Acronym

This week's heap of hyperlinks features several perspectives that might lead you to reconsider the status quo. Enjoy!

Advocacy and social media. New association blogger Stephanie Reeves, CAE, calls associations out for failing to use social media to their advantage in advocacy and lobbying. Congress is doing it, so we should too, she says.

Decision making. This headline from MIT Sloan Management Review is not a typo, and you are not having dyslexia: "Is Decision-Based Evidence Making Necessarily Bad?" The authors argue that some situations exist in which it's OK to make a decision first and gather evidence later. The key, of course, is to know when that model applies and when it doesn't. An interesting take, especially if you've ever read Chapter 4 of 7 Measures of Success, which covers "data-driven strategies."

Nonprofits acting like businesses. And vice versa. It's something of a mantra that nonprofits should act more like for-profit companies. However, Colleen Dilenschneider suggests some ways in which sector blur might be a bad thing for those in need. Her focus is mainly on charitable nonprofits, but the underlying conflicts of crossing social goals with business competition are good principles for any association or nonprofit leader to understand.

Content marketing. In the Web 2.0 age, the lines between marketing, public relations, communications, and editorial publication have all been blurred. Valeria Maltoni at Conversation Agent offers some focus in "Debunking 5 Myths About Content Marketing."

Print publications. As a former student journalist and on the heels of Dave Lutz's argument to kill conference daily newspapers, this headline caught my eye: "Students Prefer Printed College Newspapers over Online." The relevant quote:

"My experience is that if something is free and it's convenient to get and whatever is in it is relevant to them, they have no qualms about printed versus non-printed," said Kevin Schwartz, general manager of The Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The sense of community a college engenders in its students (aka "members") is the envy of any association, so it's worth considering the parallels (and differences) between student newspapers and association publications.

Truth in leadership. Jamie Notter continues his series of blog posts on truth, this time explaining why association CEOs need to spend less time crafting messages and more time just talking openly and honestly.

Managing collaborative work. How do you get people to use a wiki? My initial thoughts: bribes, threats, or possibly both. However, Jonathan Rick at the K Street Café blog offers some much more sensible ideas.

Keynote speakers. What makes a good one? Maddie Grant puts this question forth on the SocialFish blog, and the discussion in the comments is great food for thought for any association conference planner.

Other conference sessions. I'd be hard-pressed to come up with an idea for a conference breakout session that could work at any and every association conference, but Suzanne Carawan offers five on the etouches blog. Color me impressed. So there you go, whatever your association, five free ideas for sessions at your next conference.

Tradeshow booth sales. If your association hosts a tradeshow, no doubt it's a revenue stream you'd like to maximize. Dave Lutz at the Midcourse Corrections blog recommends onsite sales for the following year's show and a points program to reward loyal exhibitors. He even suggests giving your booth-selection process some NFL-Draft-style hype.

Funny. You know social media is here to stay when even Dilbert's employer hires a social media manager. The link goes to Monday's strip; the rest of the week has been about social media, too, so be sure to click through.