Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
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mandate of their mission. To do so, associations organize educational sessions, materials, courses, hands-on study 
opportunities and so forth. 
 
Educational Roles of Associations 
As a strategy to differentiate itself from competing professional associations, membership education has 
become a major focus for many associations, particularly those that are formed to support a specific business model 
or industry segment. These associations place a major prominence in producing opportunities that provide education 
and training for their membership base.
The educational content produced or supported by associations can be delivered to its membership base in a 
variety of ways. The most traditional delivery method is through educational sessions held during the associations’ 
conventions or meetings. Additionally, national and international associations are often divided into chapters, which 
provide many complementary educational activities within their respective regions. These educational sessions 
provide members with the opportunity to attend sessions and panels that are interesting to them. Moreover, some of 
this educational content and participation may be a requirement to obtain or retain members’ professional 
qualification/certification (e.g. Certified Public Accountant, CPA). Apart from these sessions, members may also be 
provided with supplemental educational content such as textbooks, journals or CD/DVDs that are delivered 
throughout the year. An emerging tool for the delivery of educational content is through the use of webinars and 
teleconferences, which allow members to access educational content without leaving their workplace and at their 
convenience. 
As mentioned above, education and training have become an important focus of associations and the 
methods of delivering these education and training opportunities have seen tremendous change with the 
development and wide spread availability of web-based technologies. The applications of computer-based, web-
enabled technologies are eliminating the need for people to come together in a single/central location to participate 
in a meeting or a conference. Instead, associations, as well as many other parties, are using these latest technologies 
to facilitate their meetings, conferences, and educational training sessions.