about the group, why you need to be involved, and the details regarding their upcoming meeting in June, 2017.

Often the value of face-to-face meetings can be overlooked, but they still prove to be the most effective form of meeting…

According to the Forbes, 97% of people prefer a smaller grouped meeting atmosphere. Additionally face-to-face meetings help our brains build trust and professional intimacy. Humans love immediate feedback and different types of instantaneous responses. This form of meeting is invaluable to Membee Users to continue to build a strong team.

The graphic below offers some statistics from Harvard Business Review based on a study they conducted focusing on the value of face-to-face meetings:

Other perks of having face-to-face meeting vs. virtual meetings include:

Fewer Distractions
Enhanced Content and Interaction
Time saving and networking
Brainstorming/ Idea Exchange

We all have full and busy schedules, but we guarantee blocking out time for face-to-face meetings will save you time in the long run! Face-to-face meetings deal with a multiple of issues in a short time-frame. The two days at the Membee User Meeting can save you weeks of time trying to figure out one feature, multiple features, or even new and innovative member benefits with Membee as their backbone.

A Sitdown With the Boss – Q&A With Kathryn

Membee sat down with Kathryn Newell of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce to discuss the in’s and out’s of the annual Membee User meeting held in Burlington, Ontario. Kathryn has served as chairperson and key organizer for the meeting for a few years and knows the value the meeting brings to Membee’s users and staff!

Let Kathryn help answer some of the questions users attending, and those who are considering attending the meeting might have!

Membee: If you were sitting with a new Membee user, what would you tell them is the number one reason to attend the meeting?

Kathryn: So many number ones to choose from but I would say networking is the number one most important, because you are physically there, making contact with faces, creating connections and friendships. This plays in future communications either through our Facebook group or personal emails/messaging.

Membee: Looking at last year’s agenda, attendees get an advanced look at upcoming Membee features that will be discussed at the meeting. How is this helpful to attendees?

Kathryn: They can prepare fully for the intense 1.5 days of information sharing. If there is a feature they are not familiar with, they have time to explore so they can ask relevant questions or learn even more about that feature. If they are familiar with a certain feature, they have the opportunity to share their knowledge.

Membee: I also see that Membee staffers come, participate, and gather input on potential new features. Does the user group really influence the future of Membee?

Kathryn: Many of us have seen the importance of having Membee staffers present and it is definitely important to all of us when staffers are present. I have experienced the meetings where we only had phone conferencing and it just is not the same kind of experience. So many points are brought about through conversation both in the conference room as well as away from it when we are socializing (even though the socializing is supposed to be just that). We have the undivided attention of the staffers to listen to us moan and groan about some things or cry (I’m the only one so far that has cried) and laugh at exciting new features. I believe that the staffers get a true feel for what we like using in Membee, they learn how we use it (which may be different from its intended uses) and they also get a feel for what we really would like to see happening in the future with it.

Membee: Each year seems to attract some wily membership professionals. Are there opportunities to learn from each other?

Kathryn: Definitely! I have kept friendships with a couple of them and we call each other often to go over some features and how each one uses it, or help each other before actually calling the Help feature in Membee (out of respect for knowing that the staffers are working hard at new features). We all have our strong points and use different features for different reasons, it’s always nice to share best business practices with other experienced users.

Membee: Why is it beneficial for Membee users, new and old, to attend these users meetings?

Kathryn: You learn so much from other users on how they use Membee… You can learn about a feature that you wouldn’t normally use, but see the added perks and benefits after seeing how another user uses it.

To a new user the meeting may be a bit overwhelming at first, with so much information and brainstorming being thrown at you. But I've had people in the past tell me that at the User’s Meeting they felt overwhelmed over a certain feature and what we were all talking about, but then 6 months down the line after using Membee more and more it all clicked and made sense. So if it doesn’t seem relevant to you at the meeting, at some point down the road it will. New users can leave the meeting feeling way more confident and comfortable with the software then when they arrived.

Membee: If I wanted to join this group and consider attending the meeting, what’s my first step?

Kathryn: Go to our group’s Facebook page and put in a request to join. The conference event is on the Facebook page, you can register for it on that page.

Dates, Location & Hotel Info

What are the dates? Thursday June 1 and Friday June 2.

Location: Waterfront Downtown Burlington Hotel

Anything fun planned? Thursday night we always go out for dinner and then everyone is on their own. The hotel has a pool and workout room, stores are open until 9pm so there can be lots of shopping.

Membee Features Sparked at Past User Meetings

Chances are, a feature you use regularly in Membee had its beginnings at this meeting. Here are a few recent changes in Membee that came directly from the focus groups and discussions at the Membee User Meeting:

Save & Re-use Event Locations
Set the landing page for a the directory
Send a copy of an eBill to a different contact
Type ahead in the Organization field for event sales
Adding a Note to File each time the Status of a member changes
View event participation on both a contact person and their organization's record
Set the color on the online Event Calendar based on the event category
Including a link to an organization’s terms & conditions when a member stores a credit card via Card Vault
Enhanced ability to add images to event descriptions – you can choose if it's inline, left, right etc.
Adding the ability for an event to track maximum attendance

Previous User Meeting Blog Posts:

Breaking News As Largest Membee User Group Convenes

Guest Post: An Invitation From A Membee Users Group

This Membee Users Group Rocks!

Meet the Burlington Chamber

“Connecting People. Empowering Business”

Since 1947, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce has been the voice of business in Burlington, giving companies valuable resources and connections to help them grow and succeed.

They act as an advocate for local business, by creating opportunities for members, encouraging Burlington businesses to work with one another and providing educational resources for company development. Their focus is on local entrepreneurs in the Burlington, Hamilton and Halton area and helping to make the city a preferred place to do business.

The Chamber currently consists of over 1,000 businesses in Burlington and the surrounding area. They represent companies on all levels (local, regional, provincial and national) and have alliances with other Chamber groups, Boards of Trade, and the Ontario and Canadian Chambers. If you want to make Burlington a better place to live and work – join them today!

A Bit About Kathryn:

I will be celebrating my 13th year anniversary at the Burlington Chamber on February 9 but actually worked on contract the year before I started full time. I am the person responsible for the database and how it relates to our daily office operations. I am also the ‘go to’ person if any staff dealing with Membee is having difficulty understanding a feature as well as showing staff new features as a result of our User Meeting conferences.

I have been attending the user meetings since 2004 which have developed from an afternoon conference call with a Membee staff person to a full blown two day conference with Membee staff attending. I have been the organizer for the past 3 years. The group is amazing, with amazing people ready to help their peers at any moment either through the Facebook page or by phone or email which gives more time to the Membee staffers to develop even better features!