The YMCA, a brand that precedes itself, with its international headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is the largest and oldest youth charity in the world with more than 64 million beneficiaries from 120 national associations. Their work enables young people to grow to their full potential by participating in a supportive and inclusive community. 

Better than Google Drive

Prior to Convene, documents were shared by email or by Google Drive. We found that email was not good for collaborative work. With Google Drive, we found issues with user-friendliness. The Drive was shared by the meeting participants, however, we encountered difficulties when it came to document management.

For example, once a document was downloaded, if a participant wished to view a new document and then return to a previous one, it had to be done on a different screen. This resulted in a poor flow of documentation which in turn adversely affected the flow and direction of our meetings.

Seamless Meeting Collaboration

With Convene, document share and accessibility are streamlined and there is the added benefit of being able to highlight and annotate documents in real-time. Everyone is quite literally on the same page with documentation. We know that the agenda we are working from is the latest version, so it is like working on a large document system. Everything is in one place and we no longer have questions from participants as to whether or not they are working from the correct agenda.

Our last meeting pack was comprised of 400 pages! It would have been impossible to read and annotate documents in a pack of that size if they were in Dropbox or email format. With Convene, those issues have been resolved. Features such as the table of contents on the right-hand side and annotations are particularly useful for such a large board pack.

Simple Learning Curve

I would say that with Convene, user experience is clear and defined. There are features of Convene that can be understood piece by piece, and that the learning curve is smooth and rapid, so much so that we found that it was possible for our users to grasp the workings of the system within one hour! The overriding factor is that Convene is a great digitalised solution for meetings.

“The learning curve is smooth and rapid, so much so that we found that it was possible for our users to grasp the workings of the system, within one hour!”
Claude-Alain Danthe, IT and Social Media Manager.

Dedicated Support

I was particularly impressed with the initial presentation and training. Leonore (the Account Manager) came to present. She was also the initial contact we worked with when we were considering a board solution, and her approach and professionalism sealed our decision to adopt Convene.

I had previously spoken to eShare, and considered using BoardPacks, however, I was disappointed by the quality of the presentation and lack of a consultative approach when it came to their account management. With Convene, the support offering is invaluable. Any questions asked received clear and precise responses. We also made good use of Convene’s online training document if we needed answers to a specific question.

Robust Meeting Solution

We are certainly positive about the potential to roll Convene out to other divisions. Although cost is always a necessary consideration, I also believe that it should not be the ultimate defining factor in a decision. If the solution addresses all the pain points and promotes seamless collaborative working the way Convene has for us at the YMCA, then in essence the system has already paid for itself. Convene is already operational in 120 country sites so as a system, it’s already firmly established.

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