The Blogoclump

We have all experienced the frustration of sending a large PowerPoint or data file, only to get a bounce-back saying the attachment is too large, or worse yet, it just goes into a black hole. So you don’t even know…

Read & discuss at rjohnston@ironworks.com (Ironworks Consulting)'s blog.

If you missed the last issue of ASAE and the Center’s Technoscope e-newsletter, you should check out Jacqui Olkin’s article on “Demystifying Taxonomy.” It is a great overview of what a taxonomy is, why it is important, and the key…

Read & discuss at rjohnston@ironworks.com (Ironworks Consulting)'s blog.

Read & discuss at Jeffrey Cufaude's blog.

Late last week, Matt Baehr asked how we association professionals can justify our existence in the face of ridiculously easy group forming. This week he posted some of the comments and his own characteristically astute insight.

I’d like to go a step further and assert that there are many things that make association professionals so fantastic that we could teach our corporate counterparts a thing or five.

1. Embracing Teamwork–I was really excited when KD Paine, the Goddess of PR measurement, praised non-profits at BlogPotomac. She found it so refreshing when a non-profit client willingly shared interdepartmental data across the whole organization. Great association professionals have this same sense of teamwork within their organizations. Nothing is too sensitive or too sacred if it will help us understand our members. And data is just one small example of the ways we all chip in to achieve remarkable goals with limited staff and resources. We work together because we’re working toward an absolute common goal, creating value for our members.
   
2. Nurturing Community–For every loyalty program and membership deal floating around corporate America, precious few succeed in creating community. And while we association pros have been slow to adopt social media technologies, we are light years ahead in understanding how to nurture and sustain communities. The truth is, no corporation can build community like a great, member-centric association. (Will I get push-back for saying that? So be it!) And great association professionals are the people who facilitate and harness the power of those communities.
3. Doing What’s Best for Everyone–Corporate America is competitive. Sometimes what’s best for the company’s bottomline is not what’s best for the industry or profession. Even in the movement toward corporate responsibility, there are a lot of companies who are just paying lip service. Association professionals work to protect entire industries and the livelihood of thousands of their members. And when there’s a goal that we can’t accomplish alone, we willingly partner with groups that a corporate mindset would view as competition.
4. Sharing the Reigns–Great association professionals value and seek out new volunteers and people with great ideas, even when they aren’t members. We honor our boards and our CEOs (chief elected officers) while at the same time honoring grassroots feedback. We have a long, valued history of sharing control with our members that we dutifully uphold.
5. Incubating Talent–Even the best corporate training programs can never have the diversity of experience or breadth of scope that a great association can provide. Association professionals continually enable the advancement of members and provide learning and leadership opportunities. In fact, great association pros are often the only people who have the knowledge, time, initiative and network of experts to enable the best learning and networking experiences possible.

As much as we association bloggers call for change, we’re all very proud to be counted as association professionals. And I think we’re all confident in the adaptive ability of association professionals to embrace and enable ridiculously easy group forming for the better.

And hey, if you work for a corporation, we association professionals are happy and eager to teach you all we know. After all, we spend a lot of time learning from all of you!

Hat tip to Saul Colt for making me think more deeply on this topic. BTW, it’s apparently Lindy Dreyer week on Saul’s blog. (I’m only blushing a little.) He’s just announced a new book he’s writing based on a little nudge I might have given him. Go Saul!

Read & discuss at Lindy Dreyer's blog.

I get press releases all the time about how a conference had record attendance or went over the top in some other way. But I have never, ever, as a journalist or as an attendee, heard of something like this e-mail Cindy at AE on the Verge talks about.
What makes it so striking is […]

Read & discuss at Sue Pelletier's blog.

ASAE have just announced the release of “The Power of Partnership: Principles and Practices for Creating Strategic Relationships Among Nonprofit Groups, For-Profit Organizations, and Government Entities”.

From their press release:

“Based on principles highlighted in the best-selling 7 Measures of Success and U.S. Chamber’s The Future of the Competitive Association, The Power of Partnership is a collaborative initiative of ASAE & The Center and first-time publication partner, the U.S. Chamber. The new publication is a result of case study research, qualitative analysis and collaboration between the organizations. It takes a look at the process of establishing successful partnerships between nonprofit organizations, between nonprofits and for-profit companies, and between nonprofit organizations and governmental entities.

“Organizations partner for any number of reasons, either to share resources, reach broader market segments or to develop and share new knowledge,” said ASAE President and CEO, John H. Graham IV, CAE. “It’s important to understand the way partnerships between organizations work to make them stronger and mutually beneficial. This joint publication of ASAE & The Center and our friends at the U.S. Chamber will guide associations in asking the right questions and making the right decisions.” “

Looks cool. Alliance building and strategic partnerships are a very useful strategic tool, particularly in this climate where the economy sucks. Pooling resources in large and small ways can be really beneficial to both parties. I don’t know if the book will talk about this in terms of innovation, but sharing information can be done in really innovative ways and be a win-win (as we say in the business).

Can’t wait to check the book out. And I dig the cover image!

Read & discuss at Maddie Grant's blog.

I’ve gotten feedback that the previous link to the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP summary of the changes to Form 990 and the implications to tax-exempt organizations doesn’t work for everyone. I’m not sure why, but try this link if the previous one didn’t work for you.

Read & discuss at Mickie Rops's blog.

I just started a new group on ASAE & The Center’s online directory. Join the Certification Network to meet and converse with certification professionals. There’s a place to have online discussions and to schedule get-togethers. If you are an ASAE member and you’re signed in, all you need to do is click to join the group. The default setting is that you’ll receive an e-mail alert when new discussions and events are scheduled. Thanks to…

Read & discuss at Mickie Rops's blog.

Jerry Jacobs and Jeff Glassie from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP have written an informative summary of the changes to Form 990 and the implications to tax-exempt organizations. Read it here.

Read & discuss at Mickie Rops's blog.

Dude. I am finding so much good “ease of use” stuff lately! Just heard about keotag.com from a post on the ASAE listserve (thanks Mimi!)

It’s an incredibly easy way to start listening for chatter about your association. Just plug in your name, keywords, President’s name, etc. into the search box, and then click on any one of 18 social site search engine icons, including Twitter, Bloglines, Google, YouTube, Technorati, Delicious, Digg, Reddit, Newsvine…

Then you can subscribe via RSS to individual searches (just click on the RSS button) or download all feeds for that particular keyword as an opml file.

For you techies, there’s also tag generators and social bookmark generators where you can create html code to drop into your blog posts and encourage readers to tag your stuff.

SO COOL.

Read & discuss at Maddie Grant's blog.