By Steven M. Worth, President at Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
There’s a saying coined by the French — "the more things change, the more they stay the same." It’s a phrase that, until recently, didn’t apply much to the association world. Outside of perhaps the church, associations were among the only dependable islands of stability in a sea of social and economic change. Association members were loyal and leadership turnover was slight. Associations were, to paraphrase the theme song from "Cheers," places you could go where everyone knew your name.
Those days started to fade during the merger and acquisition frenzy of the 1980s and were definitely relegated to the history books with the arrival of the global economy a decade later. A few years ago, a roundtable conference was held entitled, "Evaluating Trade Association Membership." Executives from major corporations compared notes on how each determined which associations their companies joined. It was fascinating!
All had a similar story. Their budgets had been cut, forcing them to reduce the size of their staffs. And their budgets for association memberships had been cut as well. One executive of a very large corporation reported that her budget had been cut by 30 percent, so she simply told all the associations her company belonged to that they would be cutting their membership dues contributions by the same amount.
Another executive had a different approach. Five years ago, he had a staff of 15. Now that number is reduced to three, yet his company expects him to do the same job he did before with a staff that was five times as large. He saw the company’s association membership, which he controlled, as a way to help him do his job. In fact, he had constructed an "association report card" that helped him evaluate how well an association served his and his company’s needs. Those associations that "failed" were simply cut from the list. Those that "passed" received an additional infusion of funds — depending on how well they scored.
This executive said he used the report card he had invented as a tool for evaluating his company’s "investments" in trade associations. In this era of highly publicized, lean, innovative start-up companies that are aggressively seeking and creating new markets around the world, even those of us who don’t have a dollar invested in the stock market are beginning to know the difference between a good and bad investment.
As nonprofits, associations have long held that they "do well by doing good." Now even this truism has changed. More than ever before associations are not only being compared to for-profit companies, they are competing with them as well.
What association has not had to adapt to some or all of the following trends? For-profit corporations increasingly contributing to and participating in cultural, environmental, and civic causes — subjects that were once the exclusive domains of nonprofits. For-profits attracting away the employees of nonprofits with salaries and benefits packages that are many times more generous. And, for-profits making in-roads into education, training, and certification that all used to be reserved for nonprofit organizations.
Companies, like individuals, are increasingly reluctant to pay dues to a membership organization. They will pay to attend conferences, to purchase books, and to obtain advice; or they will pay for education, training, and certification — but don’t ask them to pay for something as intangible as "membership." Those associations have done best that have succeeded in increasing the ratio of nondues to dues revenues. Many of those that are struggling have not. Associations are becoming providers and sellers of products and services — just like commercial companies — and this, too, is further blurring the line between for-profits and nonprofits.
Many associations are finding that they need to rethink the very reason that they exist. Indeed they should. Their members are. With our economy making ever increasing demands on us, all of us are having to become more circumspect about where we invest our time and resources. Whether we are conscious of it or not, all of us have our own "report cards" in which we evaluate where we invest and where we cut back our investment.
As an association executive, where would you place your association? Are you a "good" investment?
Monday, November 10, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Opportunities in the Face of Declining Membership How to Survive While Dealing with Industry Consolidation
By Steven M. Worth, President at Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
Like the animated cartoon figures that keep on running on thin air over and past a cliff, until they suddenly realize there is no longer any ground underneath them, assns often continue functioning in a "business as usual" mode until they realize their traditional membership support is not coming back.
Like the animated cartoon figures that keep on running on thin air over and past a cliff, until they suddenly realize there is no longer any ground underneath them, assns often continue functioning in a "business as usual" mode until they realize their traditional membership support is not coming back.
While it is funny watching
the expression on cartoon figures' faces change the instant before they drop
like rocks, it is not so funny watching the decline and fall of assns. As an
assn leader who might be faced with declining membership due to mergers and
acquisitions, what, if anything, can you do to avoid this fate?
First you should be
reassured that your assn is far from being alone when it comes to declining
membership. This nearly universal decline in membership, for trade assns and
professional societies alike, is due to four overriding trends:
1. Over the past two
decades, a globalizing economy has led to increased levels of mergers and
acquisitions in virtually every economic sector. Companies are seeking
increased efficiencies and are trying to better position themselves to serve
and compete in new markets.
