Conversation with David Kanter, SF Club Treasury
I spoke with David Kanter who, about a year ago, had researched alumni club platforms. He had decided against AlumniMagnet because of usability issues. He thought they looked promising and understood the value of the enterprise solution, but still had concerns about the front-end experience.
He said he had spoken to contacts at Harvard San Francisco who had some complaints. I am trying to get in touch with them to understand what their complaints are and see if its something we can address during implementation. He mentioned that Harvard had a top-down approach and some of the users feel it doesn't address their needs. Again, I'm trying to get confirmation of this from the source.
David was dissatisfied with the simple template. I think this will be a common complaint and the one major drawback of this decision. Because it is the one that individuals interact with most, it's something we're going to have to understand and address, while also providing the absolute best training around using the product to alleviate any concerns.
David thought the AlumniMagnet product might be too difficult to use for the non-technical. He prefers the WordPress interface, but he acknowledges there may be more compelling gains on the backend. He's excited about being able to send out his own emails and newsletters, but not convinced that's worth the inflexible design. He likes how in WordPress you can download a plugin and add new features as you wish. It's important to remember that this is an enterprise solution and we have to think about solving a solution for the entire alumni population.
He seemed interested in being a pilot, however I cautioned him that his group may be too demanding for a first instance and that he might rather wait for us to get a pilot club up where he can examine it from the inside and "kick the tires" as he said.
He said he had spoken to contacts at Harvard San Francisco who had some complaints. I am trying to get in touch with them to understand what their complaints are and see if its something we can address during implementation. He mentioned that Harvard had a top-down approach and some of the users feel it doesn't address their needs. Again, I'm trying to get confirmation of this from the source.
David was dissatisfied with the simple template. I think this will be a common complaint and the one major drawback of this decision. Because it is the one that individuals interact with most, it's something we're going to have to understand and address, while also providing the absolute best training around using the product to alleviate any concerns.
David thought the AlumniMagnet product might be too difficult to use for the non-technical. He prefers the WordPress interface, but he acknowledges there may be more compelling gains on the backend. He's excited about being able to send out his own emails and newsletters, but not convinced that's worth the inflexible design. He likes how in WordPress you can download a plugin and add new features as you wish. It's important to remember that this is an enterprise solution and we have to think about solving a solution for the entire alumni population.
He seemed interested in being a pilot, however I cautioned him that his group may be too demanding for a first instance and that he might rather wait for us to get a pilot club up where he can examine it from the inside and "kick the tires" as he said.
Leave a comment