When organisations think about failed technology projects, they often blame the software vendor. From my experience, though, it is rarely the technology that is to blame. More than twenty years ago, I worked on my first major IT project for a government department. Two years later, we went live on time and on budget. By the usual measures, it looked like a successful project. But to meet that schedule, major…

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Choosing a conference destination isn't only about finding a room big enough for delegates. Associations are weighing delegate experience, sponsorship potential, and a venue with future-ready technology that can help them tell their story and bring their overall vision to life. It's a demanding brief, and increasingly, associations are finding the answer at

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Many associations start their technology search with a feature list: more insightful reporting, easier renewals, and better events management. However, technology bought without a clear view of organisational strategy rarely delivers what it promised. The Association Management System (AMS) works, but it doesn't move your association forward, because there wasn’t a clear plan of what moving ‘forward’ actually looks like. Associations…

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The 2026 Board Effectiveness Survey, released by OnBoard, asked 531 governance professionals across six industries how AI has entered their board process. In the past six months, 92% of directors used AI for board work, up from 69% a year earlier. Only 6% sit on a board with an enforced policy covering that use. For association and not-for-profit boards the gap tends to be wider. Directors are often member-elected volunteers…

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Our Cat Herder has released version history for minutes, so a board secretary can open or restore an earlier wording of a meeting's minutes without keeping copies outside the portal. Minutes are rarely written once. They are drafted during the meeting, tidied up afterwards, refined…

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Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), in partnership with Meet Geelong & The Bellarine and Associations Forum, recently hosted a famil…

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Associations Forum National Conference 2026 has made history as the first ever show to open at Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre, Victoria's newest business events venue on the Geelong waterfront. Delivering the exhibition build was long-standing partner Moreton…

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Annual conferences are more than a date on the calendar, they are where members connect, knowledge is shared and industries move forward. For associations looking to create meaningful delegate experiences, the right venue is a partner in achieving those outcomes. When Australia’s insurance industry gathered for the 2026 Steadfast Convention, the

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Our Cat Herder has released User Groups, a feature that lets associations run their subcommittees in the same portal as the board, at no extra cost. Most associations run a finance or audit committee alongside the board, and often a working party or two. Each has its own meetings, papers…

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The Australian surveying and spatial sciences sector is at a critical juncture. As chronic the skills shortage threatens to bottleneck major infrastructure, housing and construction pipelines, industry and professional bodies are stepping up their interventions. In a bid to safeguard the profession’s capacity, Surveyors Australia has recently intensified its advocacy efforts on two major fronts: pushing back against restrictive…

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ARCS Australia, the peak body for clinical and regulatory professionals, has formally rebranded as LifeSciences Australia. Section 1. Why LifeSciences AustraliaOver more than 40 years, ARCS has grown well beyond its origins as a training and education body for regulatory and clinical specialists. Today, we support professionals across the entire life sciences sector — from early research through regulation,…

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