AE on the Verge

Adding expiration dates to association coupons

2009-11-22T10:01:00.003-05:00

In response to my blog post on expiration dates, David Patt posted this comment:

"Add discount coupons to your list. Always print an expiration date on them. Members (or former members) may want to use them years after they were expected to be out of circulation."

That is an excellent reminder! Here are a few thoughts on association coupons:

1. Discount coupons: If you provide coupons for discounts at bookstore, for membership dues, or for events be sure to be extremely specific - including the expiration date and if it's transferable to others. Be very specific with drink coupons too - either in your printed materials or on the tickets themselves.

2. Raffle tickets and other fundraising events: If you need to raise a certain amount of money for a fundraising activity to be viable, be sure to include a statement that indicates what would trigger it not happening, and how contributed funds will be returned. Also consider the potential for a staff or electronic error. If an entry is not properly received and accounted for by your e-commerce system and/or staff be sure to include that you can only return their contribution (and not compensate for a lost opportunity).

3. Association Prizes: If you give a prize, such as entry to a convention or "free dues", be sure it's very specific as to the year, along with its value. If it's an event, what is specifically covered in the prize and the exact location. And if it's transferable. And if there's any potential for cash value instead. So there's no confusion later. For example, if someone wins "free dues" and already doesn't have to pay dues, what happens?

Check your expiration dates

2009-11-11T23:41:00.003-05:00

It's not just food that has expiration dates. Check out these association expiration dates, so you don't learn them the hard way ....

1. Conference call dial-in numbers: Found out my "use anytime" dial in and passcodes expired when I didn't use for 6 months. Learned it when dialing in 2 minutes before everyone else. If you use the same conference call numbers all the time, find out if something makes it expire.

2. Batteries on smoke/carbon monoxide detectors: Change them as often as you'd change the ones at home.

3. Vendor contracts: Especially if you inherit contracts you didn't execute, might want to check all of them to see what makes them expire - a date, a change of ownership, an action .... (or what makes a price increase).

4. Lease agreements: If your copier or other equipment has a date where you have to notify to either purchase or a new term start - find out what that is. Your option to buy or cancel contracts might expire at a date you don't expect (i.e., well before the end of the term).

5. Certificates of Deposits: Financial institutions will alert you of maturity of a CD; along with the terms you presently have. If you allow it to roll-over it may not do it anywhere near the rate you initially had - and also may not renew at the highest rate they offer. You may have to ask to get a higher renewal interest rate. Be sure to check the maturity dates so you aren't renewed well below an interest rate amount you'd want.

Buying your way into a community (aka, tweets for sale)

2009-11-01T16:11:00.003-05:00

Just about everything in the meeting biz is open for sponsorship. But should Tweets be for sale?

I've been reading about "sponsored tweets" - where someone on Twitter will "sell" their willingness to talk about your product to their own community - that is, to their own blog and/or Twitter readers/followers. May just be for personal financial profit (or to get what they "talk about" free) - or may be part of a sponsorship package like getting paid to put a company's name on a sign. Trouble is, does the reader know it's a paid advertisement or endorsement? SHOULD the reader (also known as "the community") know?

The FTC has said yes - that anyone getting something free to tweet or blog about; or anyone getting paid to tweet about them should disclose it.

Some in the blogging community don't like that idea. I don't understand the problem with disclosing when you're getting paid to talk about a product - traditional media discloses with the word "advertisement". At meetings, we use the words "sponsored by" along with corporate or individual names - which tells everyone in attendance that they paid to fund something in particular.

Couldn't tweets just add the letters ADV to any sponsored tweet so the community of readers/followers knows that the person mentioning it got paid to do that advertisement? Paid tweets, or tweets based on getting free products, should not be confused with a genuine unpaid personal endorsement.

It's all about transparency, authenticity and ethics. If you get paid to "talk" about something, disclose that payment or freebie to your readers/community.

