NOTES FROM THE ASSOCIATION SECTOR
Photography, iMIS, WordPress, SharePoint, and what running an association's own systems from the inside actually taught me. Field notes from real projects, not theory.
What to actually wear for a professional headshot
The most common question before a headshot session isn’t about lighting or location. It’s “what should I wear?” Here’s the honest answer, and it’s simpler than most people expect.
The post that got the most engagement wasn’t the one I expected
Dear reader, Nine articles into this blog, I went back and looked at which ones actually got read, shared, and commented on. I expected the technical pieces to win, the SharePoint governance...
Why your iMIS renewal reminders aren’t actually working
Dear reader, Most associations don't have a renewal problem. They have a renewal reminder problem, and the two get treated as the same thing far too often. The reminder that goes to everyone the...
Why your SharePoint intranet turned into a digital filing cabinet
Dear reader, Most SharePoint intranets start well. There's a proper launch, staff get shown around, someone spends real effort getting the structure right. Then, gradually, it becomes the place...
Why nobody’s updated your WordPress site since it launched
Dear reader, Quick question: when did you last actually look at your own website? Not check it loads, actually click through it the way a visitor would, follow a link, try the contact form, check...
What To Do When Your iMIS Partner Can’t Move Fast Enough
Dear reader, You've got a specialist iMIS partner, and for the big things, a re-implementation, a major integration, a genuine platform overhaul, that's exactly the right call. But somewhere between...
What platform lock-in actually costs an association
Dear reader, Imagine this: your website needs a small update, a new board member's bio, a broken link fixed, nothing dramatic. But the person who built the site is long gone, nobody on staff can log...
What building an association’s intranet taught me about institutional knowledge
Dear reader, A few years ago, as IT Manager at a leading association, I designed and built an intranet spanning 30 connected sites. From the outside, that's a technical project. Site structure,...
Why Your Board Photo Is Quietly Undermining Your Annual Report
Dear reader, For a small non-profit, the board photo in your annual report is often the closest thing funders, grant panels, and members get to actually seeing who's running the organisation....
The member journey nobody maps until it breaks
Dear reader, Someone joins, pays, gets a confirmation email, and then... nothing. Silence for the better part of a year, until a renewal notice lands in their inbox asking them to pay again. Members...
Governance by committee: why digital projects need a different kind of scoping
Dear reader, A few years into my time as IT Manager at a peak body, we went to market for a new intranet. Behind the scenes it was a genuine mess: file shares everywhere, no consistency, and a small...