Acronym

Two weeks ago I shared a few thoughts on how the concept of curation might work (or is working) in the retail industry, and I promised to dig a little deeper into curation in the association context. That post drew some interesting comments, so first I recommend going back and reading them.

That discussion got me thinking a lot about the topic, and so I spent some time reading what others have written about content curation already (which is quite a lot). In the interest of practicing what I preach (and in not restating what others have already said much better than I could), I decided to gather and share a handful of the most useful resources I've found on content curation:

Where to start if you're new to "curation":

• Beth Kanter: "Content Curation Primer," October 4, 2011
• Rohit Bhargava: "The 5 Models Of Content Curation," March 31, 2011

On the actual job of curation:

• Steve Rosenbaum: "Content Curators Are The New Superheros Of The Web," April 16, 2012
• Robin Good: "Real-Time News Curation - The Complete Guide Part 5: The Curator Attributes And Skills," October 6, 2010
• Robin Good: "Real-Time News Curation - The Complete Guide Part 6: The Tools Universe," October 13, 2010
• Robert Bruce: "How to Dominate Your Industry like Drudge"

On associations' role as content curators:

• Ellen Behrens: "Content Curation," August 19, 2011
• Jeff Hurt: "The Person Who Chooses Your Conference Content Has All The Power," December 12, 2011
• Steve Drake: "In 'Content Fried' World, Associations Content Curation Can Benefit Members," February 14, 2012
• Aaron Wolowiec: "Associations as curators: Supporting your speakers, educators and facilitators to success," January 18, 2012
• Steve Rosenbaum: "Will Associations Become Filters for Digital Overload?" May 6, 2012
• Maggie McGary: "Why I Doubt Associations Will Become Filters for Digital Overload," May 9, 2012

More curated info about curation:

• "Net2 Think Tank Round-up: Curating Content," September 26, 2011
• "Content and Curation for Nonprofits," Scoop.It page curated by Beth Kanter
• "Content Curation for NonProfits," Scoop.It page curated by Ken Dickens

After all that reading, I came to a couple conclusions that I think can also help you approach curation at your association:

Curation is a philosophy, not a tactic. If you take some time to read some or all of these articles, you'll find that "curation" takes on a lot of different meanings and forms, depending on who you talk to. You might find that frustrating, particularly if you're looking for how-do-I-do-it-today advice, but I think curation is best viewed as a philosophy rather than a tactic. I like Rohit Bhargava's definintion, because it encompasses any range of methods that accomplish the same goal: "finding, grouping, organizing, or sharing the best and most relevant content on a specific issue."

You can apply that goal to just about any form of content that your association might produce, ranging from blogs and magazines to research and education. But make note of the wording: "the best and most relevant content," not "your best and most relevant content." That's the shift that associations have to make, from being the source of expertise to being the conveyer of expertise, regardless of the source. Viewed this way, curation is more of a new filter or lens through which to look at the things associations already do, rather than an entirely new source of value.

Real time vs. long tail. Of all the various forms that content curation can take, I see them mostly falling into one of two buckets, which I haven't seen clearly identified elsewhere:

• Real-time curation. This is the ongoing, day-to-day form of curation. It's how you keep your members up to date. The subject area can be wide (as wide as your association's profession, perhaps), and the criteria for selection expand from "best" and "relevant" to also include "new." This form can appeal to a big audience, but it has a short shelf life, as it needs constant attention. Think "today's top news."
• Long-tail curation. This is the long-term, highly specific form of curation. It's how you help your members dig deep into a topic. The subject area in each case is narrow, and the criteria for selection might be best described as "the absolute best" and "the most relevant." And the timeframe for selected content can go back for years, as long as the content stays relevant. This form appeals to a specific audience in each case, but it has a long shelf life. It could be maintained with only periodic updating. Think "Wikipedia."

Both of these forms can be valuable for associations to provide to their audiences, because they address two different user scenarios: the user who engages often to stay in touch, and the user who only comes to you when they have a specific problem to solve. (Of course, these aren't exclusive; a single person can engage with your association in both ways at different times.) But in either case, if your association is the place to easily find the best information and knowledge from throughout your profession, you'll keep those users (members or non) coming back.

Forbes writer Eric Jackson galvanized the business web's attention late last month with a troubling headline: "Here's Why Google and Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next Five Years." (I figured an association online community manager somewhere audibly sighed after reading that, then began adding new images to a Pinterest board, "Images of Despair About an Unstable Universe.") But embedded in Jackson's provocative argument is an even more troubling claim: Leaders are more or less meaningless.

Jackson's specific point is that however much they try to innovate, web-based companies like Yahoo and Facebook remain products of the times in which they were founded, subject to all the prejudices and blinkered thinking of that moment. Yahoo, for instance, was the world leader in web-portal expertise a decade ago, but that isn't particularly meaningful in a mobile-ized world, and the company is struggling. More broadly, though, Jackson is making a case for "organizational ecology," which argues that:

organizational outcomes have much more to do with industry effects than who the CEO is and the choices he or she makes. [Organizational ecologists] study birth and death rates of populations of organizations, as well as the effects of age, competition and resources in the surrounding environment on an organization's birth and death rate.

Put another way: Leaders are lousy at predicting the future. They stick with what worked when they started, and don't effectively move their organizations forward. So ultimately the future moves the organization for them---or puts them out of business.

It's true that leaders tend to be bad at predicting the future. We all are: every so often I see somebody post a link showing a story from decades ago about what life will be like in the 21st century, and we all have a good laugh about it. But I think association leaders do have more influence than Jackson suggests, and aren't simply passive respondents to market forces.

The main reason I think that is because associations are, practically by definition, active respondents to market forces. An association's role is to listen to members in the aggregate, gathering information about where the growth opportunities and threats are. Not every association does a great job of gathering that information, or presenting it back to members so they can act on it, but the antennae for detecting what's coming next is built into association DNA. Corporations run under the mantra, "Evolve or die." Associations monitor the evolution patterns.

Well, in a perfect world, they do---and enough of them continue to do it well enough to keep the doors open. But reading Jackson's article make me think that the next big challenge for associations---just as much as membership, internationalization, nondues revenue, and mobile---is improving their monitoring skills. If it's true that "the next 5 - 8 years could be incredibly dynamic," as Jackson writes, members will have a growing need for help from their associations for tools to address those changes.

So what does the effective CEO do on that front? Give members more opportunities to meet in person? Double down on online communications tools? More data mining?

Volunteerism. Greg Baldwin offers a glimpse into some new science on altruism that focuses on "cooperative groups and the biological advantage they have over less cooperative groups."