Conferences: A Helpful Ribbon

2009-10-30T19:14:00.005-04:00

Ever go to a conference and not know how to easily identify members from your own state? A colleague has ribbons made with the state name that he sends to state attendees in advance (to insert in conference badges). He can identify them, they can identify each other, and it lets others know where they're from.

Building Leaders: 6 Skills to Develop (or Have)

2009-10-26T22:27:00.004-04:00

Can an engineering school also build leaders? A Boston Globe article relays the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has added leadership training to its undergraduate engineering curriculum - to help its students with superior technical skills succeed in the workplace environment.

MIT takes engineering students who may be introverted and/or acutely aware of their analytical/technical excellence - and teaches them leadership and management skills aren't "silly", time-wasting or out of reach.

MIT's engineering leadership program identifies the following skills, among others, to develop:

"* Ability to assess risk and take initiative.
* Willingness to make decisions in the face of uncertainty.
* Urgency and the will to deliver objectives on time in the face of constraints or obstacles.
* Resourcefulness and flexibility.
* Trust and loyalty in a team setting.
* Relating to others."

I believe these are the same skills needed for association leaders (volunteers and staff). MIT got it right. Even for non-engineers.

How to Not Ruin Black Pants

2009-10-25T15:46:00.002-04:00

As someone who doesn't like to travel with more than just a computer bag, it's a sad situation to completely ruin a favorite pair of black pants that didn't wrinkle and fit better than any others.

Real Simple magazine (Nov. '09) has these tips for black pants: (for those who don't want the time and cost of eternally dry cleaning)

1. Don't wash them as much. Wear 4-5 times between washings.
2. Turn pants inside out to minimize color loss.
3. Choose a short, delicate cycle.
4. Use specialized detergent for cold water loads, such as Tide Coldwater. Chlorine in tap water is apparently "color-sucking."
5. Hang or lay the pants flat to dry. Don't throw them in the dryer.
6. Buy pants with fabrics that hold dark dyes well - washable wool blend or nylon.

RIP, favorite black pants.

Tips to Running Better Meetings

2009-10-23T19:45:00.002-04:00

Kudos to Judith Lindenau who created this SlideShare presentation with great meeting management tips. All Boards and committee chairmen need to learn (and use) these basics.

Productive Meetings

View more presentations from Judith Lindenau.

9 Ways to Find Association Member Twitter Users

2009-10-21T12:22:00.005-04:00

I've decided this is like the beginning days of email, where associations need to find their member Twitter users and not just expect them to find us.

Nine ways to find your own members using Twitter:

1. Add a line/space for Twitter name on all membership applications and registration forms - online and paper
2. Add a line for Twitter name on all course verification forms
3. Continuously include info in e-newsletter about some of what you're posting on Twitter so it's clear to members there might be something valuable and unique out there (note: if you're just using Twitter to rehash the exact same info in your newsletter and Facebook - they aren't going to be happy to see the exact same content three times. HAVE to have something unique in EACH place if you want members to use ALL of your various media) - and include link to follow you when you do that
4. Add Follow Us on Twitter to Association blog, e-newsletters, Facebook, business cards, email, printed materials - needs to be part of culture
5. Add columns on TweetDeck that would include what your Association members may be tweeting about - for example, I have columns for Maine, Maine home, Maine real estate, Maine Association of REALTORS, Maine Realtors - and immediately Follow and Retweet something they've posted (if it applies)
6. Have special seating for Twitter users at your conferences and meetings (and be sure there's extension cords and wireless) - and then find out who they are
7. Promote a hashtag and/or tweet-up to coincide with an association event and see who shows up
8. If you offer a social media class that includes how to set up Twitter, follow-up with students by email to see if they did it - and what they're using on Twitter (note: if you're not offering classes - start offering classes)
9. Pay attention to your members who are friends and fans on Facebook - if it's clear from their posts they're also writing for a Twitter handle, connect with them that way too. Such as tweeting "Glad to find these members on Twitter: (@ names)"

Follow me on Twitter.
Follow my Association on Twitter.

What Associations Can Learn from Blog Action Day

2009-10-15T11:16:00.003-04:00

Each year many thousands of bloggers around the world focus on a single topic for one day. This year the Blog Action Day focus is climate change.