2. Technology is changing
at an ever-increasing rate causing whole industries to disappear.
Computer leasing is one
industry that was thriving in the 1960s, ¹70s and ¹80s when computers were huge
and expensive. Now that computers are pocket-sized and affordable this
multimilliondollar subsector of the leasing industry disappeared virtually
overnight. However, technology is also creating new industries (such as in
healthcare with the MRI and PET scan equipment manufacturers and users).
3. As a communications
vehicle, the easy to use, inexpensive, and instantaneous Internet has made
networking, education and training, business transactions, marketing, and the
exchange of ideas affordable and available to virtually everyone. Faced with
this reality it is not unusual that the value and relevance of traditional assn
membership should be increasingly called into question.
4. A generational aversion
to "joining" borne of watching the upward and downward ties of
loyalty dissolve between employer and employee. Many younger staffers believe
that loyalty does not pay and financial security is based on networking and
having and maintaining the skills set and credentials needed to be relevant in
a rapidly changing economy. Among many in the younger generation there is
perceived to be no intrinsic value in joining an assn; you buy what you want
and move on, even if it means paying a nonmember price.
These trends have
certainly created a changed scenario for the assn world, but not a totally
bleak one. Despite what is happening to the majority, some assns are actually seeing
their membership grow. Some assns have indeed benefited from these trends and
increased their membership by pursuing niche strategies. Others seem to have
resisted the laws of physics and have grown their programs, publications and
finances despite declines in membership.
The niche approach
includes growth through acquisition - picking off competing assns that have
fallen on hard times - or by creating a new assn to serve the needs of a new
growth sector in the economy. This approach is not long-term focused -
tactical, not strategic. A strategic perspective is needed if an assn is to
enjoy any sort of security beyond the next few years.
Managers must realize that
while the four long-term trends present undeniable challenges, each also
present "critical opportunities" (I use the word "critical"
because, to adapt a phrase from "The Godfather," these are
opportunities you can't refuse!):
1. Business consolidation
is a reality that will continue for the foreseeable future. Rather than pinning
their futures on diminishing membership numbers, assns that are thriving are
seeking to make themselves indispensable for what they can do that for-profits
cannot.
Assns can serve as
liaisons between government or the public-at-large and private sector interests;
compile industrywide statistics on business, social, human resource, and other
economic trends; design and promote professional and manufacturing credentials;
and serve as a resource for continuing education and training.
Some assns, seeing
declines in their traditional US market, are designing globalization strategies
of their own - taking their considerable store of intellectual and financial
resources into fast growth markets abroad where sister societies have yet to
take root.
2. The pace of technological
change will only continue to increase, as will its impact on business and
professions. Assns that have adapted best to this have made the change part of
their culture.
They annually undertake
top to bottom strategic planning, and identify emerging trends.
3. The Internet's impact
simply cannot be underestimated. Assn publications are now available through
the Internet. Education and training programs, virtual conferences, and
networking through listservers and chat rooms are also important services assns
can provide. Online testing and certification services are likely to follow. If
your assn is not on this train, it should be!
4. Assns that are growing the fastest are
measuring growth by users/consumers of products and services and not members.
Rather than trying to fight this trend of declining membership loyalty,
successful assns have defined themselves according to the market they serve and
taken steps to ensure they serve it well.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
CEO Coaching Program
Select
Information Gathering, Benchmarking and Coaching Program Launched for Senior
Association Executives
(Washington, DC—28 October 2014) Plexus Consulting
Group, LLC (Plexus) has launched a new subscription service through which
senior managers of nonprofit and public service organizations can match their
performance against their peers in a variety of disciplines to be better able
to evaluate and improve their skills. In
addition to comparative information gathering and ranking this flat-rate,
subscription service includes a variety of confidential networking, research,
and coaching services that can be tailored to the needs of “C-suite” executives.
This service is designed to serve as a kind of
personal coach and to provide executives answers to the following sorts of
questions:
How am I doing compared to my peers?
What are the ways I can get my new ideas across to the
board of directors?
What are some new markets I can enter to increase revenue?
How can I use social media more effectively to engage my
members?
