Mark your calendars for June 30th because it's time for our Q2 Client Innovation Call! We call Q2 the Marathon Quarter because of the sheer number of activities, projects and events that we've completed.

Big Observations for Q2

The biggest thing we noticed during Q2 is the emphasis on reporting and the need for better member insights. You guys have spoken and asked us hard questions such as "Why is it so hard to get data together in one place so it's actionable?".  We also heard time and time again that organizations are under pressure to have a deeper understanding of their members so that experiences can be personalized. It seems like we're finally at an inflection point where we're willing to stop mass mailing and really take on contextual marketing.

Josh Paul from Socious (at left in photo) led DC's HubSpot User Group last night in a discussion on how to incorporate HubSpot's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool into marketing and sales operations.

When you hear the term Excel Macros, your eye may twitch a little bit. But trust me, using this simple ... almost magical trick will make your bounce log analysis in BlueHornet super-easy. 

Last week I was at ASAE's MMCC 2015, which is starting to gather numbers large enough to put it squarely on the list of Important Annual Conferences Not to Miss. With over 1,000 attendees, this was the biggest MMCC ever, but as Dave Martin's event wrap-up blog notes, the conference has lots of areas for improvement (don't we all?). 

Yay for Friday, association marketers! In honor of ASAE's MM&C Convention this week, here's your usual list of association and marketing advice, news and assets, with a little extra MMCC flavor.

Monday Buzz: How Big Is Your Crowd, Really? Soon, we may be able to gauge crowd/event atttendance size just by using smartphone data. Super cool and could be a game changer for you event marketers. From Associations Now (by the way, you should be checking their site at least once a week to keep up with association news). 

The homemade ice cream at HighRoad's booth (from Love N Faith Cafe) went over pretty well with these ladies.

Did you miss ASAE's 2015 Marketing, Membership & Communications Conference? Well, you're one of the few who did. With a record attendance of more than 1,000 association employees, every session was standing room only, and it was commonplace to see people crouched on the floor taking notes.

Here are a few highlights from the conference.