Risk management. What's the difference between a policy and a procedure? Leslie White clears it up for us and says that most associations are doing it wrong.

Virtual events. Celisa Steele looks at some recent data on associations and virtual events and writes that most virtual events still need to be tied to an in-person event to gain traction.

Leadership. Eric Lanke, CAE, shares a story from a colleague who learned that "leadership is not about getting your way."

Attitude. Deirdre Reid, CAE, asks if your association has the right attitude for future success, and shares five attitudes identified by digital strategist Jasper Visser.

Government relations. Stefanie Reeves, CAE, discusses how the principles from the book Humanize apply to association lobbying departments.

International growth. Peter Turner shares lessons, slides, and video interviews about opportunities for associations in India and China, from two of his colleagues at MCI who spoke at ASAE's International Conference last week.

Curation.

• Author Steve Rosenbaum, who spoke at Digital Now two weeks ago, suggests that associations can help their members cope with digital overload.
• Maggie McGary responds to Rosenbaum's column to air some doubts about associations taking on the role of curator.

Change management.

• Jeffrey Cufaude says no one wants to hear that they need to be fixed, which means leaders of change will fail if they treat stakeholders like they are broken.
• Heidi Zimmerman at The Common Thread blog shares the three-year process her association has followed to build buy-in for a memberhip resturcturing.

Online community.

• Joshua Paul writes that an online member community site should be a daily stop for staff in multiple association departments, not just membership.
• Rachel Happe at The Community Roundtable lists the various ways community managers are woefully squeezed between high demands and low resources. Are you treating your social media and community managers this way?

Innovation.

• Kerry Stackpole, FASAE, CAE, says leaders must practice forgetting. "It's hugely difficult for leaders to overcome the tendency to live amidst our memories," he writes.
• At a recent conference hosted by Wired magazine, author Dan Pink (who will also speak at ASAE's 2012 Annual Meeting & Expo) says organizations must create opportunities for "non-commissioned work" to foster disruptive innovation.

Meetings.

• Are room blocks still necessary? Meetings & Conventions magazine asked planners that question and got some interesting answers.
• Jena McGregor at the PostLeadership blog puzzles over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's now-retracted ad seeking a motivational magician leadership speaker. This might be a good litmus test for your association's meetings: would they sound appropriate if they showed up in the pages of a major national newspaper?

Today we're pleased to welcome Acronym guest poster Sarah Sladek, CEO of XYZ University and author of The End of Membership as We Know It (ASAE Press). Sladek will be the Opening General Session speaker at the ASAE Marketing, Membership & Communications Conference, held May 23-24 in Washington, DC. In this post, Sladek discusses the urgent need to attract members of generations X and Y to associations.

Membership associations are a lot like pizza parlors.

I read somewhere that three-fourths of Americans like pizza. Likewise, most Americans belong to a membership association. (However, if you're among the one-fourth of Americans who don't like pizza, bear with me. I do have a point to make here.)

For a really long time, associations have been serving pizza. In other words, associations have mastered how to deliver products, services, and events that really appeal to one audience in particular.

The baby boomers love the pizza that associations serve up, and in most cases they are the ones frequenting the pizza parlors and eating all the pizza, as well as managing the pizza-making process and restaurant operations, and possibly even making the pizza themselves!

Now you have people coming into your restaurant asking what else is available. Maybe they don't like pizza. Maybe they're hoping your association will offer something else in addition to pizza.

These new consumers tend to be younger. Their unique interests, needs, wants, and expectations have left some boomers thinking these consumers are self-centered, demanding, and foolish for wanting something other than the fantastic pizza they've made.

Suddenly, as the owner of the pizza parlor, your association has a mess on its hands. Your new customers are storming off in frustration while management complains that new customers are needed but they certainly aren't serving anything other than pizza.

So what does your association do? Do you stop serving pizza altogether? Or do you continue to serve only pizza?

Neither.

Your pizza parlor should continue producing its great pizza and recruit these new consumers to come in and help your association master making some new foods, too.

If your association expects to grow membership, it can't abandon its traditions. But it also can't ignore the opportunity to introduce new members to new members benefits and marketing strategies.

The U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics both predict that by 2015 baby boomers will cede the majority of the workforce to generation Y. It will be the largest shift in human capital in history.

Yet most membership associations remain almost entirely governed and supported by the baby boom generation. If we take an honest look at membership we can see that most associations are still struggling to engage generation X (currently ages 30-46), much less generation Y (ages 16-29)!

Can you fathom the world being dominated by people in their 20s and early 30s? The baby boom generation has been in power for so long, it's difficult to imagine our corporations, government, schools, nonprofits, and just about every industry out there being influenced by other generations.

And if gen Ys aren't already highly engaged in your association, do you have a plan for engaging them within the next four years? You can't keep your pizza parlor intact and expect to miraculously build a membership monopoly that engages younger generations. It won't happen.

So take off your apron, roll up your sleeves, and let's get started on building a highly successful, multigenerational membership monopoly.

Step 1: Understand Generational Differences

Many association executives make the mistake of thinking that younger generations just aren't joining their association because they haven't grown into it yet. "Just give it time," they say. "Soon they'll have more interest in their community/more money/more responsibility/more something and they will want to join."

And to these associations I say, "Don't hold your breath."

Think about it. We're all a little more footloose and fancy-free in our twenties. As we age, we gain more wisdom and responsibility, get tired more easily, and approach life very differently. The behavioral differences between a 20-year-old and 60-year-old are age differences.

However, the decision to join an association (or not to join) isn't an age difference. It's a generational difference.

Just take a look at generation X---its oldest members are 46 and associations are still struggling to engage them. This generation is nearing middle-age and they still aren't "joiners"!

The decision to join an association isn't something you grow into alongside mortgage payments and diaper changing. The decision to join isn't the result of wisdom or maturity; it's rooted in our most basic needs and wants.

If younger generations aren't joining your association, there's a reason. It has absolutely nothing to do with their immaturity and everything to do with your association's inability to deliver value to them.

As I mentioned above in the pizza parlor example, your association is likely managed, supported, and frequented by baby boomers. That would mean baby boomers are your association's target market.

This is all fine and good, but if you want your association to grow and sustain, your target market needs to shift to generations X and Y---and these generations want their memberships to provide them with ample opportunities to learn, lead, and make a difference.

Step 2: Create a Place to Belong

Even more basic than that, all members, regardless of age, needs to feel like they belong. Your association doesn't see much turnover within the boomer membership because you are satisfying their need to belong.