You can play a role in climate change professionally and personally:

How we use energy plays a significant role in what happens with the climate in the future. A bad economy made many people, businesses and families take a strong look at how we use energy. There are money-saving and energy-saving steps such as reducing number of live meetings, encouraging car-pooling, turning down the thermostat in your building, setting timers on your office and home thermostats (to ensure they go down), and really researching what else may lower energy use and related costs. As associations, we can also engage in the public policy debates and decisions that will impact climate change - even if it means additional burden or cost to implement. We're also able to continuously educate about tax incentives, energy programs, and details related to our specific industries.

The success of the concept of Blog Action Day can also be applied within Associations:

1. Polling bloggers and members to see what topic they'd like for focus;
2. Creating your own Blog Action Day on that topic;
3. Ask related industries, media bloggers, others to participate too - and promote their involvement;
4. Designing a badge for use on blogs and web sites that promote the topic;
5. Bringing together those who blog and twitter to work together on that topic by having the one day blog and twitter focus;
6. Adding a call to action and fundraising component, if it applies - if it's a topic worth writing about, readers may want to actually do something - including contribute - show them how;
7. Keep the communication lines open with those who participate.

Helpful Tip: How to Not Cry

2009-10-14T20:00:00.003-04:00

Got this tip on Twitter (@christytj), but had to be sure it worked before posting. It works:

Who knew: If you're tearing up at a bad moment, just clear your throat. Then lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth - makes you unable to cry.

8 Things Associations Should Think About: H1N1

2009-09-28T23:34:00.004-04:00

At a recent meeting of association execs, an infectious disease professional gave us really good advice to guide our association activities, policies and meetings - related to H1N1 virus.

1. Proactive respiratory etiquette. Stay home if sick, cough correctly, wash hands.

2. Put reminders on all agendas and meeting materials. Stay home if sick, wash hands.

3. Be lenient with refund rules. Even if just for a year, reconsider no refund policies if it means sick may attend because don't want to lose what they paid.

4. Clean shared surfaces. Don't share computers or phones. Wipe down chairs, tables and desks.

5. Be equipped. Have hand gel (with at least 60% alcohol) and tissues available. Have pens at registration desk. Do not share your pen with anyone.

6. No more candy dishes and think about buffets. Don't dig for M&Ms. If salad bar and buffet meals, have hand gel available at start and end of the lines. Especially if having dozens of servers at buffets for every item doesn't make sense for either time or cost.

7. Prepare for time when live meetings may not be an option. Experiment with webinars, phone meetings, and other remote options in the event a pandemic rules out live group meetings. Look at your meeting contracts and discuss pandemic potential for contract guarantees.

8. Look at office documentation and staff cross-training. Imagine if 40% of your staff was out. Can someone else perform necessary or important functions? Have a plan. Now.

Travel Tips: When Bringing Your Own GPS

2009-09-20T10:38:00.004-04:00

If you take your own GPS to use with rental cars, here are 2 tips:

1. Program in all possible addresses as destinations before you leave home. That includes the airport, the rental car return location, your hotel, meetings, restaurants, etc. So much easier than fumbling with papers every time you get in the car (as I have been doing).

2. Bring directions to everywhere anyway. Never know when satellite might not pick up quickly.

Any other tips?

Listserv Traps and Annoyances

2009-09-17T09:35:00.009-04:00

I serve on many groups, committees and boards, so invariably someone will suggest that a listserv be set up for everyone to communicate. And the same things seem to go wrong:

1. The moderator of the group adds on people others don't know are there. And someone will totally offend someone they didn't know is included on the list.

2. Group members misuse it like "Reply to All" and all of a sudden swarms of "yes", "I agree", "see you there", etc. messages, along with "out of office" auto-responders, start arriving. Or worse, someone believes he/she is personally replying to the sender only, but the entire group gets a message intended for one. And it's usually something that should not have been in an email.

