Launching a successful alumni platform is a major challenge. It’s a great opportunity to bring together and engage the members of your community. Winner of the AlumnForce Award for Best Platform Launch, Martin Monin talks about the success of the RESO project.
Martin has been working for the association for two years. The School of Meditation network teaches secular meditation in France, Belgium and Switzerland. “We are an association that teaches meditation in France, Belgium and Switzerland. We have been in existence for nearly 20 years and have over 1800 members in the French-speaking world“.
- Objectives and challenges at the launch of the platform
- Successfully launching your platform by including your community
- Offering an experience to its members
Objectives and challenges at the launch of the platform
The main objectives of the meditation network are to promote the practice of meditation and to create a space for its members to share and exchange ideas. The platform should therefore facilitate access to quality resources. One of the network’s distinguishing features is the large number of face-to-face events and online courses it organises. In this way, it maintains a strong bond with its members and encourages them to practise meditation regularly. Martin explains: “At the time of covid, we were able to break our isolation and we have grown a lot thanks to these online initiatives“.
One of the main challenges for the network is to maintain a strong link between members. What’s more, the member experience lacked fluidity. Managing activities with scattered tools was complex before adopting AlumnForce. Martin points out: “We had a very basic WordPress site with an agenda and a database of our courses. Events were spread across different tools”. He adds: “We wanted to unify our members’ experience, from membership to event registration”.
Successfully launching your platform by including your community
The success of the project depends on high expectations from members and meticulous preparation. To begin with, the team announces the launch of the project several months in advance. It also involves several members in development, and the team has produced numerous tutorials for users. Martin explains: “We announced the project as early as winter 2023, involved members and produced tutorials for optimal use of the platform. AlumnForce played a crucial role in this success, providing us with a powerful tool to centralize our tools and engage our community“.
AlumnForce helps the association to centralize and optimize many aspects of its operations. The platform has made it possible to consolidate all activities, news and information in one place. This has made it easier for members to participate online and in person, simplified the organization of events, and improved communication with members. Martin explains: “AlumnForce has helped us to unify our members’ experience. To make it simpler and more fluid. Before, our tools were scattered. AlumnForce made it possible to bring everything together in one place“.
The integration of AlumnForce has considerably simplified the management of event registrations. Before, several tools were needed to manage this. Now, the platform centralizes everything. This saves time and allows us to concentrate on content and interaction with members. Martin explains: “Using AlumnForce has clarified and unified our processes. It gives us greater clarity and legibility for both ourselves and our members“.
Offering an experience to its members
The network’s key features include event centralization, calendar integration and registration management. In addition, newsletters and targeted messages keep members up to date with news and events. Martin explains: “AlumnForce has enabled us to centralize our events, member database and online content. Before, we had to use several tools. Now, everything is integrated, which greatly simplifies the member experience“.
A highlight was the organization of a major online event earlier this year. With AlumnForce, registrations are managed seamlessly. Automated reminders are sent to participants, and all event-related content has been centralized. This allowed us to focus on the quality of the meditation sessions and interactions with participants. This saves time on the logistical aspects. It was a great success, and feedback from members has been extremely positive. Martin explains: “At the moment, we have maybe 50 events coming up. Since we started, we’ve created around 150 to 200“.
In conclusion, RESO has succeeded in turning the launch of its platform into a real lever. It has simplified day-to-day management, and also strengthened member commitment. Martin Monin still sees plenty of scope for further development. The platform will continue to play a central role in the network’s future development: “We want to go further and continue to evolve to offer a simple and effective tool to our community“.
