--- title: "Thursday Buzz: Unforced Errors Hurt the Most" id: "32866" type: "post" slug: "thursday-buzz-unforced-errors-hurt-the-most" published_at: "2016-04-07T19:42:11+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T16:47:28+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/04/07/thursday-buzz-unforced-errors-hurt-the-most/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/04/07/thursday-buzz-unforced-errors-hurt-the-most.md" excerpt: "The problem with unforced errors, and why you should be careful not to make any yourself. Also: Treat your member database like a garden." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AI" - "AssociationsNow" - "Communications" - "Leadership" - "Web Strategy" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Director" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Thursday Buzz: Unforced Errors Hurt the Most Like most folks, Idea Architects’ Jeffrey Cufaude doesn’t like wasting his time, and when he recently ran into a 404 error while attempting to take advantage of a hotel chain discount, he was a little miffed. But he found a lesson in the situation: Don’t commit unforced errors. Cufaude shared the story in [a recent blog post (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ideaarchitects.org/2016/04/avoid-unforced-errors.html) . The hotel chain, which he didn’t name, sent him a postcard highlighting the promotion but failed to make clear that the discount didn’t take effect until April 1, days after he received the postcard. That, Cufaude says, was a huge missed opportunity. “The hotel chain committed a major unforced error by inviting us to join a promotion not yet open,” [he wrote (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ideaarchitects.org/2016/04/avoid-unforced-errors.html) . “Perhaps the bulk rate postcard mailing arrived sooner than planned, but smart organizations anticipate unforced errors and act to avoid them.” That lesson, he added, should resonate with organizational leaders and others who don’t like screwing up. “I hate to lose. But I really hate losing when I essentially beat myself because of unforced errors,” Cufaude wrote. “We want to make other people beat us, losing because we encountered an opponent with superior skill.” ### Pull the Weeds > What do gardening and database management have in common? [https://t.co/vRVZcn0AD7 (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/vRVZcn0AD7) > [#assnchat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/assnchat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#nptech (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/nptech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [pic.twitter.com/6zYtPqL3q9 (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/6zYtPqL3q9) > > — Abila (@abila_inc) [April 7, 2016 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/abila_inc/status/718087451881897985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Looking to improve your database?** Approach the task like gardening, Abila’s [Erika May McNichol suggests in a post (opens in a new tab)](http://blog.abila.com/how-database-management-is-like-gardening/) summarizing a session at the company’s recent user conference. In his session “[How Database Management Is Like Gardening (opens in a new tab)](http://www.slideshare.net/JustinBurniske/how-database-management-is-like-gardening) ,” fusionSpan’s Justin Burniske explained that planning, planting, nurturing, and harvesting are all essential to effective database management. The nurturing process, in particular, is often forgotten, McNichol noted. “Nurturing the data through regular and repeated protocols and hygiene processes is easy to let fall by the wayside, especially during busy times of year,” she wrote. “Carve out small increments of time for you and your team to attend to your database and prune it to maintain optimum health.” ### Other Links of Note **You’ve got two job offers on the table?** Lucky you. But how do you decide? The investment company Fidelity has a useful online tool to evaluate different jobs. [Lifehacker explains how it works (opens in a new tab)](http://twocents.lifehacker.com/fidelity-s-job-offer-evaluator-helps-you-choose-between-1769379307) . **An intriguing controversy** in the association space is the push by the music industry [to update the Digital Millennium Copyright Act](http://associationsnow.com/2016/04/music-industry-time-update-digital-millennium-copyright-act/) . Startups are critical of the move, but does the industry have a point? [Pitchfork‘s Marc Hogan ponders the issue (opens in a new tab)](http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1088-heres-why-musicians-wont-stand-for-illegal-uploads-anymore/) , adding new wrinkles along the way. **If you’re looking to add something extra** to your digital advocacy campaigns, [Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog suggests a bunch of options (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2016/04/07/5-super-useful-digital-advocacy-tools-resources-for-nonprofits/) to look into. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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