3. Moderator decides to turn on the feature to moderate posts before they're distributed. Maybe it's to weed out the one word responses, auto-responders, mistakes. Or maybe it's to control what is "allowed" to be distributed. Plus, moderation of listserv posts nearly always delays distribution of the email.

My thoughts:

1. If a listserv is said to be a specific group - such as all state association executives, all local presidents, only those serving on a committee or board of directors - then the moderator of the list should be required to also announce or list anyone else who is added so participants are aware.

2. If a listserv is a huge group - which I'll define as over 100 (and sometimes it can be a few thousand) then no one should really expect that to be confidential. May as well be saying it into a microphone, because you are saying it into a microphone. Actually any email could be further distributed, which can be forgotten regardless of who is/is not included.

3. From time to time the moderator needs to remind everyone of "rules", whatever those may be, so users don't get completely annoyed. For example, can't market yourself/services, or be sure to include what you're replying to in the subject line, or please reply directly to the poster and not the group on certain requests.

4. Always set the response default to the sender, and not the group (but still have a group response option). Some listservs one person asks for info to be sent directly to them - and then several in the group will completely ignore it and respond to everyone.

5. Sometimes they just don't (or won't) learn. I have some on committees who absolutely can't resist "Reply to All" so they get their own email with everyone else getting it via a list.

6. What is your real role as a listserv moderator? Is it to add commentary to posts (which some do, and I like), to ensure users aren't getting overwhelmed with noise (i.e., error messages, auto-responders, and one-word responses), or are you using it to control what goes out? Have to admit I'm writing this post because yesterday I sent a post to a group of 20 on a listserv, it got delayed with a "moderator will have to approve" message, then 3 hours later the moderator sent my message out to the group under her own name, and I got an auto-notification rejection saying my message was rejected for "no reason given". Think that completely annoyed me?

7. How timely is timely? Sometimes listservs are set up with the thought that they expedite communications. That is true provided no one is moderating. There are listservs where I've had time-sensitive communications that end up not being sent until 2-4 days later. I don't even like 2-4 hour delays, much less 2-4 days. Therefore, depending on what my role is with any given group, may still maintain my own address book group if think I might ever need something to be "immediate" - knowing the listserv moderator may not be constantly available to "okay" a message. Be sure the moderator of a listserv is aware of the expectations of the group if all messages aren't going to be authorized for immediate sending.

Did I leave anything out? : ) [Note: No clue if spelling listserv or listserve is correct, or if both are correct]

12 more ways to cut expenses ... like colleges

2009-09-12T23:47:00.004-04:00

Time Magazine has a list of creative ways colleges are finding to cut significant expenses. Some of these could apply to associations and similar things we do ....

1. Cut back on frequency of trash removal, lawn mowing, window/sidewalk washing
2. Cut programs and unpopular courses
3. Identify few days of unpaid leave for faculty and staff; hiring freeze
4. Eliminate breakfasts
5. Use tap water at events
6. Skip shrimp and wine at parties
7. Hold virtual instead of live (e.g., swim meet - each team's swimmers race in their home pool, and then they compare times to declare winners)
8. Eliminate one day of orientation
9. Cut-back or eliminate certain free programs/services (e.g., printing, laundry)
10. Disconnect landlines in some departments
11. Don’t update land-line voice-mail systems “in this era of cell phones”
12. Go digital – move some publications online

Define "Daily"

2009-09-11T19:20:00.003-04:00

Sitting at O'Hare, and just overheard a business guy discussing an upset client. And I quote: "Our contract says that we'll accept the data daily. We do accept it daily, and we process it overnight, but we don't publish it or make it available for sometimes 2-3 days. We're living up to the agreement - we do accept it daily." Was immediately tempted to tap him on the shoulder and say that thinking is exactly what gets people who sign contracts into trouble.

The word "daily" can be problematic when not better defined:

1. Does the vendor understand your timing needs for what happens with data, not just when you're going to provide it to them? Be clear about any vendor timing requirement too.

2. Does "daily" mean every 24 hour time period, calendar days, business days ... what about holidays (and then what are those)? Be specific.

