The Blogoclump

Get ready for 2008!

Read & discuss at jeffpi1@gmail.com (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)'s blog.

So far, 20 great years with association presidents, and I don’t plan to start having bad years.

Here are 6 tips for enjoying your incoming president … and your next year …

1. Decide you’re going to enjoy the president and the year. Seriously, making the decision to be happy is a big step towards figuring out how. I’ve seen association executives with absolute certainty that it’s hopeless and miserable even before the first day with the new president - at least try to figure it out. Starting a gratitude journal might make you feel better. It can be really easy to overlook the great parts if you aren’t trying to identify them. I strongly believe it is our job to ensure the President doesn’t leave a year wishing they hadn’t done it or worse, hating their year. And I don’t want to hate the year either.

2. Say thank you. It’s a big commitment to be president of any organization. Appreciate that volunteering their time and expertise. Associations have elected leaders - it’s the way this profession works. Presidents are human too - they appreciate knowing that at least one person is noticing what they’re giving up or what they’ve managed to accomplish — and the person who knows is likely you. Each of my presidents has made their own set of accomplishments — and if I’m the one who sees it and knows it the least I can do is say thanks.

3. Say yes. Early in my career I learned not to say no to the president unless there’s a really good reason to say no (i.e., like a legal reason or one that couldn’t be remotely supported with association budget/policy). Chances are good you’ll end up doing whatever it is you want to say no to anyway - so you can spare both of you the baggage of going through the disagreement phase as it leads to the same outcome anyway. Or you may regret how that new ill-will can snowball. Most of the time what some say no to is fairly inconsequential from time or management standpoint - some new ideas are really good ideas, some things you may believe are ridiculous could turn out to be really great. The one way to find out is try. Then you’ll both find out. [Note: this concept really can co-exist with strong budget and strategic/business planning]

4. Be clear about what you need, what you want or what you are concerned about. At least give your president the opportunity to help you. If you have absolute lines in the sand, explain clearly and early. If you believe your benefits are not equitable to what your position should provide - tell them (as one of my past presidents noted, “how would WE know?”) If you have a feeling you have a reason to be concerned, then share it - one year I was extremely concerned being chairman of a large national committee would make me appear less committed to my own association - and because I told my president that concern, I found he’d sit in the audience among many hundreds of association executives while I chaired national meetings because he wanted me to know I was supported. Being a strong association exec does not mean you can’t have a weakness or problem your president can help solve.

5. Communicate. I have an incoming president checklist for identifying (by directly asking) communications preferences. Even little things like who notifies people of appointments, signing name on letters, what timing is off limits can harm the relationship because there are such varying info needs, approval needs, and personal needs. Let your president be an individual, respect communications wishes - and you’ll improve your own life.

6. You are not a practitioner, so decide you could be wrong. No matter how brilliant any association exec may be, if you’re not out there in the field practicing in that world, you don’t get to be the expert - because how could you be. The members live with the outcomes of association decisions on their industry - staff often can just move on to the next issue. If your members don’t want something, let it go.

As I transition to the next president, I’d like to personally thank my 2007 President E. Pat Foster (pic) on this last day of 2007. A few notes how Pat exemplifies the above tips:

1. Knew at the outset we’d like working together. And we did.
2. I thank her, she thanks me. We do understand what each of us had to do this year to make the organization move.
3. She had several new ways of doing things - including proactive listening to company owners - very beneficial. Listening and asking questions is what she does. The more she listened, the more everyone talked … the more we both learned.
4. I never regretted sharing concerns - even the times it made me look weak. She even commented on each of my first blog postings so I wouldn’t feel friendless in the blog world. It’s nice to be supported.
5. Good news for me when President prefers email and loves to read.
6. When your president has clients and customers every day, and is living a life too - opinion and insight into the industry are real.

Best wishes to all association executives for a happy 2008 ….

Read & discuss at CindyAE's blog.

A friend asked me recently about adding live chat to their business web site. This is the kind of functionality where site visitors can click a button to initiate a chat session with a company representative. Some of these will even pop-up a dialogue box on their own, asking the visitor if they need assistance […]

Read & discuss at david@highcontext.com (C. David Gammel)'s blog.

New Year’s resolutions are notoriously ill-fated, abandoned within days, not weeks. Then, discouraged, we indulge in the forbidden behavior because, after all, it’s hopeless. I rarely remain conscious of my good intentions, much less follow through on them. Maybe resolutions…

Read & discuss at Ann's blog.

  Luckily we caught it in time.
Yesterday morning I sat in my favorite chair in our front room and smelled something really obnoxious.
Raindrop was sitting at my feet - so I blamed her.
A few minutes later, I smelled it again - UGH!

Raindrop was blamed once more.
James took her for a walk.
I left the room to […]

Read & discuss at Cynthia D'Amour's blog.

There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Here are mine for the year. I do think that these statistics shed light on what were some of the more interesting and engaging posts of the year. It also gives me a chance to say thanks to the websites sending traffic over here and to the organizations whose employees read this blog.

12,151 visits for the year, 6,807 absolute unique visitors. 25,198 pageviews, 2.07 pages per visit. Peak total RSS subscriber count: 292 (peak normal feed count + peak combo feed count, eight short of my goal). 229 blog posts for the year.

Top posts for the year:

1. 13 Tips to Help You Pass the CAE Exam (741 unique views)
2. A Baker’s Dozen CAE Tips & Tip #1 (327)
3. Tip #2: Think Like a 60 Year Old White Man (321)

Top posts published in 2007:

1. The Tweet is My Kink: Don’t Make Fun of Members (226)
2. The ASAE2007 Backchannel (196)
3. Online Social Networking Continues Heating Up (182)

Most commented posts (three way tie):

1. Seven Simple Tips for New Bloggers (11)
2. I’ve Encountered a Job Hazard (11)
3. Is There a Statute of Limitations on Commenting? (11)

Top referring sites:

1. Acronym (405)
2. Blogoclump (290)
3. HighContext (174)

Top network locations:

1. ASAE & The Center (342)
2. Executive Director, Inc. (99)
3. NACHRI (79)

Tagged: Association Management; Associations; CAE; Certified Association Executive

Read & discuss at bkmcae@gmail.com (Ben Martin)'s blog.

Read & discuss at Tony Rossell's blog.

I believe anyone who buys a Brooks Brothers non-iron cotton shirt becomes a believer. Doesn’t wrinkle, the crease you won’t need to iron stays, machine washable, less trips to the dry cleaner. For men, women and boys. Order one. You’ll see.

Read & discuss at CindyAE's blog.

Do you have a message you’d like to share with the world, or at least New York’s Times Square revelers, on New Year’s Eve? This year, you can get your message printed on a piece of confetti by typing in your wish on “Wishing Wall Online.” I just sent a few.

Read & discuss at Sue Pelletier's blog.

  And a less of me!
For the last few days, I’ve been creating an action plan for my 2008 resolutions.

My big focus is going to be on losing some weight.
James offered to join my healthy quest
He’s going work on a more defined six-pack.

I wanted to find some concrete goals to train towards.
In the weekly Jr. League of Ann […]

Read & discuss at Cynthia D'Amour's blog.