But what about the other generations? Do they feel like they belong in your association?

Belonging by definition means two things. It means that you have a secure relationship and it also means that you have ownership in something.

For generations X and Y to feel like they belong, they are looking to your association to listen---and act upon---their points of view, generate new ideas and create alternatives , provide a positive and motivating membership experience, and include them in leadership and decision-making processes.

Generations X and Y need to feel a secure relationship and a sense of ownership in your association before they join. In contrast, most baby boomers will join an association because they feel it's the right thing to do and they work at the belonging piece of it after the fact.

However, your association will struggle to recruit and retain younger members if they don't feel like they belong in your association. As soon as you understand the significance of that need, your association can begin to make progress towards meeting it.

Menu Diversification

I've made a strong case here in favor of recruiting and retaining younger generations. It's not because I think you should fold up your prosperous pizza-making business and start up a spaghetti factory.

What I do want you to do is to start thinking of your association like a buffet.

It's 2012 and your most loyal customer base has started to shrink. You may not even notice anything happening yet, but it will. With each passing year, it will get a little smaller and 20 years from now, it won't even exist.

The question is: Will your association still exist?

Younger generations have different needs and wants. Their appetite is different. Ignore them, and they will find somewhere else to eat.

And I'm not talking about feeding a little goldfish here. At 120 million people, generations X and Y are the equivalent of a herd of elephants! They have the power to make or break your association.

Start thinking about all the needs within your membership and cater to them all.
It's the only way to keep your pizza parlor from going bankrupt.

Association professionals who missed Peter Sheahan's general session presentation at last year's ASAE Annual Meeting had a chance to catch him today at ASAE's Springtime Expo. After speaking broadly about innovation last August, Sheahan narrowed in on innovation within association meetings Thursday, appropriate for the crowd of meeting planners and meetings industry professionals.

Sheahan, author of several books on innovation, including Making It Happen: Turning Good Ideas Into Great Results, acknowledged that innovation within meetings can be difficult, particularly when, for many associations, conferences and events are cash cows. While industry data shows meetings are recovering following the recession, the time to innovate is when life is good, he said. "Will it be easier to innovate now, or in five years?" he asked.

So, how to innovate within meetings without harming something that already works? Sheahan recommended "compartmentalization" of innovation. That's a big word, but it's about innovation on a small scale: Don't change every element of your meeting; instead, just pick one small part to try something new. By keeping change to one "compartment," you also keep risk confined to that one area. If it bombs, the rest of the meeting is still safe.

This concept sounds a bit like "incremental change," but it differs in an important way. While incremental change involves small changes across the board, compartmentalization focuses change in a specific aspect of a meeting. Within that aspect, though, the change can be as small or big as you want, and it allows you to put enough energy into that change to make it great. When you try to change everything at once instead, you end up with everything being "kind of good, but nothing great," Sheahan said.

Lest you think innovation isn't already happening in association meetings, Sheahan cited three examples from articles Associations Now:

• "Nondues Revenue from Nonmember Education," by Andrew S. Lang, November 2011
• "It's Time to Think Beyond the Tradeshow Booth," by Jacqui Cook, April 2011
• "Hybrid Meetings That Offer the Best of Both Worlds," by Kathleen M. Edwards, CAE, April 2010

As he concluded and sent meeting professionals off to the Expo, Sheahan reiterated his message on compartmentalization with a simple thought: "If you were to pick one element of your annual meeting to innovate, what would that element be?"

In two morning sessions on the second day of ASAE's International Conference, at least one clear theme emerged: However much research an association does to find new markets around the world, there's likely going to be a skeptical/panicky/xenophobic board member who's ready to throw cold water on the effort.

Tony Keane, president and CEO of IFMA--International Facility Management Association, recalled an experience at a previous association where the board had signed on for an internationalization plan that would take three to five years to show ROI. Even so, one board member suffered a case of sticker shock at a meeting: "Why are you spending so money on travel expenses?" The board member was expressing the common and not-so-subtle suspicion was that staff wasn't really establishing important roots overseas, but gallivanting at the association's expense.

"You're going to get pushback," Keane says. "You have to be prepared for that."

But what to do? Here are three suggestions that emerged during the morning sessions.

1. Make it the board's initiative, not the CEOs. As with any new initiative that threatens to divide board members, support is better gained through board-member-to-board-member conversations. Champions of a new global plan on the board should consider it their role to persuade fellow board members who are on the fence or opposed to it. "We let [the board members] bring in the naysayers, instead of me going from one person to another," Keane says.

2. Make a clear, direct statement of your global focus, and have the board acknowledge it. At IFMA, Keane helped craft an international strategy with members of the board, former board members, staff, and an international development committee. Once it was created, it was distilled into a strategy statement---just a handful of lines that established the association's commitment to expand it's efforts internationally. The board approved the strategy statement---acknowledging its belief in the association's international mission, not just a particular initiative.

3. Build a board that shows how global you are. Rosa Aronson, CAE, executive director of TESOL International, pointed out that four members of the association's 12-person board are from outside the United States, in keeping with the 27 percent of members who are from outside the United States. "You want to be sure that your board is representative of your membership," she says. "It has some cost and cultural implications, but if you are a truly global association, it has to show up in your governance structure." Aronson added that you should make sure to check your bylaws during the process. Many associations were founded in an era when globalization was unacknowledged (or even actively resisted), so there may be residual language that effectively limits board participation to U.S. members.

How about you? What works when it comes to getting board buy-in for your globalization efforts?

At the Opening General Session of ASAE's International Conference, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and investment banker Sheryl WuDunn shared a story that symbolizes the kind of anxiety that China represents to many Americans. (And likely to the association and business leaders who are looking to find a foothold there.)

When she and her husband, New York Times correspondent Nicholas Kristof, moved into an apartment in China, they were informed that the apartment was bugged. Poking around, they soon discovered an "electronic sound device" behind a grate. The couple stepped into the bathroom, turned on the shower to cover up their voices, and had a quick huddle. As WuDunn recalled, they had three options.

1. Ignore it---why cause trouble when you don't know how things will go?

2. Destroy it---this was totally inappropriate!

3. Engage with it---acknowledge the bug's existence, but feed it inaccurate information.

As it turned out, the anxiety-inducing device turned out to be an innocuous part of a doorbell mechanism. But as WuDunn laid out China's astounding economic growth, as well as its by-no-means-modest challenges, the questions still linger. Here's a new experience you're unsure about---how do you respond?

