Exploration Lab: Learning Innovation to Create Non-Dues Pathways, Products and Programs

Veronica Diaz, PhD, CAE, of EDUCAUSE and Tracy Petrillo, EdD, CAE, of California Association of School Business Officials shared their experiences on how to design an association-wide, community-centric learning strategy through a range of programs and services based on career competencies and workforce needs that also bring in needed revenue.

They encouraged associations to become more business savvy in their learning offerings. Events and education must make money, they said - they can’t all be a cost center. Associations need to think like a business as well as an educator.

One way to do this is to replicate a framework to develop modular content that can be reconfigured, personalized, monetized and marketed to various professional levels, audiences and delivery modes.

Learning leaders must create business models for their events that generate non-dues revenue, enhance member value through career-focused products, recognize all learning styles, develop your industry’s professional workforce, and expand partnerships with educational institutions like colleges and universities.

Above all, it can’t be about filling a room - it must provide value and applicable learning that can be taken back to the job. A few of the new ways to explore doing just that include:

• Short, focused learning
• Audience- or role-specific education
• Competency-based content
• Cohort driven sessions
• Timed, sequenced offerings
• Bundled products and services
• Face-to-face social networking

Through these re-envisioned programs, you’ll create relevant education today that helps your profession tomorrow.