What are my competitors doing to increase membership base?
How can I make my presentations more lively and encourage
overall discussion?
“Such personalized services have been available to
the senior executives of for-profit companies for years but until now have been
out of the reach of nonprofit managers” said Plexus President Steven Worth. “We have priced these services at an
affordable rate and have invited a select number of senior association managers
whom we know well and whom we think would form a solid initial core for
building such a peer leadership networking program.
“We have appointed Mr. Suvo Nandi
to manage this program. Suvo has run a
similar program for the CEOs of for-profit companies and is well equipped to
adapt these proven methodologies to the needs of the nonprofit and public
service sector.”
For further information contact:
Mr.
Suvo Nandi, MBA
Tel.
202-785-8940
Monday, October 20, 2014
Going Global for all the Wrong Reasons
Post authored by Marian R. Calvin, Vice President Communications for Experient
As event marketers, we hear all sorts of reasons why people need to boost attendance at their annual event. The event, along with its trade show, is the largest source of non-dues revenue for most non-profit associations and often their primary service delivery mechanism. With attendance being down, flat or showing lackluster growth in recent years due to economic reasons, they want to expand their event marketing database to invite or grow international attendance.
The rationale includes: The village needs to meet. The internet is shrinking the world. We want to be considered an international powerhouse, THE go-to source. Similar organizations are going global and we need to do so as well. We need to expand our community to professionals in other countries.
Agreed. But it’s not so easy. Along with logistical issues surrounding international attendance at events (such as currency exchange for registration, translation services for advance materials and on site, visa requirements and letters of invitation), there are the ongoing needs of an international participant (and new member) that need to be addressed to KEEP that attendee active, engaged and fulfilled.
Is the infrastructure in place within your organization to support international membership?
There are a number of experts out there with a thorough understanding of international markets who specialize in consulting with associations who want to enter the global arena.
One such expert is Steven Worth, author and President of Plexus Consulting Group. His expertise centers on helping associations succeed in international business.
Worth has served as interim executive director of four international associations, designed and implemented strategies creating two world federations of nonprofit organizations, and created the Association International Market Development (AIMD)—a program designed to open opportunities within USAID and World Bank projects in developing nations for the education, training and standards development resources of U.S.-based associations.
In fact, you could say that Worth wrote the book on globalized operations. Literally. The Association Guide to Going Global is Worth’s comprehensive guide for associations coping with a global marketplace. Published last July, the book enlightens readers on key issues that have proven to be of concern to associations going global and unveils how to successfully navigate a global environment.
As event marketers, we hear all sorts of reasons why people need to boost attendance at their annual event. The event, along with its trade show, is the largest source of non-dues revenue for most non-profit associations and often their primary service delivery mechanism. With attendance being down, flat or showing lackluster growth in recent years due to economic reasons, they want to expand their event marketing database to invite or grow international attendance.
The rationale includes: The village needs to meet. The internet is shrinking the world. We want to be considered an international powerhouse, THE go-to source. Similar organizations are going global and we need to do so as well. We need to expand our community to professionals in other countries.
Agreed. But it’s not so easy. Along with logistical issues surrounding international attendance at events (such as currency exchange for registration, translation services for advance materials and on site, visa requirements and letters of invitation), there are the ongoing needs of an international participant (and new member) that need to be addressed to KEEP that attendee active, engaged and fulfilled.
Is the infrastructure in place within your organization to support international membership?
- Does your website facilitate multi-lingual communication?
- Is there a quick-response method for someone contacting you in the middle of the night (during their working hours)?
- Are live online committee meetings or informational meetings/seminars taking the time zone issue into consideration?
- Will you be planning meetings in other parts of the world?
There are a number of experts out there with a thorough understanding of international markets who specialize in consulting with associations who want to enter the global arena.
One such expert is Steven Worth, author and President of Plexus Consulting Group. His expertise centers on helping associations succeed in international business.
Worth has served as interim executive director of four international associations, designed and implemented strategies creating two world federations of nonprofit organizations, and created the Association International Market Development (AIMD)—a program designed to open opportunities within USAID and World Bank projects in developing nations for the education, training and standards development resources of U.S.-based associations.
