Speaker's Corner: Beth Ziesenis

 

As we lead up to the AAMSE Annual Conference, the AAMSE Blog will be featuring sneak previews of the speakers and presentations from the 2014 conference program by welcoming Annual Conference speakers as guest bloggers in the AAMSE Blog's "Speaker's Corner".



Automated Efficiency: Three Tech Tools that Do the Work for You
 
Guest Blogger: Beth Ziesenis
General Session: A Day in the Life of an Association Nerd
                            Saturday, August 2, 8:40 - 9:30 AM

How much time do you spend on tiny little tasks that eat into your work time? A recent study of programmers found that each time he is interrupted, it takes 10-15 minutes to get back to work, and rarely does he have more than 2 hours in a row of uninterrupted time.

Sound familiar? Association executives don’t necessarily write computer code, but we do face the same types of problems with tasks that take us away from the real work we’re paid to do.

Even though technology has become one of our major distractions (have you checked Facebook at work today?), apps and tech tools also offer relief from distractions by taking care of little tasks for us.

1.     IFTTT

IFTTT stands for “if this then that….” The free service lets you create tiny recipes that automate little tasks you do on a regular basis.

·       IF a member tags our association in a picture on Twitter, THEN download that picture to a Dropbox file.

·       IF we mark a YouTube video as a favorite, THEN automatically create a post on our blog.

·       IF a member of the board of directors sends me an email, THEN send me a text so I know to check it.

·       IF it’s going to rain tomorrow, text me at 7 a.m.

You can create dozens of automating recipes by connecting your cloud services and social media logins to your IFTTT account.

IFTTT is a web-based service as well as an iPhone app.

2.     TalkTo

Have you ever driven to three office supply stores to see if they had the right color cardstock for your board book covers? Let technology do the legwork for you with TalkTo. TalkTo lets you write questions to businesses and receive the answers via your device, without getting into the car or onto the phone. If the business is not a member of TalkTo, a representative will actually make the call for you and text you back.

TalkTo is available online as well as iOS and Android devices.

3.     TripIt

We’ve all gotten into a taxi at the airport and drawn a blank when the driver says, “Where to?” because our hotel reservation is buried in the email. TripIt solves this problem by automatically organizing all your travel reservations into one location. The cool thing is that all you have to do to get organized is to forward your reservation confirmations to plans@tripit.com, and TripIt does the organizing for you by trip and date. When you open TripIt on the road, you’ll see your confirmation numbers, addresses, phone numbers and even weather forecasts for your destinations.

TripIt is available on all major mobile operating systems as well as online.

Beth Ziesenis, aka Your Nerdy Best Friend, is an author, speaker and full-time nerd. Named a Favorite Speaker by both MeetingsNet and Meetings & Conventions magazines, Beth Z speaks to 60+ associations and other organizations a year. Her latest book, Release Your Inner Nerd: Apps, Tech Tools and Tips to Get Organized, Get Creative and Get Ahead, is available from Amazon.com and other online retailers.

Attend Beth's presentation at the 2014 AAMSE Annual Conference; registration opening soon! visit www.aamse.org/ac for more information.