CEO’s Message

Progress Amidst Chaos: Advancing NMEDA’s Technology Initiatives

This missive is being composed right around the 4th of July. For a good little bit here we have all been living on COVID time…and it is decidedly different, that’s for sure. Sometimes it has felt like the time has absolutely crept by; on the other hand, how could time be creeping by when three months ago feels like three lifetimes? Strange days have found us, indeed. As of this writing, the NMEDA office’s home state of Florida has exploded with new cases, although thankfully hospitalizations and deaths have increased only slightly. But, just like last issue, I find myself rolling my eyes as I write—because I realize when you actually read this, likely early August, there is simply NO TELLING what the situation will be. The NMEDA staff has continued to work remotely, and I’m pleased to be able to report that we are making really good progress on several key initiatives. An update follows…

A New Website

I’ll start with the highest-profile effort we have underway, the development of a new website. This is no “lipstickBy Danny Langfield

Well, it has certainly been

an interesting three months since the last column I penned for this publication.

NMEDA CEO

on-a-pig” cosmetic makeover; we A New Member Portal mean an ALL new website—graphic The backend database engine that treatment, navigation, content—the associations run on is known as an works. Staff has been working with a AMS—Association Management member task force to ensure our new System. The AMS is where your web presence is intuitive, simple, clean company and individual member and professional. We are focusing profiles reside. It is also the home of on our three core constituencies: the training records and all the technology auto mobility industry, the buying used for event registration, audit public and our partners, a group that results and corrective actions, and includes allied health professionals, much, much more. It is essentially the organizations such as United Spinal equivalent of a dealer’s DMS. and PVA, and our friends in voc rehab We are bringing a disciplined approach to the new website: simple, clean, intuitive. We are aiming to go live on October 1.” “

and the VA. We are charting a clear navigational path for each group to ensure our targeted message and resources for each hits its mark.

Our current website actually has a tremendous amount of pretty good content, but over time the navigation has, quite frankly, spiraled out of control. We are bringing a disciplined approach to the new website: simple, clean, intuitive. We are aiming to go live on October 1; circumstances could conspire to thwart that goal (as we have seen), but that is our target, nonetheless. For many years NMEDA has utilized a custom AMS, and, as many of you know from painful, first-hand experience, it has…issues. So, a few months ago we signed a deal with a company called MemberSuite to license their off-the-shelf AMS, which will be integrated with the new website. While not nearly as public-facing as the new website, the AMS is arguably more important to our members, particularly in your everyday online interaction with the association. Much more to come on this, but suffice it to

say that transactions such as event registration, member profile changes, and most importantly, training records, are about to see a major improvement. Speaking of training records…

A New Learning Management System

The third leg of our online triple crown will be the new LMS. We signed a deal to replace our current solution, Brainshark, with a significantly more advanced system called Path, from Blue Sky eLearning. Among other benefits, Path features much better functionality and the ability to transmit course completion and assessment scores IMMEDIATELY to your member profile in the AMS.

Thanks to some favorable buyer’smarket conditions and the (unfortunately) significant expense

associated with keeping our current AMS limping along, we have been able to provide these upgrades for about the same cost of our current AMS/ LMS combo. And both products are serious improvements over the status quo. Win? Win. Now, will there be a learning curve? Yep. Can’t be helped. But it will definitely be worth it…

QAPx

Breaking news here…shortly before the magazine went to press, the NMEDA board of directors authorized the staff to enter into an agreement for the development of QAPx, the next-generation software solution for the digital administration of QAP. As those of you who attended the dealers-only forum at the conference are aware, NMEDA has been negotiating for many months with the Adaptive Driving Alliance on a deal to develop QAPx based on some of the core functionality of their DocuTrack app. Much more to come on this as well…

And that about wraps up the update. These days I occasionally wonder: Are we running a technology firm or a trade association here? But the truth is our association needed modernizing in these arenas, there is just no doubt about it. We are actively excited to share these upgrades with you, and I hope you’ll find a corresponding increase in the value of your NMEDA membership.