--- title: "Daily Buzz: Tools for Getting Visual" id: "45405" type: "post" slug: "daily-buzz-tools-for-getting-visual" published_at: "2019-01-25T21:28:49+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T23:30:40+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/01/25/daily-buzz-tools-for-getting-visual/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/01/25/daily-buzz-tools-for-getting-visual.md" excerpt: "Plenty of tools out there could help give your visuals a boost—but they won’t completely replace the need for an actual designer. Also: Are web analytics bunk? Here’s what a former Reddit CEO had to say." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Digital Communication" - "graphic design" - "Technology" - "visual tools" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Daily Buzz: Tools for Getting Visual Communicating with your members is an increasingly visual endeavor—and getting visual requires having a mixture of skills, tools, and time. But what if you’re lacking in the skills or time departments? What if you just run a small chapter and resources are tight? [Fortunately, there are plenty of tools out there (opens in a new tab)](https://www.billhighway.co/article/chapter-tech-tools-for-creating-visual-content) that could help fill the gap. Over at Billhighway, writer Sarah Garrity highlights a series of graphical tools that came up at the firm’s recent Association Component Exchange. Among the highlights are [PowToon (opens in a new tab)](https://www.powtoon.com/) , an offering that allows people to easily create animated presentations; the web-based graphic design tool [Canva (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canva.com/) , which had multiple fans among attendees; and [Envato (opens in a new tab)](https://envato.com/) , a creative marketplace that sells professional, ready-made graphical components. But while these tools had their partisans, Garrity was quick to emphasize that they were not replacements for traditional designers. “Sometimes a tool can make a huge difference, as our CEX presenters demonstrated,” Garrity wrote. “But sometimes people expect technology to solve problems it can’t really solve.” ### Analytics Skepticism > Ellen Pao, the former CEO of [@Reddit (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/Reddit?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > , claims that most platforms “fake” their website analytics data to seem more popular than they truly are.[https://t.co/yJ0k9mOH8W (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/yJ0k9mOH8W) > [@ekp (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/ekp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [@Chronotope (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/Chronotope?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [@AmyVernon (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/AmyVernon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [@RivetzCorp (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/RivetzCorp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > @APGibson16 [@InfoTrustLLC (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/InfoTrustLLC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > @AlanISantillan @G2Crowd [@stevejweiss212 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/stevejweiss212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > — CMSWire.com (@cmswire) [January 25, 2019 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/cmswire/status/1088623767721512960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **How much trust should you put in web analytics?** Recently, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao called web analytics “fake,” which is a pretty provocative statement, to say the least. She noted that the problem came down to logged-out users. “No one has figured out how to count logged-out mobile users, as I learned at Reddit,” she [explained in a post-Christmas tweet (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/ekp/status/1078095527420383233?lang=en) last month. “Every time someone switches cell towers, it looks like another user and inflates company user metrics.” In response to the bold claim, [CMSWire dug in (opens in a new tab)](https://www.cmswire.com/analytics/ex-reddit-ceo-declares-website-analytics-fake/) and asked a variety of experts whether the claim was right or wrong—and not everyone agreed. Even if you think Pao’s comments don’t hold water, the discussion she created is interesting. ### Other Links of Note **A fresh sign that the tech world is changing?** Microsoft [just put Office on the Mac App Store (opens in a new tab)](https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-office-lands-on-the-mac-app-store/) . **PCMA’s *Convene*** has a useful thought exercise for event planners looking to move the needle on their conferences: [Think of your event as a person (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pcma.org/andrew-sykes-think-event-person-11th-habit/) . **Being nice may sound like the right thing to do,** but it can be quite costly, according to a recent American Psychological Association study. [Inc. has the details (opens in a new tab)](https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/is-being-nice-affecting-your-bank-account.html) . (azgek/iStock/Getty Images Plus) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Digital Communication](https://associationsnow.com/tag/digital-communication/) [#graphic design](https://associationsnow.com/tag/graphic-design/) [#Technology](https://associationsnow.com/tag/technology/) [#visual tools](https://associationsnow.com/tag/visual-tools/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: More Than Marketing: The Power of Strategic CommunicationsJuly 30, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/30/associations-now-presents-more-than-marketing-the-power-of-strategic-communications/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Why Slower Marketing Can Drive Stronger Member Engagement (Episode 27)June 25, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/06/25/associations-now-presents-why-slower-marketing-can-drive-stronger-member-engagement-episode-27/) - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2019%2F01%2F25%2Fdaily-buzz-tools-for-getting-visual%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !