by Aubrey Mellos | Nov 14, 2016 | Blog
Every day, each of us makes many decisions on how we spend our time and money. Some of these decisions require careful consideration and can take weeks or months, while others happen almost unconsciously, based on a feeling of comfort, expectations and trust.
All organizations, regardless of mission are in the business of attracting consumers to their brand and hoping that over time these people will have increasing loyalty and investment. That investment can be through a purchase or one’s actions. They are our members or stakeholders, channel partners, franchisees, or even people within our organization.
The question is; how can we influence potential customers, so making a choice to invest in us is an intuitive and easy decision?
I pose this question with a specific challenge in mind. My company helps clients provide, and in many cases monetize, online education through a learning management system (LMS). Our client organizations dedicate a significant amount of resources in their learning platforms and development of content, banking on the notion that if we build it they will come… and spend money. However, while knowledge cuts to the core of what attracts people to these organizations; expectations for participation are often not met. We find that some are having success while others are more challenged. When you look more closely at the reasons for this, you find that participation in one’s education offering has more to do with organization strategy than a learning strategy.
Where Community Comes in
Over the past several years, we are witnessing a movement towards open, transparent dialogue and sharing of ideas through social media and other means. This represents a profound shift for groups in their quest to build a following. It moves them from creating and directing to facilitating and empowering. A tangible way we see this happening is through significant growth of private online communities where conversations occur under the identity of a sponsoring organization. An online community changes the paradigm and invites dialogue. It also provides an on-boarding strategy to welcome new participants and break down social barriers which often lead to greater participation.
Private Communities and Online Education
As private online communities have evolved, these platforms have been created as separate and distinct areas within an organization’s Web presence. An organization’s LMS is typically in a different area therefore creating two, unique silos for community engagement and learning. Idea sharing happens in one area, while people enrolling and connecting through webinars, courses, listening to Podcasts or collaborating in a workshop happen somewhere else. This separate existence can cause fragmentation and a slowdown of momentum. Just like in other parts of society, social, community and learning go together.
Participation in learning calls for an investment.
People will resist that structure if they are not comfortable. Community cultivates comfort to make these decisions more intuitive.
LMS as a Component of Community
If our participants are already invested in a destination where they participate and share strategies and ideas about real life experiences, why would we disconnect them from where they go and move them somewhere else to start over? In a sense, this is what we do when we create a partition between private communities and our Learning Platforms. In contrast to this, a more effective approach is when the LMS is a component to a community building on the existing relationships and patterns of engagement?
Our Work with Higher Logic
Over the past year, CommPartners and Higher Logic have collaborated about bringing together our two platforms to support the ideas shared in this post. Our initial efforts have been directed to create the HL Learn Online Academy where online training is embedded within the HUG Community and leverages the relationships that are supported through this outstanding resource. We believe this is the ideal way to showcase the many benefits that occur when learning is a component of community.
Richard Finstein
CEO, CommPartners
rfinstein@commpartners.com
If you have questions or would like more information on the CommPartners – Higher Logic initiative you may email info@commpartners.com
by Aubrey Mellos | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog
You know what’s almost as delicious as Thanksgiving dinner? Designing an LMS. Ok wait, that metaphor doesn’t really work. How about this, planning a Thanksgiving dinner may provide some insights in developing an engaging, impactful, and delicious…ok, maybe not delicious…learning management system.
The presentation of the Thanksgiving dinner typically includes many different dishes, colors and textures. Yes the turkey is a centerpiece, however when you view the buffet or dinner table it becomes a component of a what is typically a large display of the ridiculously generous spread of appetizers, side dishes and desserts that accompany said turkey that gives Thanksgiving its truly festive feel. In fact many people will say they enjoy the side items the most.
In designing an LMS, consider that the items you have put the most effort into, courses, webinars, conferences, etc., represent the turkey. They’re some of the LMS’s major selling points, and you wouldn’t have the LMS without them. However similar to the side items and desserts at our Thanksgiving dinner, LMS’s can be created to provide a blend of different experiences that “make the meal.” These might be in the form of blogs, Podcasts, peer to peer learning, polls, and resource libraries. This blend makes our LMS feel less like a stagnant website and more like a real learning community, where there is always something interesting and current to participate in.
So, after this year’s Thanksgiving meal, whether you’re satisfied or uncomfortably full, think about what “side dishes” you could add to your LMS to make the user experience more fulfilling and engaging.
by Aubrey Mellos | Aug 10, 2015 | News
(Columbia, MD – August 10, 2015) CommPartners, a leader in online learning and events, is pleased to announce the launch of Event Producer, our second education platform from the Elevate Learning Management Suite.
Event Producer was designed specifically to build community and engagement through live and on-demand webinar programs. The platform integrates with a client’s database, content management system, branding and merchant services to provide a seamless experience for both the host organization and its participants. Processing of continuing education credits through assessment, survey and certificate components are included.
Benefits for Webinar Hosts
- Integrated Web Conferencing: Event Producer comes with web conferencing eliminating the need for an external license.
- Project Plans: Hosts are supported by integrated project plans that manage all the details for each webinar. The platform provides timelines leading up to an event and will notify host and presenters when tasks are due.
- Relevancy to Each Member of Your Community: Tag content based on interest areas or roles and promote those programs to subsets of your community.
Benefits for Participants
- Event Forums: As soon as a participant registers they can engage other registrants and the presenters through interactive discussions before and after the event. A one hour webinar becomes several weeks of peer sharing and social learning.
- Pre Event Polls: Polls before the event provides the presenter a sense of where the audience is to produce a more relevant and informative event.
- Access to a Library of Events: All upcoming and past events are available through a participant’s dashboard.
Rich Finstein, CEO of CommPartners, shared, “We realized through our years of producing online events that clients were looking for a more effective platform for webinars and other live programs. Event Producer delivers a true social learning environment, integrating expert content with peer ideas and experiences. We believe it’s the perfect way to engage a new generation of learners.”
For more information, please visit www.commpartners.com or email info@commpartners.com
About CommPartners
CommPartners provides online education and event services to the association community. The company‘s mission is focused on providing a well-planned and intelligent approach to sharing of knowledge, with a core focus on creating positive user experiences. Over 1,300 organizations have selected CommPartners to manage their eLearning programs. The CommPartners team is diverse, but together they share a common passion: to be strategic thinkers, dedicated to advancing a client’s mission through exceptional education programs.
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by Aubrey Mellos | Jun 17, 2015 | Blog
There are so many AMS offerings available. Most of us know the companies serving the association community. Names like: Abila, Personify, iMIS, Aptify, Association Anywhere and Protech, to list a few. Why is integration with these systems and others so critical to the success of an association’s learning management system (LMS)? After all, AMS integration done well will go completely unnoticed by the end-user. It is, if you will, the “unsung hero” of learning management systems – and this is why we at CommPartners have worked to ensure that our Learning Platform, Elevate, can be integrated with any AMS. Though the benefits of integration are not necessarily seen, they are very much felt. Here are some of the benefits:
Personalization – Cutting Through the Noise
If a learner is signed in with appropriate credentials to your AMS through your website, they are signed into Elevate. AMS integration allows for seamless movement with the proper access and credentials. In Elevate, this means the user will be greeted by name and is provided designated content, pages, rates, and their history; all keyed on their member record.
Relevancy – Building a Unique Experience
Through integration, specific content is presented to a learner based on their member-role, position, location, etc. Integration also allows an admin to display specific pricing based on the user’s role (ex. member v. non-member, student, faculty, seniors). Automatic authentication also provides for an added level of security and privacy – relevant content can be created to display specifically to a user group, or limited to a specific role or status. Additionally, every user has a home dashboard, which allows him/her to easily track their work within Elevate.
Reporting – Made Easy
Finally, AMS integration provides for ease in reporting. Elevate provides 30+ unique reports admins can run to gather data and receive feedback on member and product activity. This information is available through Elevate’s API to be pulled by the AMS.
If you have questions regarding your specific AMS or how it can integrate with our learning management system, Elevate, please reach out to Eve Finstein at efinstein@commpartners.com.
By: Eve Finstein, Elevate Project Manager