3. What if something might need an immediate change, and really can't wait 24 hours? Is it available for an extra fee, if the vendor wants to be nice, or just not possible at all? Find out.

Attorneys and staff who don't deal with data management issues may not realize that your frequency of sending data may not translate to the timing of what you need to happen with that data. Like the poor client of the guy on the phone.

Your association's logo in social media

2009-09-04T00:09:00.007-04:00

A recent announcement of a redesign of an association's corporate logo said they plan to use it in social media. But in social media most of their name is cut off because the logo design doesn't fit into the Facebook logo space for the News Feed. If designing for social media, shouldn't it fit? (Note: this pictured logo was only thing we had that stacked our name so at least the 2 key words in our name would show up in social media - the middle part, not so much)

Here are a few lessons learned (the hard way) about logos and names in social media:

1. Shrink it before you pick it. Many logos are initially designed for letterhead and web sites ... or potentially even a Page on Facebook. Those can easily accommodate various sized logos. Facebook isn't going to let you use that big logo in a thumbnail- and when it shrinks it smaller than a stamp you might just find you're only getting part of your logo. Same with Twitter.

Before adopting a corporate logo, especially if you plan to use it in social media, check out what it looks like in a News Feed on Facebook (note: your Fans aren't visiting your page, they're reading your association updates when they read about their family, colleagues and friends in the feed); and check out what your logo looks like on TweetDeck (for Twitter - the type of format that is the actual view of your logo). If half your lettering or logo is missing, you may need a bit of a redesign; or a complete do-over.

2. Ask your logo designer if he/she uses social media - and see what their own logo looks like there. Unfortunately you may be working from the outset with someone who isn't thinking how small a space is really involved. Ask your designer to give you the version that can fit in the actual minuscule space on TweetDeck and Facebook News Feed. And give those dimensions if necessary.

3. Fax it and photocopy it before you pick it. I know, some believe that faxes are dinosaurs and no one uses them anymore in the days of social media. Well, in our office we get plenty of faxes (and send plenty too). We once had to scrap a logo (after it had been selected, of course) because it turned into a big blob when it faxed or photocopied. Even looked terrible when it lost its color on a typical computer printer. Not pretty. Not our image.

4. Think about a person's face vs. logo as the corporate image/brand. A company we work with all the time has a definite logo. But out of the blue a woman started appearing as the corporate image instead of their logo. I assume the woman in the picture really is the person tweeting. But it's awkward because I'm not connecting her to the corporation - and my interest stopped because I wasn't trying to follow an employee; I wanted to know what the company was up to, even if it's people in the company doing the updating. That is not to be confused with companies having employees tweet under their own personal names and pictures. This is a scenario where it's the company's name and a woman's picture. I never had a clue if she had a name.

5. Your Twitter name is HOW many characters? My association's Twitter name is 14 characters long (including the @). That's actually fairly lengthy as names go on Twitter, but it does reflect our membership. A big point of the whole social media thing is the hope that people will retweet (forward) association info you post to their own followers. So anything I post needs to leave space for others to include, in my instance, 17 characters (for the letters RT then a space then the 14 character name) JUST for including us as the source. That's a lot when only have 140 characters to work with AND others may want to add a few characters of commentary ... so need to leave space for that too. So an initial post you make should have way less than 140 characters if you'd like it to go somewhere. Try not to fill up the whole 140 yourself unless you want everyone to just read and not send.

6. Your hashtag is HOW many characters? With each additional character an organization might add onto a hashtag it decides to use, it's one less character those using Twitter have to work with. Be kind. Be short. (Note: a hashtag is the symbol # followed by a few characters that will catalogue info from multiple sources on Twitter)

Social media brings plenty of challenges to associations - including what our logo, name and image literally look like in communications.

Interesting topic for business dinners

2009-08-29T21:53:00.005-04:00

A topic that I found interesting at two recent business dinners (which I brought up, thus the fact it happened twice) is what's on your bucket list. Bucket list being what you'd really like to do or accomplish before you die (a.k.a., "kick the bucket"). And what you've already done that might have been on that list.

