NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011 - (Page 22)

MeMBersHIP NEWS Moving Forward with IMPak NSBE Magazine sat down recently with Njemile a. (“NJ”) crawley, director of Membership and registration, to discuss NSBE’s new membership system, iMpak, which is short for integrated Membership package. crawley informed us how things have changed with the system and how it’s helping NSBE move forward. NSBE: To start, what happened to NOL, and how did we choose IMPak? NJ: NSBE Online (NOL) was a tool that served NSBE well for nearly eight years with its capacity to move NSBE significantly into the Internet Age. Over time, however, NSBE’s growth demanded functionality that NOL was no longer able to provide. It was time to move toward a standard system that was scalable to NSBE’s growing and changing needs. IMPak was chosen as a result of several iterations of identifying and prioritizing design requirements, matching them and our budget to over 20 vendors, and working with a cross-functional NSBE leadership team to identify the best solution for NSBE now and in the future. NSBE: So if IMPak was the best fit, why wasn’t everything perfect from day one? NJ: This is a great question, and there are a few reasons (why IMPak still isn’t perfect). The biggest is that IMPak is an off-the-shelf product for associations in general. NSBE is a very unique organization in the way we structure and mobilize chapters, our board’s hands-on approach, and other operating processes. NSBE defines what we do, and IMPak is modified to do it. Sometimes, however, the developers get it wrong, or it affects another part of the system that NSBE didn’t expect. While the developers do thorough testing, they don’t understand all of our business cases and scenarios. Some of the challenges made it difficult for members to renew their memberships, particularly with the conversion 22 • nsbe magazine • fall 2011 from NOL. We believe that this contributed to the decline in membership numbers for the first time in nearly five years. I want members to know…that their accounts are still intact. Simply e-mail membership@nsbe. org if you are not able to retrieve your password online. Over the past year, we have worked diligently to identify sources of problems along with opportunities to continue to enhance the system. What we like about IMPak is its flexibility to build on its system to create solutions to our problems. NSBE: Is that what happened at Convention? Why were there such long lines at Registration this year? NJ: This is exactly what happened. The Annual Convention is NSBE’s largest revenue generator and single-handedly garners more attendance and attention than any other event we manage. While IMPak is designed to handle the volume of participants and sponsors, some of the structures of our Onsite Registration processes that worked well in NOL were not the right fit for IMPak. NSBE: So what happens now? What can we expect for Year 2 of IMPak and beyond? NJ: You can expect IMPak to continue to be a work in progress. Most of the initial release software bugs, as is normal for software, have been worked out, so you can join or renew your membership with ease, register for events, apply for scholarships, and post your resume and apply for jobs! What we’re focusing on now is finalizing and load-testing the changes to our Onsite Registration model before the end of the summer, along with other developing enhancements that members and sponsors have been asking for! IMPak is ultimately a tool that our readers use, and we want the experience to be simple and straightforward for them. Therefore, we expect IMPak to continue to get better and grow with NSBE! ■ www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011
Contents
The Next Level
Achievement Finds an Ally
Leadership, Your Way
The Programs Zone
Dr. Philicity Williams of the National Security Agency
Chapter News
Membership News
International News
NSBE Advisor Makes History
Pack Out Pittsburgh!
Empowered by Vision
Top Officers
St. Lucian Students Thrive at IIT
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
SEEKing Excitement for STEM
What’s New?
NSBE Calendar
The Professional’s Perspective
Shifting to Renewables for Electric Power
Alumni Officers
The Japan Effect
AE Members on the Move
Golden Torch Honoree
‘Brother Founder’ Donates $100K to NSBE
XL’ent!
Building Successful AE Chapters
Advertisers Index

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011