As WuDunn pointed out, China can't be ignored: It now claims the second largest global economy, is the second largest importer of energy, and is the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. More creepily, the nation is also a hub of cyberwarfare activity, as China-based hackers gather information about and gain access to U.S. infrastructure grids.

But economic power, WuDunn pointed out, does not alone make a superpower. That happens through a mix of "hard" power (economics, military) and "soft" power---the kind of cultural production and general social values that are hard to quantify but which matter when it comes to asserting dominance. To that end, the fact that China is hungry for American films but not vice versa isn't a small thing, WuDunn said---it suggests that the United States has resources beyond economic ones.

There's a downside to this, I think: Keeping ahead on the soft power front perpetuates a lack of understanding that complicates international relationships.The lack of a compulsion to understand the culture you're working with---and just assume your culture dominates---can be divisive. "We don't know China very well, which creates uncertainty," WuDunn says. "And uncertainty creates fear." And though she didn't say it, fear historically leads to option number two above.

For a lot of associations looking to make their first steps internationally, be it in China or anywhere else, facing up to such cultural biases may be the most important thing to do. That doesn't mean being Pollyannaish, but aggression (option two) and deceit (option three) are dead ends in the long run. The "ignore" option may be best---that is, speak freely and honestly, but know that your new partners are paying more attention to what you're saying than you might expect.

Do you need any further convincing that serving as the curator of knowledge for an industry is a valid and vital role for an association?

Would it help to know that one of the most successful retailers in the United States plays that role for its customers?

CNBC profiled bulk retailer Costco in a documentary that aired last night. If you missed it, check out this segment from NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams (or read the transcript):

The point that caught my attention:

"Despite the idea that customers like more, Costco stocks surprisingly few items, only around 4,000. The lack of selection is deliberate. 'There's only one variety of ketchup,' [marketing consultant Pam] Danziger explains. 'You don't have to choose from a variety. They've edited it down for you. You've paid them to do it.'"

A big-box store that hasn't been performing so well lately is Best Buy. Slate tech writer Farhad Manjoo suggests that Best Buy's overwhelming selection is dragging it down, and he suggests an opposite approach to save the company:

"If Best Buy wants to survive, it's got to replace its hulking, teeming stores with smaller, less crowded, more intimate spaces. When you walk in to buy a 32-inch TV, the guy in the blue shirt shouldn't make you choose between a dozen nearly identical models. Instead, he should show you a single set, a TV that Best Buy's experts have determined offers the best features at the best price. The firm could do the same across its inventory, culling the tech universe down to a few essential, can't-beat products. In this way, Best Buy would transform itself from a supermarket into a boutique—a place with fewer things for sale and lots of friendly, sophisticated, helpful experts who'll save you the hassle of researching your next TV or PC purchase. They'll do all the work for you."

There it is again: curation. Note the similar language: "They've edited it down for you," and "They'll do all the work for you." Capturing, analyzing, evaluating, and organizing the overwhelming volume of choices in the world and presenting it to customers in a useful, manageable way. Making sense of the madness. Finding order from chaos. However you want to put it—in any context, both physical and online, both object and information—consumers derive value from and prove loyal to great curators.

I've written about curation before, and so have many others. I'll leave it here for a Friday afternoon, but I think I'll be revisiting this again soon, so stay tuned.

[Also, on a separate but still association-related note: Costco has 64 million members. At the end of the segment above, reporter Carl Quintanilla notes that "most of their profit is from the [membership] fees themselves" and that 90 percent of Costco members renew every year. Chalk one up for the membership model.]

Millennials. Jeff Hurt shares the highlights of McCann WorldGroup's "The Truth About Youth" study and what the findings mean for associations.

More millennials. Ryan Crowe is a graduate student and doesn't really know what associations do. You might think that's too bad for him, but he'd argue that that's bad news for you. (Be sure to check the discussion in the comments, too.)

Associations' role in society. Eric Lanke, CAE, just read Shelly and Mark Alcorn's report "The 2012 Association Forecast: Provocative Proposals for Future Change," (which you should probably do, too), and suggests that associations must both learn from the for-profit sector and also re-establish themselves as "a fundamental component of our functioning democracy."

Strategy. Andrea Pellegrino writes that associations should abandon their missions. "[I]n organizations that are struggling to keep members and customers, the organization's mission is often one of the main roadblocks to growth," she writes.

More strategy. Jamie Notter points to a blog post on Harvard Business Review about the downfall of Sony and draws some lessons on why strategies fail when the context around them changes (and how this might be happening to associations.)

Economy. Toronto-based AMC Zzeem conducted a survey of Canadian membership organizations and, similar to findings in a similar study of U.S. associations by ASAE, found that the economic recovery is proving to be a very slow one for associations.

Board size. Jan Masaoka at Blue Avocado answers the question, "what size should our board be?"

Embracing failure. Two weeks after NTEN's 2012 Nonprofit Technology Conference, Executive Director Holly Ross writes a blog post about lessons learned from eight failures at the event. Would your association CEO do that?

Questions. Greg Roth examines the lost art of asking questions.

Facebook Timeline. Maggie McGary says Facebook's Timeline page layout is bad for brand pages and explains why.

Organization. Cindy Butts, CAE, is cleaning up 24 years of clutter in her office and offers some tips for better office organization.

Twitter. Data collected by Dan Zarella shows that tweeting links generates more retweets than does tweeting replies. In other words, broadcasting beats conversation, at least if retweets is your measurement of success.

Information overload. Mark Golden, CAE, explains his mixed emotions about the rise of social media and the minute-by-minute news cycle. He writes that social media is "empowering, but it also creates an elevated need to take personal responsibility for exercising discipline and integrity in drawing your conclusions."

Learning. Kevin Makice at Wired's GeekDad blog takes a close look at the "flipped classroom" model. Lots of ideas here to rethink association learning methods.

Volunteer engagement. Speaking of flipping, Jeffrey Cufaude suggest a new way to approach working with association volunteers and calls it "Flipped Volunteering: The Better Way to Invite and Engage."

Online community. Joshua Paul recommends adopting a 24-hour rule to get a private online community up and running: "an organization must ensure that all discussions are responded to within 24-hours of the initial posting."

Meetings technology. We've come a long way. Corbin Ball documents the highlights of 30+ years of advancements in meetings and events technology.

Apps for lobbyists. Stefanie Reeves, CAE, recommends nine mobile apps for association GR pros.

Is there something wrong with all of us?