It's really fascinating what people want to do. And it never seems to involve a job (current or future).

Also ... here's an earlier post on other conversation starters.

3 Blog Posts to Think About

2009-08-26T21:45:00.003-04:00

Here are 3 blog posts that made me think:

1. The Incoming Chairman Speech. Do we want to hear about their passion for the association or their passion for the industry? When they're introduced, what are we saying about our incoming chairman? Interesting insight from Kevin Holland, who has clearly heard a lot of annual meeting speeches.

2. Why CEOs Don't Blog. Can a CEO really write an Op-Ed on any controversial topic (not connected to their position) and claim it's just personal opinion? When are we "not" considered the CEO in our thoughts or actions from the standpoint of association leadership and membership? Maggie McGary questions how the "personal brand" applies.

3. 7 Ways the Internet is Improving our Writing. That's right, Jeff Cobb says social media and the Internet are improving our writing skills, not ruining them: We're writing more, writing for an actual audience, learning to be concise, blending with other media, and more. Are we becoming improved writers because we have no choice with the expansion of needing to write in so many formats?

18 tips for association execs - picked up virtually (from ASAE09)

2009-08-19T22:49:00.010-04:00

Here's an assortment of tips that I picked up on Twitter and other social media during the ASAE conference (that I did not attend in person.) Note: tried to credit the original person who posted a tweet, picture, or post. Info in brackets is my additional comment.

1. When permanent marker accidentally gets on whiteboard, write over it with fresh whiteboard marker and wipe off (@cindyhugg)

2. 10-20-30 rule for effective presentations: 10 slides, speak 20 minutes max, allow 30 minutes for questions (@PBBsRealm)

3. How are you recognizing the virtual volunteer? Special web badge, or signature on their web page to recognize time (in months, not years) (@christyj)

4. Do you track member twitter accounts, blogs, etc. in your AMS? Should you? (@cardcat)

5. Do you know about http://www.namechk.com/? Check it out. You register your name across many social media platforms. (@carolvangorp)

6. Need job description for staff with social media roles - and volunteers; plus code of conduct for how members interact with each other. (@christyj)

7. When calling lapsed members, don't say "we haven't seen you lately" - Just reminds them! Ask to participate in survey, etc. [I think alternate approach like this needed for conference attendees who have not registered yet too] (@christyj)

8. Mobile marketing has potential for dues reminders, voting, special offers, news, more [Need to come up with "special offers"] (@MemberClicks)

9. Email annoyances: reply all, distribution lists, "thank you," forwards, subject lines, buried action, logo attachments, etc. [Sometimes I will send 1 or 2 in a group their own individual email instead of group email if they are serial reply to all peeps] (@aaronwoloweic)

10. FYI is the vaguest subject line most overused in the world. [FYI - I am big offender on this one] (@aaronwoloweic)

11. Use Build-a-Bear someway, somehow [Apparently long lines for in in St. Louis booth at trade show - "even Candy Spelling" stood in line for one] (@msazuri - guessing this pic is the infamous Build-a-Bear?)

12. Do something creative with camera phone postcards - post on Twitter (@msazuri)

13. Consider creating a twibbon for an association cause. [But less is more - need room for person's pic]

14. Time for all presenters to get some training on news-style TV reporting. It will help with virtual talks [such as using Ustream and interacting with virtual audience too] (@jeffhurt)

15. Use "the Favorite Game" as an interesting way to create an online interview for blog or website post (Kristin Clarke)

16. Ask attendees what they'd like for the next year's conference, and post them on your association site. At a minimum, shows you heard them. (@ljunker)

17. Think about why and how you use "celebrities" - Candy Spelling at an association executives conference? At the trade show? On a stage? [I don't even want to talk about my experiences with Fabio and Erik Estrada at NAR meetings - or how surreal it was to hear Florence Henderson stop by a National Directors meet to sing "God Bless America"]

18. Last tip: Read attendee blog summaries to see what they learned ... or call an attendee and ask!

Thanks to all who presented and posted!

