Behind the Scenes: Building a More Connected SEAOC Experience
By John Bwarie, Executive Director, SEAOSC; Heather Caya, Executive Officer, SEAOCC/SD; and Krystinne Mica, Executive Director, SEAOC
Over the past few months, many of our conversations across SEAOC and the Member Organizations (MO) have centered on a simple question: how can we make it easier for members to engage, participate, and access everything their membership offers, no matter where they are in California? Each of our MOs already provide thoughtful, high-quality programs and strong local connections. As we’ve worked more closely together through discussions on what SEAOC can look like in the future, we’ve seen an opportunity to better link our efforts so the overall experience feels more connected and intuitive statewide.
Much of that work has been happening behind the scenes. Together, we’ve been planning and preparing for a transition to a shared association management system (AMS), Novi AMS, a common platform that will support membership, event registration, communications, and reporting across SEAOC and the MOs. While a technology transition may not always be visible day to day, it has required a great deal of collaboration and coordination among our teams.
As we’ve moved through the planning process, we’ve taken time to understand how each MO currently operates and what matters to our members. That has meant mapping out workflows, comparing processes, and talking through everything from event registration to renewals and communications. In many cases, we’ve found that we share the same goals, just with slightly different approaches. Identifying those commonalities has helped us determine where shared tools can simplify the experience while still having each MO maintain its local character and flexibility.
From the MO perspective, these conversations have been especially helpful in stepping back and looking at the member experience more holistically. How easy is it to find an event? How many steps does it take to become a member or renew membership? Where do continuing education credits live? These are small interactions individually, but together they shape how connected and supported members feel. Having a common system gives us the chance to streamline those touchpoints and make participation more straightforward.
At the statewide level, the focus has been on building a stronger foundation that supports everyone’s work. Shared systems allow us to exchange information more easily, reduce duplicate administrative effort, and spend less time recreating the same processes in multiple places. The goal is to free up time and staff energy so that volunteers and staff can focus on programming, relationships, and technical leadership. As this transition moves forward, members will gradually begin to see the benefits in practical ways: a single login and renewal process, a clearer view of events happening across the state, and simpler ways to register and track professional development activities. Behind the scenes, those same tools will help us collaborate more effectively across MOs and create a more consistent, welcoming experience for both new and longtime members.
The local experiences that define each MO will always matter, and this work is designed to support them, not replace them. By strengthening the infrastructure underneath, we’re creating more room for each MO to do what it does best while making it easier for members to connect with opportunities statewide. We’re proud of the progress so far and grateful for the partnership across our organizations that has made it possible, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build this next chapter together.
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