Could this week get even better? It's St. Patrick's Day AND March Madness. I'm coming off an evening where I watched ESPN's 30 for 30 on "I Hate Christian Laettner" and was spurred to comment about the need to constantly pressure yourself to raise your game.We might all have colleagues that we don't like, but Laettner's point was it's not about liking, it's about performance and if that colleague gets you to play to a new level, then that's the best colleague you can have.

We're holding our own March Madness this week at HighRoad with the launch of a series of initiatives designed to help raise our collective game. While we don't work in the same association or company with you, we consider you a colleague--albeit virtual. There's nothing wrong with being virtual and sometimes, the very idea that you've got a colleague out there that has your back can give you the courage you need to be innovative. Similarly, as many of the opposing  players who had to go up against Laettner noted that the mere fact that Christian Laettner was out there in their mind's eye ready to come at them with all he had pushed up the level of preparation and play. 

We've been developing quite a few websites lately and I'm interested in hearing what others think about this long-held model of the Primary Navigation Bar. Developed originally as an area to provide a consistent pathway across a collection of content, the primary navigation bar became a staple feature of website best practices in the late 90s and frankly, not much has changed since.

Customers can now connect Abila netFORUM Enterprise to BlueHornet & HubSpot

HighRoad Solution today announced it has launched +Plus for Abila netFORUM on the Abila Marketplace, which is designed to provide nonprofits and associations with quick and easy access to tools and services to enhance their existing Abila products. The +Plus Automation line allows organizations to connect BlueHornet, a leading email marketing platform for deliverability and HubSpot, a leading inbound marketing platform to Abila netFORUM Enterprise. The +Plus Automation line allows organizations to easily build an integrated software ecosystem where data integrity is maintained and identity protection is paramount.

My industry colleague, David Martin of ERA, introduced me to the concept of R&D--rip off and duplicate. As an association exec, he has provided great insight into how pressed for time he is and how much pressure he's under to constantly produce perfection. With a career spent in companies constantly seeking the almighty hockey stick growth curve, I can certainly understand the need to repurpose and utilize templates and tools that will help me speed my pace.

Co-Founders David Caruso and Ronald McGrath Restructure HighRoad Solution to Meet Association Market Demands