Harvard Business Review's resident nonprofit provocateur, Dan Pallotta, asks this question about the profession in his latest blog post, "Nonprofit Pathology." I urge you to read the whole post, but here's an excerpt:

"Maybe people get into the compassion business full-time not because they're more compassionate than others but because they're codependent. […] I see people who wear the debilitating lack of resources in their organization like a badge of honor, despite the fact that the deficiency undermines their ability to impact the community problem they are working on. I see people moving from one nonprofit to another, from one cause to another, seemingly more addicted to 'the struggle' than passionate about solving any particular social ill. […] And while they lament it, they have no commitment to doing anything about it. There's a sense of pathological contentment."

Ouch. That's a harsh diagnosis, but it rings true. When good intentions run aground time after time, frustration bleeds into martyrdom, and you can recognize it from a mile away. After hearing "we have to do more with less" enough, it begins to sound more like an excuse than a call to action. I don't think Pallotta means to indict an entire sector of professionals (well, maybe he does), but rather I think he means to point out that too many nonprofit professionals take the easy way out, lamenting the system rather than trying to fix it.

Philanthropic nonprofit work and association management have their similarities, of course, but the two attract a fundamentally different kind of worker that leads to a different strain of "pathology" in associations. Philanthropic organizations draw the bleeding hearts, workers who are stirred by the challenge of direct social or environmental change. Association work is more indirect; associations make the world a better place, too, but they do it by helping other people (doctors, builders, scientists, whoever) be better at what they do. And so association management is often less a profession that is sought out than one that people "fall into."

Meanwhile, associations have a steady pool of customers (members) to a degree that far exceeds any other type of business, for-profit or nonprofit. When you can rest easy in knowing that 80 percent of your customers will give you money every year, that's a comfortable, built-in audience.

What do you get when you put that together with a large pool of professionals who arrived in their jobs by chance? Instead of a workforce driven by a core purpose or an innate will to change the world, you get a workforce that discovers, likes, and comes to depend on the comfort of the status quo. And it goes without saying that comfort breeds complacency. That's the association pathology. We're codependent, too. We need members so we can feel needed.

I've read arguments that the struggle to change is magnified or somehow unique to associations, and generally I chalk that up more to overall human nature. We all hate change. But I can see how the nature of associations makes change an uphill battle. The chips are stacked against us by the inherent structure of the membership model, which is only reinforced by the workforce it engenders.

At the Great Ideas Conference last month, I listened to Shelly Alcorn's summary of her lengthy study of association executives' visions of the future. Her handout listed a series of "provocative proposals," phrased as "what if" questions, that emerged consistently in her study. More than one of them focused on transforming association management into a profession that is sought after rather than fallen into. If we're ever going to break our dependency on membership as we know it, that's going to be a key step.

It's Earth Day this Sunday and National Volunteer Month for a few weeks more, so loads of associations and their member companies and professionals are organizing, educating, celebrating, volunteering, and just plain participating in this worldwide effort to bolster environmental conservation.

Here's a snapshot of what some are doing or already have done--and it's not too late to join in yourself!

Start by downloading the free Earth Day 2012 Toolkit , where you can also learn about and be inspired by "A Billion Acts of Green," the world's largest environmental service campaign. And if you're in DC, you may want to check out the massive party scene happening at the National Mall rally and concerts either in person or online (live-streaming at www.earthday.org)

Sounds like some more partying will go on over at the 2012 Mighty Kindness Earth Day Hootenanny on April 22 organized by the Kentucky Chiropractic Association. The fun is combined with a more serious purpose: promoting a new state license "Go Green with Chiropractic" plate that aims "to elevate the chiropractic industry and its environmentally friendly nature in Kentucky" and raise some money as well.

The Eco-Dentistry Association will host its first tweetchat for dental industry professionals and consumers worldwide "to discuss the essentials of a high-tech, wellness based, and successful green dental practice."

The American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) in sponsoring the One Million Trees Project-Right Tree for the Right Place at the Right Time nationwide public service project. Started in March 2009, the project "calls on ABA members to contribute to the goal of planting one million trees across the United States by 2014 - both by planting trees themselves and by contributing to the partnering tree organizations." It also is promoting nominations for the 2012 ABA Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Stewardship.

Entertainment Cruises is partnering with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) has partnered with Entertainment Cruises to offer an Earth Day brunch cruise to enjoy Washington, DC, views while learning from the NAAEE about green energy, environmental initiatives and its upcoming conference.

More than 1,000 volunteers of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) are engaging in 10 signature Earth Day projects from prairie re-vegetation to exotic plant species removal on public lands across the U.S. on April 14 and 21. These events have some powerful sponsors, including American Eagle Outfitters, ARAMARK, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Exelon Foundation, Johnson Controls, Sony, and Southwest Airlines.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has released the First Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, which details how the consumer electronics industry has dramatically increased its recycling in 2011 and advanced the goals set by the eCycling Leadership Initiative (also called the Billion Pound Challenge). For instance, participants of the initiative arranged for the responsible recycling of 460 million pounds of consumer electronics, a 53% increase over the 300 million pounds recycled in 2010. The number of recycling drop-off locations for consumers also was bolstered from to nearly 7,500 from just over 5,000 a year ago. And CEA launched GreenerGadgets.org to educate consumers about eCycling and energy consumption. By entering a ZIP code, anyone can locate the closest responsible recycling opportunity sponsored by the CE industry and/or third-party certified recycler. The initiative aims to increase electronics recycling to one billion pounds annually by 2016 and providing transparent metrics on eCycling efforts. A billion pounds of unrecycled waste electronics would fill a 71,000-seat NFL stadium.

The American Medical Student Association and Medical Alumni Association at Temple University are planting seeds and preparing a "Medicinal and Edible Learning Garden" and education event to discuss natural medicinal remedies.

The National Parks and Recreation Association is urging people to take advantage of waived entrance fees at U.S. national parks from April 21 to April 29 during National Park Week. Download your free Owner's Guide to America's National Parks. I know a few associations that are planning staff picnics and hikes at local parks and Great Falls National Park in sync with this promotional event.

The New York City Association of Hotel Concierges (NYCAHC) and its affiliate members will celebrate MillionTreesNYC at a "Dig In for Earth Day" tree-planting event May 5 in partnership with Mayor Bloomberg and NYC Parks and New York Restoration Project. Since the program's inception in 2007, thousands of New Yorkers have helped plant over 400,000 trees, with NYCAHC planting more than 2,000 of them.

American Forests' easy online calculator and offsetting options make it easy to offset your home or car pollution (I offset my minivan's emissions for about $17 last year through AF). Earth Day Network also offers an eco-calculator.

Whatever you do, just consider doing something green this weekend and join your colleagues in making the planet a bit healthier for us all!