15 Thoughts from a Virtual Attendee (ASAE09)

2009-08-18T22:40:00.016-04:00

First, the acronym: ASAE09 is the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) 2009 Meeting & Expo - held in Toronto the past few days. This year I was a virtual attendee. Meaning, I didn't go to Toronto - but tried to see what I could learn through social media, while it was happening; along with seeing what to possibly incorporate into my own organization and/or presentations.

What I learned about conference sites, materials, and preparing for social media users:

1. Conference site needs to change before, during and after a conference to reach changing audience needs.
2. Post handouts early. Helps attendees decide what to attend. Great for virtual attendees too. [Note: Great handouts posted anyone can look at now too!]
3. Keep schedule and speaker bios posted so virtual attendees know what/who in the world the Twitter users are talking about when they shorten session and speaker names to "Li" and "Jeff DC".
4. Don't over-complicate it. Those attending virtually likely already use social media.
5. Live-stream when can, and if on video post on YouTube as soon as possible. Loved those.
6. Try UStream for individual sessions. It's free and it worked. One speaker, Jeff De Cagna, totally engaged virtual attendees by conversing with us on UStream and taking twitter questions while live audience did group exercises. [Note: fast forward at least 15 min if you watch the video]
7. Have your meeting rooms prepared for attendees with electronics - wireless, extension cords, outlets.
8. Surveying attendees. Live attendees got an electronic survey. Virtual should too.
9. Consider prize drawing. Trade show and live attendees had prize drawings, announced on Twitter. Maybe there should have been one for virtual attendees? (and NOT for "most tweets")
10. Add Twitter to announcement options - ASAE announced range of lost & found items on Twitter. Also posts with links to names of award recipients and names of prize winners. That's easy to do.

If you are tweeting a conference: (and want to be nice to virtual attendees)

1. Use your camera phone more. I was dying to see what the Build-A-Bears that created huge lines in the ASAE trade show actually looked like (the bears themselves, not the line); the "cool" business cards mentioned; and who Velma is (the incoming chair of ASAE). No pics. Although I did find Velma [Hart] on ASAE site.

2. Thank you for using the hashtag and adding links. Found so much info due to the correct use of hashtags by attendees using Twitter. There were 500+ who sent at least one tweet. Many were likely tweeting for their own followers - but all virtual attendees could benefit from their use of links to handouts, etc.

3. Be careful with big twibbon (or adjust your photo accordingly). [Sorry: new word alert - click and you'll recognize a twibbon] Noticed Livestrong, anti-Michael Vick helmets, a planet-theme globe/ball and words Yap and Star image across an opaque gray bar. Virtual attendees may not know you, so don't obstruct your face [Note: on TweetDeck twibboned image can look like a star is coming out of your nose or a ball coming out of your mouth.] A clear unobstructed photo or avatar will help virtual attendees see you.

Lesson: Twibbons can be a great way to show a cause. But try them out for size. Less is more when dealing with extremely small images that display.

4. Keep showing us tips. Really appreciated when tweets included very specific tips - that's what we hope to leave any conference with - even virtually. Will post my favorite tips in separate post tomorrow.

5. Teach by example. A few attendees announced on Twitter they wanted to share a cab from/to airport. Good idea. I'm always scanning cab lines seeing if any chance someone at same conference to share a cab with. Will try a "who's in line at O'Hare" tweet. As we watch how ASAE and its attendees use so many communications methods, it's helpful in learning what to do (or not do or change) in our own associations.

Thanks to all involved!

A Snappy Video about AE Connecting ...

2009-08-16T18:44:00.003-04:00

Check out this music video ASAE did for their Annual Meeting & Expo in Toronto ...

1. Singers and musicians from various associations;
2. The messages: "connect with me," "reaching out a hand to hold," "when you want some understanding," "an ear to lend," etc.
3. On YouTube the same day it played at the meeting.

This profession would be less enjoyable and far more difficult without AE connections.

