It's that time of year. Ahhh yes, November when the leaves begin to turn and fall, holiday preparations and family plans are being discussed, breaking out the warm attire begins and of course it's the annual Blackbaud Conference for Non Profits - this is either my 7th or perhaps 8th time that I am making this visit. I think after 10 years they name a DLL or a process after you, so like Bill Murray in Caddyshack when discussing his reward from the Dalai Lama, I got that to look forward to. Of course I'm looking forward to seeing some great friends I have had the good fortune to make over the years and then there is the PACKING challenge. In all the time I've traveled to Charleston I try to see how little I can get away with packing for the 3 days, which hasn't always worked out.
One year I had to purchase some Blackbaud shirts as I miscalculated or did I slurp one too many oysters and stain a shirt? Last year I made the tactical mistake of not bringing a coat and it ended up being the coldest week ever. I swear I saw snow falling in the morning - but then again there were many mornings I was a bit bleary eyed thanks to the engaging and non stop energy attending a Blackbaud session such as this can provide.
This year however will be a little different for me, this year besides looking at the forecast, I will be attending the conference as a representative of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and NOT the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). Why is this different? and I should be clear, different does not mean bad different or good different, different in this case is related to the scope of service which the two organization has chosen Blackbaud to partner with. CBF followed the same rule of thumb my friends at Navy Alumni used, if Blackbaud made it we bought it. NWF on the hand only has a limited engagement with their Raiser's Edge (RE) product. RE is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) component both organizations use to manage key members and it's only used for a small segment of NWF 4 million membership.
I was fortunate during my 10 years at CBF to not only witness the Blackbaud product line grow and take off as it has to encompass a great many needs of non-profits but also help guide and be part of that development by taking an active role in various early adopter programs and review panels on first versioning of Blackbaud's software solutions.
NWF is much different in that there are already well placed teams and high capacity systems in place that have established the collection of data and the flow which in turn created partnerships with other competitors in the direct marketing field like Merkel. My level of influence along with my understanding of the work flow on this front is still at it's early stages. The history of the process and and what makes up the volume is also at its infancy as it's only been 6 months being in the role of lead Technologist. Was I surprised that Blackbaud had reached out and asked me to participate in a Direct Marketing Panel discussion titled: The Challenges and Successes of Managing an Advanced, Integrated Marketing Strategy and in this case representing NWF? Oh, yes I most certainly was - while I was happy to have the opportunity it was clear I was not treading in unfamiliar territory.
Back in April I had the good fortune to do something similar in Boston at the Target Analytics session as part of CBF and Amelia Koch the CBF Director of Membership was with me answering the tough Marketing questions. I won't have that safety net this time even though Amelia was also invited to be on this current panel along with Misty Thornton from Heifer International I have to admit I'm a bit nervous now, before I could speak to a great many topics as I knew the CBF organization inside and out. Not the case with NWF.
So now that I have the panel questions in hand I have two tacts to take: take the opportunity to spend the next week trying to immerse myself in all things Direct Marketing related to the NWF organization or . . . and it's a gamble but here it is: focus instead on where I see the organization moving forward on the Direct Marketing front and not worry about stats and what NWF has done in the past.
So to recap -
- November, good month, leaves, turkey, family.
- Charleston, look at the forecast, pack accordingly this time, try to save brain cells and liver.
- Blackbaud conference, excited to see many friends and partners, maybe even a Baudcast.
- Direct Marketing Panel, speaker, pray, shoot from the hip - ask questions later.
I pitched them the idea of me participating in a more technical track but noooooo. It's OK, really. But fair warning - I'm bringing all my product flair. Can't be seen only wearing the RE and Speaker flair on my name badge, I have a reputation to protect. Chucktown, here I trek!
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