Behold the artisanally sharpened pencil.

For $15, cartoonist and artisanal pencil sharpener David Rees will select a pencil for you; sharpen it, lovingly; package it in a handsome protective tube; and send it to you along with a certificate of authenticity and a bag of the shavings.

Put-on? Capitalism at its finest? In an entertaining (and occasionally profane) interview with GQ, Rees insists that what he's doing is more the latter than the former:

It's a real thing! I've sharpened like, getting up on 475 [pencils]. I've made money doing this. It's not just like a silly--it's not like I built the website and then didn't build up the business. I did it, and I invested in my tools, and I learned a [remarkable amount] about pencils. ... I did my research. I learned a lot about pencils. So it's not a goof. It's a real thing.

Yes, its a real thing---further proof that, as they say, the appropriate price for something is what somebody is willing to pay for it. It reminds me of a familiar conversation in association circles about pricing: As a 2010 Associations Now feature pointed out, industry-specific goods and services can be sold at a premium because there's nowhere else to get them.

But are you sure that what you're selling is so special? I don't think any reader of this blog needs another lecture about how the internet has upended meetings, education, membership, and more, but Rees' enterprise has left me wondering how many associations have taken the uncomfortable but necessary step to study what those shifts have meant for their pricing. It may be that a lot of those comfortable revenue drivers are slowly but surely becoming the equivalent of artisanally sharpened pencils---nice enough for what they are, and the result of lots of careful effort to be sure, but easily found at a much lower cost elsewhere.

This Sunday will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Like a lot of people, I've always been fascinated by the stories of both the sinking of the ship and the discovery of the wreck in 1985, so I jumped at the chance to attend a presentation by Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who found it, at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, Tuesday night.

Ballard is a gifted storyteller and an ardent preservationist, and he argues that instead of removing artifacts from the Titanic wreckage to bring to museums for people to see, people should be taken to the Titanic to see it—but not how you might think. He showed a slide depicting his vision for building a permanent support structure for remote-operated camera equipment around the wreck, enabling visitors at museums on land to view and explore the wreck in real time from thousands of miles away, and he says this "telepresence" technology isn't that far off.

As he talked about the idea, it became clear that we're all fortunate the Titanic was found such a forward thinker. He mentioned the explorers who found the tomb of King Tut in Egypt and said that, if they'd had the foresight to know that the masses might one day be able to easily visit the sites in ancient Egypt—this was before widespread use of airplanes and automobiles—they might not have packed up all the artifacts and sent them to a museum in London. In the same way, thinking about how the world could be brought to the Titanic through technology could help preserve it.

It struck me that that kind of thinking is just what an association needs from its CEO and board of directors: the ability to imagine and plan for not just what is possible now but also what could be possible in the future. When it comes time for long-term planning and developing strategy, an association CEO should guide the board to embrace the anything-is-possible perspective, and it's also a good reason for a nominating committee to seek potential board members who demonstrate that mindset.

The evening spurred a couple other association-related thoughts, as well:

• National Geographic's package for the Titanic anniversary is an example for associations to follow for creating a multifaceted experience around a story or education. The package has included two magazine features, an interactive iPad app, a museum exhibit, a live expert presentation, and two television specials. The question of money and resources is always a challenge, but most associations engage in all of these types of platforms (or similar ones). Few, however, are so skilled at coordinating a package of resources and events across all of them at once.
• If Ballard's vision of a telepresence Titanic museum experience ever comes to life, that will remove just about any excuse associations would have for not creating virtual and hybrid event experiences. If live, interactive video of a shipwreck 12,000 feet below the surface of the ocean could be brought to your computer screen, then surely a presentation in a convention hall could be, as well.

The event was filmed, so keep an eye on the National Geographic Events video library if you're interested. I'll come back and embed or post a link to video once it's up.

The value of meetings. I could link to a slew of articles and viewpoints on the conference debacle at the U.S. General Services Administration, but Sue Pelletier did a great job of this yesterday, so I'll just encourage you to read her post to get all the info you need on what it means for the meetings industry.

The value of volunteering. Robert Rosenthal at the Engaging Volunteers blog highlights Independent Sector's 2011 estimate of the monetary value of an hour of volunteer work ($21.79). There's a lot of debate over that number or whether it's fair or even possible to try to measure it. But it poses an important question to association executives: what are your volunteers worth to you?

Meeting registration models. Mariela McIlwraith shares the story of the American Institute of Steel Construction, which boosted overall meeting attendance and advance registrations by instituting a plan in which registration fees increased by $10 every week. Oh, and it has also gone from about 1,200 members to 25,000 in three years.

Future of associations. Shelly Alcorn, CAE, spent a year interviewing association CEOs about their visions of the future of associations, and the results of her research are finally ready for prime time. Check out her preview of the report on the Affiniscape Blog.

Chapter challenges. Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE, shares a story of a national association and one of its chapters that don't see eye to eye, and she has some good suggestions for how to fix that. There's some good conversation in the comments, as well.

Chapters and membership marketing. Tony Rossell offers an early peek at some data from Marketing General Inc.'s 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, which shows that associations without chapters have performed better in membership numbers in recent years. Tony started a discussion on the data in ASAE's LinkedIn group, with 13 responses so far.

Young professionals. Rosetta Thurman suggests five ways to support your young professional staff in their early stages of career development.

Volunteer engagement. Eric Lanke, CAE, points to an interesting data point in McKinley Advisors' 2012 Economic Impact on Associations that shows volunteer participation is an increasing concern for association executives as the economy recovers. Eric postulates that, as companies have learned to do more with less, there are simply fewer people—with less time to spare—to fill volunteer roles. Concerning, indeed.

Honkers vs. helpers. Steve Drake shares a short anecdote about complaining versus helping and asks if your association board and staff culture encourages people to just complain (honking) or to step in and help.

Community management. The discipline of online community management is a growing one for association professionals. Maddie Grant, CAE, summarizes some key points from Community Roundtable's 2012 State of Community Management Report, including "Technology enables community, but doesn't create it."

Great Ideas recaps. I posted the last edition Quick clicks too early to catch these recaps from the Great Ideas conference, so be sure to check them out:

• Jay Daughtry summed up his lessons from the Great Ideas conference in a quick list that should take "less than 180 seconds" to read.
• Kerry Stackpole, FASAE, CAE, shares his lessons on innovation from Great Ideas keynoter John Kao.
• Ann Oliveri, FASAE, CAE, writes that The Broadmoor serves as a great example of how associations can motivate and inspire their staff and volunteers.
• Jamie Notter notes his frustration with a lack of progress on capacity for innovation in the association community.

