Choose your own association adventure
In a post on her blog today, Ann Oliveri says, “Our members invent their own ULI, picking up the bright shiny pieces that are relevant at the moment, creating their own learning opportunities.”
What a great turn of phrase—and I think it’s true at every association, to a greater or lesser extent. Our members are constantly creating their own membership experiences. Two members can go to the same conference or read the same magazine, and by choosing different sessions or articles (or, heck, by skipping breakfast and having low blood sugar) experience the same thing in completely different ways.
Maybe the lesson to learn here is to avoid making assumptions and listen carefully when you speak or correspond with members. Watch out for warning signs that an individual member has concerns and respond to him or her as an individual. And if nothing else, remember that your interaction with that member can have a powerful effect on how they will see their personal membership experience—so try to make the interaction as positive as you can.
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Comments
"And if nothing else, remember that your interaction with that member can have a powerful effect on how they will see their personal membership experience—so try to make the interaction as positive as you can."
And don't forget: that member will tell other members -- and non-members -- about his/her experience.
Posted by: Dennis McDonald | August 25, 2007 6:14 AM
what's a ULI? I went back to the linked post but that didn't help...
Posted by: Maddie Grant | August 25, 2007 10:34 AM
Dennis--absolutely. And with blogs and other Web 2.0 options out there, word of one negative experience can spread really fast ...
Maddie: ULI stands for Urban Land Institute--it's the association where Ann works. Sorry for creating any confusion with my post! I should have spelled it out for folks.
Posted by: Lisa Junker | August 26, 2007 1:23 PM