Publications - 

Practical Tools

For 5 years we maintained a weekly column on Management in the Kansas City Business Journal. In addition, we have written many articles for association periodicals including Association, Association Management, Association Trends, Western Association News and Association and Society Manager.

Lawrence-Leiter and Company consultants also authored the publications: How to Conduct Member Surveys; Information: A Limitless Resource for Associations; The Personal Equation; and The Future of Association Trade Shows and Exhibits; all published by the Foundation of the American Society of Association Executives.

Since 1986, Lawrence-Leiter and Company has conducted a series of research projects focused on the profession of association management. The first project probed trends and issues in association management, and specifically addressed marketing attitudes and activities in the community.

Subsequent Association research publications have included:

The Road Ahead: Boards, Committees, and Involved Volunteer Participation. The results were summarized in Association Management magazine.

A delphi study entitled Association Organization Structure and Strategies for the 90s. This research focuses on the allocation of functions, responsibility, authority and resources between national, international and constituent organizations.  Study findings focus on: special interest groups; policy formulation; fund sources and dues; workload shift to staff; and organization competition.

In our most recent effort, Lawrence-Leiter and Company analyzed the effect educators have on professional societies and the value educators gain from their membership.

Focused on the Future

Lawrence-Leiter and Company publishes FUTUREFAX, a quarterly newsletter on trends and developments affecting the future of organizations. This publication is available on request. A recent issue:

Lawrence-Leiter and Company’s

FUTUREFAX

Video Conferencing Comeback counters rising travel costs with better performance and more affordable options. LifeSize Communications’ Express line is high definition, provides good quality, is easy to set up but still has problems with motion. The entire system fits in a briefcase. Video is not broadcast or cable quality but sharper than previous efforts. Other players that may not offer high definition include Cisco, HP, Polycom, Sony and Tandberg. (Face-to-Face, But Miles Apart; Information Week; July 14, 2008)

Radical Transparency is Free on Google Earth and similar platforms offering images from GeoEye satellite, airplanes and the ground. The satellite images on Google Earth are a few months to three years old. Google Street View, introduced in 2007, provides 360º street level views captured by cars and vans. To the chagrin of the U.S. Army, all the roads at Ft. Sam Houston, TX are mapped. Notable satellite images include China’s new nuclear ballistic missile submarine, Iran’s nuclear site, CIA headquarters and a top-secret Air Force test site in Nevada. One web site broadcasts satellite imagery of 12 vulnerable villages in Darfur. (No Place to Hide; Discover; August 2008)

Targeting Cancer Cells using magnets 1/1000 the diameter of a human hair appears possible. An external magnetic field warms the particles to kill targeted cells. MagForce has tested nano magnet therapy on people with at least 8 tumor types and is currently studying 65 patients with late-stage brain cancer. The German-based company could receive regulatory approval in the European Union by the first quarter of 2010. (Fatal Attraction: Nanomagnets Tackle Disease; Science News; 8/16/08)

Eliminating Oil Dependence is the passion of Shai Agassi, a 38-year-old inventor who rejects hydrogen, hybrids, flex fuels, and embedding power in the street. His focus is a new concept, the "electric recharge grid operator", an infrastructure of ubiquitous charging stations. His company is called BetterPlace. Fundamentally, it is a software company providing information and batteries. The system knows car location, tells the driver where to fill up, negotiates with the local electric utility and provides a source for new batteries. The Israeli’s are interested, offering an ideal test because of size and sophistication. Denmark is also interested and Hawaii may be a US pilot. A world-changing idea. (Driven; Wired; September 2008.)

RFID Tags Pose Privacy Risks World Wide. Already widely used to identify products, control inventory and track items, RFID’s are now used for toll passes, key fobs and some airport baggage tags. A driver’s license promoted by the Department of Homeland Security can be read through a wallet, pocket or purse from 30 feet. It’s unique number, vetted by the Homeland Security Data Base, provides the traveler’s photograph and other details on-screen. Though this use is now voluntary, dozens of countries, including the U.S., issue e-passports with embedded RFID tags. Security consultants in the U.K., Germany and Czechoslovakia have used remotely read information to forge documents. China’s national ID card contains health and reproductive history, employment status, religion, ethnicity, and even the name and phone number of a cardholder’s landlord. A Chinese RFID manufacturer says they are "a way for the government to control the population in the future." (RFID Tag – You’re It; Scientific American; September 2008)

China To Surpass U.S. Economy by 2035 and double by mid-century. Domestic demand drives growth as do infrastructure and public investments. Military power will closely trail economic growth. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Futurist Update; 7/22/08)

Endless Blood Supply to hospitals and blood banks, including all types of blood, even the rare AB negative, appears likely. A new 4-step process turns stem cells into red blood cells carrying as much oxygen as normal blood. Embryonic stem cells are harvested once, starting a line of blood that can be extended indefinitely. (Making Blood Drives Passé; The Week; 9/5/08)

Elements From the Stars are the focus of rare-isotope facilities opening in North America and Europe. These will research the full range of nuclei commonplace in exploding stars. Scientific disciplines unrelated to space are potential benefactors. Physicians may be able to replace scalpels and X-rays with isotopes that destroy tumors and other diseased tissue. Nuclear energy may become safer with high-energy neutrons that destroy radioactive waste. Japan has been producing rare isotopes since 2006. Canada, France and Germany will open new isotope facilities between 2010 and 2015. (Technology – Designer Isotopes; The Futurist; Sept-Oct 2008)

Breath Joins Blood and Urine Tests to monitor health. Long used by doctors to detect disease, breath analysis is moving high tech. +/- 3,000 components have been detected in human breath – an average sample has over 200. A study of 193 lung cancer patients with a 211 person control sample correctly identified 84% of the lung cancer patients. Just breathe into a collection tube. The lab analysis, however, is not so easy. (Every Breath You Make Tells All of Your Aches; Science News; 8/5/08)

Gold, Copper, Phosphate, Bauxite -- Join Oil to increase Saudi Arabia’s wealth. King Solomon’s riches may have originated here but only recently has the government permitted large-scale commercial exploration and production. It could be the next Canada or Australia. Prodigious mineral supplies are an advantage but the Saudis can also process them; for example, turning Bauxite into aluminum, a process requiring extensive energy. (Saudi Arabia Turns to Gold; Fortune; August 18, 2008)

Cowboy Satellites. A small on-cow computer and GPS device may replace cattle fences. Fences are expensive, require repair and a bother to change – ranchers would like to get rid of them. Remotely programmable, "Ear-A-Round" now costs about $600/cow but could drop to $100 with volume. Equipping only a few lead animals could control a heard. (Virtual Fencing; Economist; 9/6/08).

LAWRENCE-LEITER AND COMPANY

David R. Bywaters,   President    David Domsch,  VicePresident

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