I'm trying to recall how many times in my professional life I've sat in a meeting and heard an exchange like this one:

Person 1: "[Explanation of a brilliant, innovative idea.]"

Person 2: "That's a great idea! I'll make sure it gets implemented!"

Well, I know how many times I've heard that: Never. Usually the response is a little more like this:

Person 2: "That's a great idea! [Person 3, not sitting in the room] would be a perfect person to do it!"

I'm not immune; I'm much more likely to be Person 2 than Person 1. It's not that we're slackers, really. It's just that the business of giving ideas a real-world shape---the un-fun part, the implementation piece, the piece that happens well before we get to congratulate ourselves about a job well done---can be a lot harder than the idea-generation piece. I have this on my mind having read Jamie Notter's smart, provocative post, "The Down-Side of Great Ideas," which lays out this frustration in unmissable bold type: "We are stuck because we assume that we can separate thought from action and still manage to make change."

So what gets us unstuck? There's no easy answer to that, but there's something to be said for two things: First, tamping down our enthusiasm for thinking that innovation and ideation are the be-all-end-all of what teamwork is, and second, intentionally building teams that are a smart mix of thinkers and doers.

That's the message of an article titled "Conformists Boost Creativity," (subscription req'd) published in the Spring 2012 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. The article discusses research by a group of scholars that suggests there are three distinct cognitive styles: creative, conformist, and attentive to detail. That third style can stifle innovation, the researchers argue, because attentive-to-detail types are overly concerned with picayune matters and are easily frustrated by ambiguity. (I'm guessing the researchers, were they feeling less diplomatic, would've called this style "anal-retentive fussbudgetry.") Conformists are conformists because they're more concerned with how the work gets done than brainstorming, but that's a valuable role when a team is stuck, or just too in love with their brilliance to actually act on their ideas.

"Managers should look not just at what they need and what this person knows [when assembling teams], but also how this person's personality can affect the dynamic on the team," says one of the researchers, Ella Miron-Spektor. "The ideal team should include a relatively large proportion of creative members, a lower proportion of conformists, and not more than one or two members who pay attention to detail."

You're probably thinking the same thing I did: I'm a mix of cognitive types, and I can't be pigeonholed as a creative, conformist, or whatever. But there's an easy way to tell, isn't there? We just have to listen to ourselves in those meetings. When do we step up to do something? When do we punt it to Person 3?

Missed our regularly scheduled "Quick clicks" post last week, so we're catching up on three weeks of association management reading this week. Here are some of the highlights:

Collaboration. Jason Hensel shares a psychological study that points to one pitfall of collaboration: overconfidence.

Learning. Jeff Hurt describes the "complex and fragile" process in which learners absorb (or don't absorb) information in a lecture. (And, on a side note, this post features what is possibly the greatest piece of blog art I've ever seen.)

Membership. Anna Caraveli points to, of all things, a cement and building-materials corporation to illustrate the future of membership: "Helping Members and their Communities Succeed."

Leadership development. Mark Golden, FASAE, CAE, writes that associations are taking the wrong approach to attracting the next generation of leaders: "[I]t seems to me, what actually happens is the established board, made up of more seasoned and experienced individuals,  is looking for ways to get the next generation to change, not the system."

More leadership development. Judith Lindenau shares her experience with the "shooting fish in a barrel" style of nominations committees and suggest several ways to transform nominations into true leadership development.

Authority. Jamie Notter writes that the end of the Encyclopedia Britannica's print edition signals a larger trend relevant to associations: being the sole arbiter of authoritative information is a thing of the past.

Self-organization. Maggie McGary asks "If Your Members Organize Their Own Committee, Are You Failing Them?"

Compensation. Laura Otten urges nonprofit executive directors "to be the advocate for his/her employees, and to make the case for improved salaries."

Leadership. Brian Reuwee adds some thoughts to the eternal question, "Who Should Manage Your Organization? Industry Experts vs. Association Experts."

Social media staffing. Ryan Crowe (a grad student at the University of Missouri writing at SocialFish) thinks "engagement" has turned into useless jargon. "Do not let someone get away with just saying "engage". Ask them what they mean by it - and make sure the answer is relevant to your business or needs," he writes.

Marginalized members. Ever feel like your members are lashing out at you, like an angry raccoon? Shelly Alcorn, CAE, suggests that perhaps you, the association, put your members in that position through your own actions.

Components. Cynthia D'Amour suggests that a failing chapter might not be a sign of low demand or a dying model; its leadership may just need better training.

Web strategy. Ray van Hilst offers some tips to make sure your association's website doesn't get thrown out in your members' "digital spring cleaning."

Demographics. Seth Godin says "fifty is the new thirty." How does that affect your membership marketing?

Hybrid events. Celisa Steele shares some data from a forthcoming report that shows the majority of associations (about 75 percent) that have offered virtual events are linking those virtual events to in-person events.

"Your members don't care about your association. They care about themselves."

This was my favorite quote from Carmine Gallo, the closing general session speaker Tuesday morning at ASAE's 2012 Great Ideas Conference. Gallo, author of The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Power of Foursquare, shared a range of inspiring lessons from innovative companies, Apple chief among them.

We've all heard countless examples of the genius of Apple and Steve Jobs, but Gallo did a nice job showing association professionals how the lessons from those examples can be applied to their associations. Most emphatically, he urged associations to ask themsevles how they can help their members achieve their dreams.

Gallo pointed to the vision for Apple products and stores: not to sell computers, but to enrich lives. It's that relentless focus on the customer experience that makes Apple so successful (one of the reasons, at least).

For example, I don't like my iPhone because Apple made it, or because it's shiny and chic. I love it because it helps me stay more connected with friends and family, gives me faster access to information, and even helps me be more creative. Think of every iPhone or iPad commercial you've seen; they always show people doing things with them, like finding a nearby restaurant or creating music or video-conferencing with family. That's how lives are enriched.

And so the lesson for you as an association professional is to think beyond benefits. Think outcomes. Think dreams. Whatever will enrich the lives or professional careers of your members, that's where you should focus. Help your members achieve their dreams, and they'll love you for it.

For more insights from Carmine Gallo, see Kristin Clarke's interview with him, "The Game of Life: Engaging Members Through Foursquare."

Flickr photo by ahissrich.

Another day at the 2012 Great Ideas Conference provided countless thought-provoking tweets with the #ideas12 hashtag. Here is a sampling of what you can find on the full hashtag stream.

