A New Digital Ecosystem = A New Approach

After much feedback, organizational evolution, and strategic discussions, the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) has launched a new website, membership database, and digital content library. We're proudly presenting the first phase of what started from just a website redesign, to launch a full new digital ecosystem. This is just the beginning.

This work represents more than just "a new look online" but a shift in how you interact with woodturning online, and organizational work behind the scenes, building new efficiencies allowing staff to focus on delivering what matters most to our members. 

Why Change Now?

As a trusted guide with a view of the whole woodturning field, our digital ecosystem needed a change to provide the right resources to keep advancing your woodturning the right way.

As leadership reviewed all the ways the AAW interacts between members, staff, current and future woodturners, vendors, demonstrators, collectors, artists, community partners, craft organizations, and the international woodturning community as a whole, there were some very real pain points representing a misalignment with the AAW's core values, strategic growth, and pathways for the future. The needs of our members and woodturning community evolved over the past decade, and our technology did not.

The AAW was founded as a community to make learning, engagement, and the growth of the art and craft of woodturning easier, more connected, and more visible globally. Our technology upgrade ensures we can continue to deliver on this mission, driving our work that started over 40 years ago.

Design for Ease, Build a Functioning Base

As we looked at what rebuilding a digital ecosystem looked like, all paths lead to phase one: keep the website simple, clear, and easy to navigate. Start with a clean, highly functional foundation and continue to build member-driven features in sustainable phases.

With a small but mighty staff, our goal in phase one of our digital ecosystem is to deliver the most useful information with the fewest number of pain points. The speed of technology dictates that if your answer is hard to find on a website, you immediately move on to the next. In short, woodturning is already hard enough, projects, tips, mentors, chapters, answers to your most pressing woodturning questions should not be hard to find when you have a trusted guide. AAW is your partner in forward motion, keep you turning at your pace. 

What This Means for You

• Turning first. Less time searching for the information you need, giving you back time at the lathe
• If you're already an AAW Member, this means your digital membership experience just got better! If you're a new member, get excited for a robust online woodturning experience!
• A more intuitive member dashboard called, Member Compass
• Simplified membership renewal and event registration
• An incredible upgraded content library, home to over 40 years of relevant, trusted woodturning materials to support your woodturning journey, inspiration, and pathway forward.  
• More robust, searchable content library, including new special collections and project pathways coming soon!
• More robust, searchable Member Directory
• Streamlined, member-driven communication preferences
• Mobile-friendly experience
• Stronger integration between learning, events, and community — all connected in one system

Implementing a strong foundation to empower you, the woodturner, to find the most valuable information, means behind the scenes staff is better able to focus on supporting the community and engagement in a genuine, more relevant, and seamless way.

Pathways

As I began my journey with the American Association of Woodturners, less than two years ago, I am incredibly grateful for how passionate and invested woodturners are in this community. I'm grateful for all the member listening/learning sessions and feedback (the good, the bad, and the ugly), time spent learning about woodturning, a supportive board of directors passionate about engaging with the field, and our small but mighty staff that has committed to tackling ambitious projects while growing together as a new team. This organization has seen some really big changes in the past two years. The pathway that led us to this first phase of the new AAW digital ecosystem is a representation of members, staff, and the community with a collective goal to do more, be better, and continue to support and empower the global woodturning community.

Our laser focus has been on building the foundation on which to better serve members and grow. While it's not glamorous or earth shaking, it's so exciting to watch this first phase unfold so soon in my time with the AAW. Our next phase down this pathway is gathering feedback, refining, planning, building...building, building, building. It's during this time additional pathways emerge and our community continues to evolve. What exciting times ahead.

With gratitude,

Gretchen Wilbrandt

Executive Director (and extremely novice woodturner!)