In fact, you could say that Worth wrote the book on globalized operations. Literally. The Association Guide to Going Global is Worth’s comprehensive guide for associations coping with a global marketplace. Published last July, the book enlightens readers on key issues that have proven to be of concern to associations going global and unveils how to successfully navigate a global environment.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Everybody’s Doing It: Tips for Healthy Nonprofit Collaborations
By Asia Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta
Do you desire a beneficial partnership? Do you dream of having a partnership that will “get your organization’s name out there” in a good way? Are you looking to collaborate to increase your resources? If you answered yes to these questions, you are not alone.
According to The Power of Partnership by Plexus Consulting Group, 86% of the respondents to their questionnaire said the most important accomplishment of a strategic partnership is ‘to achieve a goal that the association could not achieve alone.” To respondents, that goal most often is to:
• Increase membership
• Increase resources
• Increase revenue
• Enhance visibility and/or brand
• Expand current markets (or develop new markets)
• Minimize the risk inherent in any innovation
• Maximize use of resources
Before you rush to hook-up with an organization, here’s a sobering fact: 50% fail. (I’m not citing divorce statistics either.) That’s according to a study “When to Ally and When to Acquire,” in the Harvard Business Review (July/August 2004) referenced in The Power of Partnership.
Use the following tips to develop a thriving collaborative partnership regardless of economic conditions.
What to do:
Determine your objective: Be clear about why your organization is choosing to partner and what you hope to accomplish. Your objectives should be in alignment with your vision, mission, and strategic goals. Remember to consider what others may possibly gain through the partnership as well.
Assess your readiness: Successful partnerships have committed leadership at both the executive and staff levels. Commitment is demonstrated by staff having dedicated time for meetings and work related to the collaboration. Commitment can also be seen by allocating resources to support the initiative. Does your staff have the time and resources available to fulfill your organization’s role? Have you determined your organization’s strengths and weakness to know what roles you can play within a partnership?
Explore collaboration models: According to the book Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times, three levels of collaboration can exist: 1) cooperation (project-specific relationship), 2) coordination (informal relationship), and 3) collaboration (formal relationships, which have separate boards of directors, bylaws, and other organizational structures).
Select an appropriate partner: This is where doing your homework will be crucial. Find out the mission of the other group(s). Are they respected in the community? What do they have to gain? Do they have the time, resources and buy-in to collaborate effectively? Once you select a partner, you may choose to outline an agreement of the responsibilities of each organization. The more formal the collaboration, the more a written agreement is needed.
Evaluate your process: Throughout the collaboration make time to assess what is working and what is not working. Are the meetings productive? Are there too many of them? This allows you to make appropriate changes when needed.
What not to do:
Act contrary to the above tips or ignore them altogether.
How have you collaborated with another organization?
Do you desire a beneficial partnership? Do you dream of having a partnership that will “get your organization’s name out there” in a good way? Are you looking to collaborate to increase your resources? If you answered yes to these questions, you are not alone.
According to The Power of Partnership by Plexus Consulting Group, 86% of the respondents to their questionnaire said the most important accomplishment of a strategic partnership is ‘to achieve a goal that the association could not achieve alone.” To respondents, that goal most often is to:
• Increase membership
• Increase resources
• Increase revenue
• Enhance visibility and/or brand
• Expand current markets (or develop new markets)
• Minimize the risk inherent in any innovation
• Maximize use of resources
Before you rush to hook-up with an organization, here’s a sobering fact: 50% fail. (I’m not citing divorce statistics either.) That’s according to a study “When to Ally and When to Acquire,” in the Harvard Business Review (July/August 2004) referenced in The Power of Partnership.
Use the following tips to develop a thriving collaborative partnership regardless of economic conditions.
What to do:
Determine your objective: Be clear about why your organization is choosing to partner and what you hope to accomplish. Your objectives should be in alignment with your vision, mission, and strategic goals. Remember to consider what others may possibly gain through the partnership as well.
Assess your readiness: Successful partnerships have committed leadership at both the executive and staff levels. Commitment is demonstrated by staff having dedicated time for meetings and work related to the collaboration. Commitment can also be seen by allocating resources to support the initiative. Does your staff have the time and resources available to fulfill your organization’s role? Have you determined your organization’s strengths and weakness to know what roles you can play within a partnership?