I am suppose to be on my way to meet others - #ignitesessions too fabulous to leave #ideas12!!!

— Nora Burns, SPHR (@NoraBurns) March 27, 2012

First big takeaway from Ignite presentations.Mentors - find one and be one! #ideas12thanks to @TimWJackson

— Jill McClure (@jillmcclure) March 27, 2012

75% of association execs think their members use smartphones but only 28% have mobile strategy#ideas12LH6bit.ly/H6KMkS

— Amanda Batson, Ph.D (@amandabatson) March 26, 2012

a 1% boost in realized price yields an average net gain of 12% - food 4 thought when pricing your educational programs #ideas12 LM7

— Sheri Jacobs, CAE (@chicagogirl27) March 26, 2012

Enjoyed a #ideas12 session on 5 min forecasts for future of learning - do you believe the mind can only process info in 10 min chunks?

— Allison Summers (@allisonsummers) March 26, 2012

Assign someone the role of "devil's advocate" in your group meetings.#ideas12 LB6

— David D. DeLorenzo(@dddelorenzo) March 26, 2012

TIp to live buy--don't put QR Codes on cupcakes - #ideas12

— Scott Oser (@scottoser) March 26, 2012

1-7-30-4-2-1 daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual schedule of content marketing #ideas12 LD4

— Walt Tracy (@wtracy) March 26, 2012

In Japan buildings are putting giant QR Codes painted on top of the ceilings so it gets picked up by Google Maps! Brilliant!! #ideas12

— Bob Vaez (EventMobi) (@BobVaez) March 26, 2012

Collaboration is too often something we are weak at internally which is part of why we have trouble collaborating externally #Ideas12

— Jamie Notter (@jamienotter) March 26, 2012

Assns have to get over believing they know everything abt their industry/profession to create new value for stakeholders. #ideas12 LK4

— Robert M Barnes (@robertmbarnes) March 26, 2012

Simple but true - Without a mobile way for members to reach you, you're at disadvantage. #ideas12 LS3

— Pee (@PaulaChase) March 26, 2012

#ideas12 LK4 Your products can be easily replicated. Know the strength of your brand. Strongest innovators have strongest brands.

— Kim Howard (@KimHowardDC) March 26, 2012

Lowell Aplebaum shares "Associations Lessons from Dr. Seuss."

At the Great Ideas Ignite session Monday evening at ASAE's 2012 Great Ideas Conference, an audience member described the Ignite presentation format as "the Twitter of presentations." Speakers must keep their messages to five minutes long, with 20 auto-advancing slides to accompany, so that description is a good one.

In that spirit, I'll share a lesson from each Ignite presentation tonight, and I'll keep them nice and short.

"What Seven Jobs at Three Associations has Taught Me." Beau Ballinger, certification programs manager, Investment Management Consultants Association. Among Beau's lessons learned: be passionate. You have the responsibility as an association professional to act with as much passion as your members do, he said.

"So What if it Feels Uncomfortable?" Elizabeth Brisson, association and affinity marketing consultant, MetLife. In her life, Liz has overcome fears of flying, public speaking, and heights. But she says she always remembers that, if you are growing, you will always be out of your comfort zone.

"Speaking of Great Ideas." Christine Smith, CEO, Boxwood. Christine shared five ways associations can recognize their staff and members and closed with this note about the importance of recognition: "Think about a time you were recognized for a job well done and how it felt, and ask yourself when was last time you made your employees feel that way."

"Associations--Let's Date First." Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, MBA, president, Meeting Change. Mariela likened the association-member relationship to a courtship. She said she would never date someone who sent her a lot of email spam, and that she doesn't like it when her significant other [association] forgets about her when someone new [prospective member] shows up.

"What Attending Eleven Different Schools Taught Me About Change." Shelly Alcorn, CAE, principal, Alcorn Associates Management Consulting. Shelly moved a lot in her childhood, and she said the ups and downs through that experience taught her that change can be: empowering, enlightening, stifling, courageous, chaotic, overwhelming, defining, accepted, inevitable, and survivable.

"Quick PR Tips and Tricks: Lessons from Teen Idols." Adele Cehrs, president, Epic PR Group. Adele loves Elvis, and she pointed to several of his qualities that association PR pros can learn from. My favorite: embrace imitators.

"Associations Lessons from Dr. Seuss." Lowell Aplebaum, director, membership & councils, International Facility Management Association. From reading bedtime stories to his son, Lowell has learned some association lessons. He reinvisioned a Dr. Seuss classic as "Green Eggs and the Private Social Media Site," and turned a rhyme that encouraged associations to build member buy-in for a private social networking platform rather than forcing it upon them.

As is custom for Ignite, the presentations were video recorded. Check them out on the Great Ideas Conference website or ASAE's YouTube channel.

Flickr photo by ahissrich.

Organizational culture is a hot topic at Great Ideas this year. In a well-attended Idea Lab session Monday, attendees took a look at both the ideal and the real.

Led by Jodie Slaughter, FASAE, of McKinley Advisors, the group started by listing characteristics of an association culture they aspired to: one that is "professional without being stodgy," collaborative, respectful, and helmed by leaders who value inclusiveness, ensuring that all members and staff have opportunities to contribute to the mission.

Then came the reality check. With Slaughter's guidance, attendees undertook an assessment of their own organization's culture, ultimately determining which of four types it most resembled (described by Bruce Tharp in his white paper, Organizational Culture):

• The Clan: a collaborative culture


• The Adhocracy: a culture marked by creativity, innovation, and risk-taking


• The Market: a culture driven by competition


• The Heirarchy: a controlled culture that puts a premium on stability

"There's no right or wrong culture," Slaughter said. "There's only whether the culture fits the mission of the organization."

But when the two don't fit, how to bring change, especially when culture is ingrained in an organization? Some attendees questioned the ability of association staff other than the CEO to change the organization's culture; others suggested that the belief that change can only come from the top is itself a cultural assumption.

Although an organization's chief executive and top volunteers clearly have the most leverage to bring about change, "cultural influencers need not be those officially in charge," Slaughter said.

Ultimately, she said, "culture is largely a function of what you pay attention to. It's changed by what you measure and monitor. That's what your organization values." For example, she asked, does your organization pay as much attention to staff retention as member retention? Should it?

And pretty talk about fostering a healthy culture has to be supported by action and modeling. "You cannot fake it. You have to embody the values that you want to promote," Slaughter said.

Does your organization know what kind of culture it needs to accomplish its mission? Does it walk the talk? And can positive change be a grassroots effort, or does it have to come from the top? Tell us what you think.