Switching from one membership software platform to another can be a total pain, particularly because large amounts of data need to be converted.

Need some help understanding this process? The association management software firm Aptify has a useful guide discussing the ups and downs that associations can expect when going through it.

“While it’s an extremely detailed and carefully monitored job, there’s really no secrecy to it,” the company’s Jennifer Barrell explains. “Quite plainly, the goal is to move enough data into your new system so that when you go live on Day One you see the information you need to see to get your job done; to be able to produce the reports that you need; to be able to follow up with customers as you need.”

Barrell’s guide offers a series of tips for how to best convert your data, including what should be ready to go before you move forward and what shouldn’t get converted at all.

Imitators Allowed

Why innovation and imitation aren't mutually exclusive (from @FastCompany) https://t.co/tCoRwM06Ym

— Bill Sheridan, CAE, CPT (@BillSheridan) October 3, 2016

So, it’s inevitable: Your association has an idea, but some other organization borrows that idea. Liberally.

That scenario is particularly common in the tech world. Hootsuite founder and CEO Ryan Holmes gives the example of Instagram’s recent copying of Snapchat’s popular Stories feature, and he points out that it shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing for innovative firms. In fact, it’s an opportunity to kick things up a notch.

Holmes knows a thing or two about this: Hootsuite’s post-scheduling feature was copied by many of its competitors.

“Goaded on by the copycats, a good business has the potential to become a great one, to innovate further and faster than ever anticipated,” Holmes writes at Fast Company.

Other Links of Note

Should the CEO keep a time sheet? David M. Patt of Association Executive Management thinks so.

Just in time for the annual debate on #GivingTuesday to begin in earnest, nonprofit fundraising pro Marc A. Pittman has a thoughtful post on the phenomenon.

Facebook at Work is about to launch widely. Is it worth your association’s time? CIO highlights how one company, the PR firm Weber Shandwick, came to love the platform.

(iStock/Thinkstock)