Monday Buzz: 2018’s Biggest Tech and Demographic Trends

As we wrap up 2017 and speed toward 2018, it’s a good time to think about your organization’s technology. If you’ve fallen a little behind the curve, catching up with the latest tech best practices is a great New Year’s resolution.

The Capterra technology blog shares several key trends  (opens in a new tab) to be aware of to prepare for whatever next year brings.

Just as high-profile hackings made the news this year, there’s no reason to believe that web hackers won’t be up to the same cyberattacks next year. To keep all of your valuable data secure, be sure you’re encrypting your website. “It is important to move your website (if you haven’t already) from HTTP to HTTPS, which encrypts your website and all interactions taking place on it,” writes Nick Morpus.

Also, make sure you don’t lose out on any donors with antiquated donation methods. As checks become a thing of the past, make sure your mobile and desktop user experiences are seamless and easy to use. “Nearly half of millennials, gen X-ers, and boomers prefer to give solely through an organization’s website,” says Morpus. “This is a huge pool of electronic transactions alone without counting mobile donations from millennials and gen X-ers.”

Event Challenges

5. It’s easier to make excuses than to make change https://t.co/sbYvScYptC  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) #expochat  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/l8faiLH4Zz  (opens in a new tab)

— 360livemedia (@360LiveMedia) November 20, 2017  (opens in a new tab)

Why are some association events struggling lately?

360 Live Media explored the reasons behind recent failures  (opens in a new tab) using an interrogative technique called the “5 Whys,” and it came up with several root causes for event challenges.

One was that many events aren’t keeping up with changing attendee expectations. “We’ve seen disruption in every market sector,” writes Don Neal. “Your association event must at least be current, if not a step ahead of your industry.”

Other Links of Note

You’re probably already using Facebook and Twitter as part of your content marketing strategy. Forbes shares several reasons why you shouldn’t disregard LinkedIn  (opens in a new tab).

Donors are being generous this time of year. The Abila blog shares great ways to say thank you  (opens in a new tab).

You may think of Amazon’s Alexa as just a fancy alarm. But CMSWire says there are plenty of Alexa skills that are helpful for marketers  (opens in a new tab).

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