Explore collaboration models: According to the book Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times, three levels of collaboration can exist: 1) cooperation (project-specific relationship), 2) coordination (informal relationship), and 3) collaboration (formal relationships, which have separate boards of directors, bylaws, and other organizational structures).
Select an appropriate partner: This is where doing your homework will be crucial. Find out the mission of the other group(s). Are they respected in the community? What do they have to gain? Do they have the time, resources and buy-in to collaborate effectively? Once you select a partner, you may choose to outline an agreement of the responsibilities of each organization. The more formal the collaboration, the more a written agreement is needed.
Evaluate your process: Throughout the collaboration make time to assess what is working and what is not working. Are the meetings productive? Are there too many of them? This allows you to make appropriate changes when needed.
What not to do:
Act contrary to the above tips or ignore them altogether.
How have you collaborated with another organization?
Monday, October 6, 2014
The Sweat, Character and Hard Thinking Behind Success
By Steven M. Worth, President at Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune…” as Shakespeare noted nearly four hundred years ago; and this has been a popular theme throughout the ages in both popular fiction as well as, in recent years, business management books. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell points out the interesting statistics behind most outstanding success stories. His thesis is so compelling that one might be tempted to conclude that “success” is an odds game—the result of being in the right place at the right time and putting in the right amount of prep time—much like the Peter Seller’s movie “Being There” or the Tom Hanks movie ‘Forrest Gump” in which the leading characters of both movies achieve astounding success in life due to well-placed values and being in the right place at the right time. Cinderella-tales are comforting. We see justice rendered in otherwise hopeless situations—the way we rejoice in the news of jackpot lottery winners, imagining that with luck this might one day be us…
We see less of this magic in our work as management consultants. What we see more often is the truism that successful people and organizations are those who do what the less successful don’t do. By this I mean they do market research, they develop strategic partnerships with outside groups and organizations, they take calculated risks and encourage innovative thinking, they retire programs and organizational structures that have outlived their usefulness, and they focus their resources with laser-like intensity on those programs and projects that are designed to meet current and future market needs. We also see the hard work, the agony of failure along with the courage to get up and go at it again, and the humility in knowing that no one can do it all or know it all and that success comes in working in harness with others who share your vision.
What we sometimes fail to see behind the news coverage and trappings of success are what Winston Churchill in another time called the “blood, toil, sweat and tears” of success. This is unfortunate, because so many are ready to throw in the towel at the first sign of an obstacle. The late psychiatrist and best-selling author Scott Peck noted in his book The Road Less Travelled that the majority of his patients were people who felt they were failures, or who built their lives around avoiding failure without realizing how much easier it would be if they just recognized that difficulty and uncertainty are not signs of failure but rather normal and expected challenges on the path of success.
Strategic planning consists in part of recognizing which aspects of your environment you control and which represent external trends over which you have no control but which can present opportunities or threats that you should take into account in your planning processes. As can be seen in our firm’s recent management survey (to be discussed in our two leadership training sessions that we will be offering through CESSE this year), increasing numbers of managers are using strategic planning as a tool for planning their organization’s success—a tool that is only useful if it is fact-based and backed by a business plan that focuses resources and sets long term and short term measurable goals. It works, but it does require work and risk and letting go of preconceived notions. This is the furious peddling that goes on under the graceful swan’s seemingly effortless glide through the water.
“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune…” as Shakespeare noted nearly four hundred years ago; and this has been a popular theme throughout the ages in both popular fiction as well as, in recent years, business management books. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell points out the interesting statistics behind most outstanding success stories. His thesis is so compelling that one might be tempted to conclude that “success” is an odds game—the result of being in the right place at the right time and putting in the right amount of prep time—much like the Peter Seller’s movie “Being There” or the Tom Hanks movie ‘Forrest Gump” in which the leading characters of both movies achieve astounding success in life due to well-placed values and being in the right place at the right time. Cinderella-tales are comforting. We see justice rendered in otherwise hopeless situations—the way we rejoice in the news of jackpot lottery winners, imagining that with luck this might one day be us…
We see less of this magic in our work as management consultants. What we see more often is the truism that successful people and organizations are those who do what the less successful don’t do. By this I mean they do market research, they develop strategic partnerships with outside groups and organizations, they take calculated risks and encourage innovative thinking, they retire programs and organizational structures that have outlived their usefulness, and they focus their resources with laser-like intensity on those programs and projects that are designed to meet current and future market needs. We also see the hard work, the agony of failure along with the courage to get up and go at it again, and the humility in knowing that no one can do it all or know it all and that success comes in working in harness with others who share your vision.
