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Four "W"s and "H" More About Us Because we are a knowledge-sharing association, we want you to know all you care to know about AOK. But we realize you may not want to know as much as we're telling you. Therefore this section is organized with underlined anchors at the top of the page so you can go quickly to the topics that matter most to you. That, by the way, is the way we organize all our longer documents. If you've already heard enough, join now. Otherwise, you can read on, or skip to the subject you want by clicking on the topic below: Since we are a Mom 'n' Pop organization, we have developed a personal environment in which we can all just be ourselves. In the following bios, please notice that we call ourselves founder and webmaster first; chief executive and chief of operations second. And, we're not officers (CEO and COO). We think command and control titles, like the hierarchies that created them, are holdovers from the military/industrial past and Jerry encourages his clients to think about using new titles like Chief Knowledge Leader (CKL) when titling the position of the new executive whose job it is to facilitate, not command, knowledge sharing. Jerry Ash Jerry is a lifelong communicator whose experience has included a broad spectrum of advocacy and leadership roles including university professor, editor, publisher, author, state senator, hospital public relations director, CEO of a state hospital association, and executive director of an organ donor organization. In every role, he has been an innovator and agent of change. Jerry's books, Next Generation Knowledge Management, are off the press; the books are based on discussions with visiting luminaries who have served as guest moderators of the STAR Series. There are three volumes in the series. He is internationally known as a pioneer in the emerging new business strategy of knowledge or intellectual asset management and is one of the E-100 global leaders recognized by Entovation International, pioneers in innovation. His articles and opinions have been published in Communications World, Knowledge, Inc., Computer World, CIO Canada, Association Management and the i3 Update of the UK. Jerry uses information technology by teaming with IT professionals and focuses on information content and application as the centerpiece of the business process for the Knowledge Age. People, he insists, are the basis of all knowledge; computers the great enablers. He is founder and (until now) moderator of the Association KM (Knowledge Management) Network. He also is managing editor for Inside Knowledge Magazine where he writes reports and also pens a column. During six years as CEO of the Nevada Hospital Association, he led the turnaround of the organization. As executive director of LifeGift organ donor centers in Texas, he teamed with its technology-wise employees to build the first-of-its-kind 24-hour communications network connecting 180 voluntary hospitals from the Gulf Coast to the Texas Panhandle and increasing organ referral by 20 percent and tissue referral by 300 percent in the startup year. Jerry holds bachelors and masters degrees in journalism from West Virginia University. Michele Ash Michele has been Jerry's "partner" for nearly 37 years; first as writer-editor for Jerry's country weekly newspaper; then, graphic designer in the printing company he co-owned. Later she handled many of his constituents' requests while he was a state senator. For the past 12 years she has been deeply involved in Jerry's consulting career and has been a behind-the-scenes force in the launch of the Association KM Network which led to the formation of AOK. In the process, she moved from ink to pixels, designing and maintaining KM-Net and AOK web sites. Meanwhile, she is an entrepreneur in her own right. For 23 years she has been a graphic designer for her own company, Associated Professional Services. With clients in eastern, mid-western and western states, she was a "virtual employee" 12 years before the term was even heard of. Her clients are largely in the healthcare and association fields and she has considerable experience in collaborating on meetings and convention management for associations. She holds a bachelors degree in journalism and one of her courses was taught by an excellent professor by the name of Jerry Ash. Heard
enough? Then join AOK now. As counselor to association management, Jerry harped on the belief that associations of the future must be more than the "meet and eat" societies of the past; that their lock on knowledge and information is broken in a "wired world," and that associations must become vital, value adding partners for their members . . . virtually. In developing the new business model for Knowledge Age associations, AOK has become mostly virtual. Heard
