3 technology trends for associations in 2012
Everyone is talking about social media and mobile apps for associations. The bad news: in 2012, no one is going to stop talking about these two social technology phenomena. The good news: there are several more technological trends people will be discussing in addition to social media and mobile apps, such as…
1. “Green” IT solutions. Virtualization, cutting back on printing and e-recycling were among ways discussed as eco-friendly ways to work efficiently at the ASAE technology conference in December. As people move to the cloud, the need for physical servers decreases, making virtualization not only a “green” alternative, but one that is staying in line with the technological wave.
Many organizations already are scaling back printing conference materials and publications, opting instead for electronic versions, to cut costs. These are green as well as technology trends that groups are now employing. Other green/technology trends include scanning to email, and storing documents virtually so that users can access them from mobile device.
2. Mobile payments. Some associations are just now accepting Web payments, only to hear that the new trend is to accept payments via mobile devices. As people use their iPads for more business functions, it is important for associations to be able to receive mobile payments. There are many vendors who can help develop this capability, or organizations may choose simpler solutions, such as Google wallet.
3. Geolocation apps. In addition to geolocation apps being able to generate awareness of association events and conferences, these apps can have other implications in the association community. There have been discussions around the possibility of using geolocation apps to tag ideas to locations in which they’d like to see them implemented.