What we sometimes fail to see behind the news coverage and trappings of success are what Winston Churchill in another time called the “blood, toil, sweat and tears” of success. This is unfortunate, because so many are ready to throw in the towel at the first sign of an obstacle. The late psychiatrist and best-selling author Scott Peck noted in his book The Road Less Travelled that the majority of his patients were people who felt they were failures, or who built their lives around avoiding failure without realizing how much easier it would be if they just recognized that difficulty and uncertainty are not signs of failure but rather normal and expected challenges on the path of success.
Strategic planning consists in part of recognizing which aspects of your environment you control and which represent external trends over which you have no control but which can present opportunities or threats that you should take into account in your planning processes. As can be seen in our firm’s recent management survey (to be discussed in our two leadership training sessions that we will be offering through CESSE this year), increasing numbers of managers are using strategic planning as a tool for planning their organization’s success—a tool that is only useful if it is fact-based and backed by a business plan that focuses resources and sets long term and short term measurable goals. It works, but it does require work and risk and letting go of preconceived notions. This is the furious peddling that goes on under the graceful swan’s seemingly effortless glide through the water.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Fact-based Decision Making
By Steven M. Worth, President at Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
When I was a staffer on Capitol Hill I recall hearing two different stories told quite often during debates on the Senate floor.
One was: There are three types of lies in the world—simple lies; damn lies; and then there are statistics!
The other was: As the Bible says, “Come let us reason together.” We all have our points of view on which we differ, but we should at least be able to agree on the facts—they are what they are. Facts are stubborn things….
Both assertions are true of course. No one needs a course in statistics to know that the gathering and presentation of facts is a serious matter and that a lot of pseudo-science underlies a lot of the “facts” we see cited in advertising that bombards us every day. But it is also true that no rational debate can occur and no sound decision can be made that is not founded on the facts. This is true in all cases and particularly true in board of director meetings—those groups of leaders made up of “type A” personalities, all of whom are quite certain they know the way forward…..
As association managers, we have all had to herd cats on occasion, haven’t we? In this, facts have a way of focusing attention in the right direction. Lacking this compass, we are faced with rule by the most dominant personality, the loudest voice, or the one most skilled in Machiavellian intrigue.
But what are these facts on which your organization makes its decisions? Are they what is true for your board of directors, according to their experience?--your membership, according to their needs and perceptions?—or are they what is true for the market at large? When they differ, which set of facts weigh most heavily on the scales for your organization?
When I was a staffer on Capitol Hill I recall hearing two different stories told quite often during debates on the Senate floor.
One was: There are three types of lies in the world—simple lies; damn lies; and then there are statistics!
The other was: As the Bible says, “Come let us reason together.” We all have our points of view on which we differ, but we should at least be able to agree on the facts—they are what they are. Facts are stubborn things….
Both assertions are true of course. No one needs a course in statistics to know that the gathering and presentation of facts is a serious matter and that a lot of pseudo-science underlies a lot of the “facts” we see cited in advertising that bombards us every day. But it is also true that no rational debate can occur and no sound decision can be made that is not founded on the facts. This is true in all cases and particularly true in board of director meetings—those groups of leaders made up of “type A” personalities, all of whom are quite certain they know the way forward…..
As association managers, we have all had to herd cats on occasion, haven’t we? In this, facts have a way of focusing attention in the right direction. Lacking this compass, we are faced with rule by the most dominant personality, the loudest voice, or the one most skilled in Machiavellian intrigue.
But what are these facts on which your organization makes its decisions? Are they what is true for your board of directors, according to their experience?--your membership, according to their needs and perceptions?—or are they what is true for the market at large? When they differ, which set of facts weigh most heavily on the scales for your organization?
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