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| Association of Knowledgework (AOK) |
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Association of Knowledgework
Plexus Consulting Group, LLC |
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Vital Stats: The Association of Knowledgework's community is comprised of any professional primarily engaged in knowledge work or knowledge management. Knowledge professionals have usually been trained in some other specialty but have recently moved into the broader discipline of intellectual asset management. The Challenge | The Solution | The Processs |Unforseen Benefits |Measurements & Results | Lessons Learned
How to help knowledge workers think, learn, share knowledge about the profession of knowledge management? Associations always materialize out of a need. So, why was AOK needed?
Surprisingly to most, the evolution of knowledge work is over 40 years
old but it has accelerated in the past five years as both the for-profit
and not-for-profit organizations have realized that success or failure
in the Knowledge Economy is increasingly driven by brains, not brawn.
Still, knowledge management is misunderstood, misrepresented and mishandled
by professionals who are suddenly responsible for activities for which
they were not trained. Seminars and conferences abound and a few institutions
of higher education have added courses and degree sequences to their
curricula, but most knowledge managers and knowledge workers necessarily
must learn "on the fly" a process that demands real-time,
just-in-time, and speed to market of new and innovative ideas.
To build a virtual community for professionals engaged in knowledge management and work. At The Forbes Group, where Ash still serves as a senior counselor
to senior association management, the Forbes team had been talking
about the need for all associations to "go virtual." It
occurred to them that an association for knowledge workers, who are
engaged heavily in the virtual world of the Internet, would require
a heavy presence online. At the same time, it was evident that a community
for knowledge workers was needed. It was agreed that a virtual community
was appropriate and ideal for this new breed of worker.
Being a virtual association is one of many ways Association of Knowledgework breaks the mold of traditional associations. In addition to being a "virtual association", AOK has developed several other innovations including: For-Profit "Coopetition"
AOK partners with professional conference providers whose events
are listed in a web site section called the AOK Conference Center.
Conference providers offer AOK members discounts on registration fees
that are often equal to or greater than AOK membership dues. The registration
fees of these conference providers are in the $2,000 range. Archives
of AOK's KM events are subsequently made available free of charge
to the general public. "Best knowledge management conference anywhere in the world." According to AOK CEO Jerry Ash, the speed with which AOK gained credibility among like-minded organizations with which relationships had already been established was astounding. The AOK team was surprised that other organizations, corporations and consultancies have been just as eager to affiliate with AOK as AOK has been to develop relationships with them. A similar surprise involved the market's ready acceptance of the AOK acronym. Initially, Ash and his colleagues worried that the acronym was insufficiently 'sober' for such a project. Sober? Perhaps not. But memorable. "Once you get past the worry," Ash says, "you are delivering a quality product." In any event, Ash and his colleagues began a discussion group last January with association executives, and no one has laughed at the acronym to date. While the initiative began with a focus on the association community,
its scope was broadened in July 2000 to encompass all knowledge management
in any field anywhere in the world. While the AOK team had initial
concerns about the credibility of such a vast undertaking, AOK has
since drawn its share of luminaries, including Tom Stewart, the Editor
of Fortune Magazine. Stuart was the fourth prominent individual to
appear voluntarily with no compensation to discuss KM issues with
AOK members.
Although the metamorphosis of AOK is in its second year, as an association it is less than a year old. Its membership, however, has grown to nearly 850 KM mavens in 50 countries and its positive reputation has attracted volunteer celebrity moderators to the STAR SERIES including Stephen Denning, World Bank and author of The Springboard; Tom Stewart, Fortune magazine; and Lief Edvinsson, Skandia, one of the icons of the KM movement. Lessons Learned While many associations may fear the thought of giving out information or losing the "personal touch" over the Internet, AOK has found to the contrary that the virtual association enhances one-on-one, "face-to-face" relationships. While there are no bricks, mortar or physical meetings, substantial value has been realized to date. Would AOK change anything if it had to develop this initiative from scratch? Probably not. While it remains a challenge to process international members as quickly as AOK would like, due to financial infrastructure challenges, the association has developed a sliding scale membership to facilitate their participation. To date, each member can choose one category for an annual fee of $125 per year, two categories for $200, or three for $275. At present, AOK has three Communities of Practice:
AOK has found that "if an association has international members,
it is imperative that it conduct business on the Internet so members
can feel well-served without ever darkening the doorway." To
date, satisfied AOK customers from Tampa to Malaysia could attest
to this.
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