enough? Then join AOK now. Associations always materialize out of a need. The vast majority of the tens of thousands of associations in the world were born and nurtured at the kitchen table, with dedicated volunteers surrounding a single dreamer who believed in the cause. And they succeeded because they were supported by hundreds of thousands of association members who eventually confirmed that need. In turn, many of these associations matured into small businesses with paid staff, but the grassroots nature of associations rarely disappeared. So, why is AOK needed? The evolution of KW is (some are surprised) over 40 years old. Peter Drucker first coined the phrase "knowledge work" in 1960 and began referring to those who perform knowledge work as "knowledge workers." KM, likewise, is not as new as you might think. Academics have tried to understand knowledge work and develop strategies for managing it for at least a quarter century. For the last decade we have noticed that the economy is increasingly driven by brains, not brawn. And in the past five years a lucrative new industry has built a continuous circuit of knowledge management (KM) conferences, programs and products for people who can afford to learn how to manage their (or someone else's) intellectual assets. Seminars are priced at generally astronomical rates -- in the thousands of dollars, some times 10 thousand dollars or more. That has resulted in what we call KM's Economic Elite, which, of course, implies the rest of us are KM's Economically Disadvantaged. We seemingly can't afford to become savvy about this new stuff called knowledge work. No one yet has a degree in knowledge management (KM) from a business school (a few are beginning to offer courses) or a diploma in KW from a trade school. Everyone needs to learn now about KM and KW, yet most individuals and most companies can't afford to get in the game. Those with the economic resources do learn; those who don't, don't. Ironically, these grand scale gatherings are in themselves examples of pre-Knowledge Age educational strategy. Event based and lecture hall learning are just exactly what we don't need now. The U.S. Department of Labor, in a 1998 study, revealed that 70 percent of what workers learn today is learned "on the fly," and another study concluded that 80 percent of classroom learning was lost unless actually applied within a few weeks of the event. Today's associations were framed around yesterday's compartmentalized world. Secretaries belong to their associations; information technologists to theirs; doctors and nurses belong not to one association but literally hundreds of sub-associations focused narrowly on specialties within the field. Administrators are divided among hundreds more associations serving the special interests of a myriad of professional disciplines engaged in countless fields. Associations (unfortunately) are mirrors of the information silos of the pre-Knowledge Age. These associations are still needed to help specialists hone their individualized skills. But they cannot at the same time adequately connect their memberships to the "big picture" of a collaborative, knowledge-sharing environment. When workers are referred to as knowledge workers and not just engineers or salesmen; and, when they are faced with interdisciplinary work in collaborative teams, they have a need for another venue in which knowledge work (not just a particular discipline or skill) is the name of the game. And when executives and managers are referred to as managers of the company's knowledge assets, they need a venue without hierarchy, where they can experience and learn from a meeting of the minds. Most of us are already knowledge workers. Soon all of us will be. We need an Association of Knowledgework that helps us think, learn and share, no matter what our training, title or position on the organizational chart. Heard
enough? Then join AOK now. If AOK is mostly virtual, where is AOK? Well, first of all, being virtual (whether you are a company, a manager or a worker) does not mean you are not real. We have taken pains to identify for you the very real people who are working at "the kitchen table." We've told you as much as we can about our solid professional backgrounds in association management. We'd rather you think of AOK as being located on your desktop, because we think that's where all associations of the future need to be if they are to have value to their members in the fast-paced future. But behind the computer screen you will find us in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. Our addresses and phone numbers are below. We want you to know a little bit about the business of AOK because it is a business, just as all associations are. We are among the few, however, that is organized as a for-profit venture with all the same requirements of meeting expenses as any other enterprise. But profits will never come from member dues. As an association consultant, Jerry Ash (in step with The Forbes Group) made suggestions to other associations that the old nonprofit formula just doesn't make sense any more. It's one of those messages, unfortunately, which can generate much heat but little action in the halls of tradition. "Nonprofit" is just as ingrained in the existing association model as "meet and eat." But we've argued that associations are no longer isolated from the competitive world. They cannot afford to be saddled with 501-C "charitable" restrictions if they are to compete with an entrepreneurial community that seeks to deliver some of the same services traditionally provided by associations. We are unabashedly an entrepreneurial enterprise, and our success or failure depends on our customers who are our members. Heard
enough? Then join AOK now.
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