Those Cartoon Avatars on Twitter and Facebook

2009-08-11T12:47:00.004-04:00

I've been noticing cute and fairly accurate cartoon avatars of people I know on Facebook and Twitter. Asked a colleague where she created hers. Here's the answer:

"It was something AMC did to promote the upcoming season of Mad Men. Here's the link."

Not a red enough hair color option for me though!

Affirmation of the Day

2009-08-10T15:03:00.003-04:00

The original version of this quote is in a post on a real estate agent site (AgentGenius) - but I believe by switching one word [in brackets], can apply to association execs. While granting that there are those things beyond repair and strengthening [see Serenity Prayer for that].

Today's affirmation:

"I am in a constant state of evaluation - I will repair only what is broken, strengthen what is weak, revitalize what is worn, and will always be open-minded to change and the desires of my [members] - they are what matter most."

Team building idea for a challenging economy

2009-08-07T09:34:00.009-04:00

With association line items on the chopping block in a challenging economy, team-building efforts and planning sessions can be restructured, downsized or entirely eliminated. I recently attended a session that had limited actual issues discussion or training, and instead focused on all of us getting to know each other and working together on random things. Because the session was in a destination known for arts, the focus was art.

The activities: arts and crafts. Materials are easily found in many homes or available at low costs from many stores: Colored chalk, watercolor paint, magazines (for cutting out pictures), magic markers, glitter, yarn, pipe cleaners, canvas, etc. Facilitators, if needed, can be local art teachers (from schools, camps, studios, youth programs, churches).

In one activity we worked in groups to define the coming year on giant canvases. Did individual drawings on notebook paper, then discussed what a design would look like on a flip chart, then put the image on a canvas (the size of a queen-sized bed) using variety of art supplies. Bonus: We discussed the coming year.

In another activity, we went to an art studio (could just as easily have been a large garage, barn or school/church activity room) and worked in small groups to do self-portraits. One group of 6 did watercolors, another did "Picassos" of themselves with chalk, another had materials for 3-dimension "sculptures", the last did collages using magazine pictures. It was stuff I used to do in vacation bible school when a tween - except without the religion. Then we judged pictures on "best in show", "looks most like the artist", "most likely to sell commercially." Bonus: We discovered real artistic talents in the group.

Thoughts:
1. Team-building can be creative and inexpensive. There is value in fun group activities.
2. Think about the types of activities youth groups do - how about a whiffle ball or kickball game? With room for cheerleaders for those who'd rather support from the sidelines. Even pizza and bowling could be lower cost then big dinner events. Or remember doing paper mache with a certain theme on coke bottles?
3. Have you considered facilities like school buildings and art studios for your session?
4. Shorten the update part. Session ended with a 45-minute summary of what happening and expected in each area of organizational focus. Presenters had two-minutes each to give highlights for their area of focus. That was actually plenty of time and participants still managed to get overview of scope of everything needing to be accomplished in the coming year. Does association staff traditionally spend too much time on the "update" sections thinking leaders have to get lots and lots of details about everything? What happens if they get 2 minutes each?

A bonus to participation in association activities is often characterized as "the people I met." Give them a shared experience that doesn't have anything to do with debating issues or listening to updates the entire time.

Modern Grammar Rules?

2009-08-04T22:19:00.003-04:00

It was bad enough that my daughter had a "talk" with me about some unwritten rule about frequency of posting pictures with status on Facebook ... but then I found this in my Twitter feed (via @joerominiecki):

"Want to show everyone how freakin' old you are? Keep putting two spaces after periods when you type." Which then points to a Grammar Girl article.

Uh oh, no two spaces? Read the article and you can learn the difference between monospaced fonts on typewriters and proportional fonts on computers. With the latter leading to the "logical" use of one space after a period.

I've been typing (quickly, I might add) since 8th grade typing class. Not sure this can be unlearned.

Separately, the same article also differentiates when an animal is a "who" and not a "that." And agrees the beloved family pet gets to be a who, while you can consider anyone else's pet or random animal a that.