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January is one of my least favorite times of the year. The holidays are over, and it's cold and dreary outside. At least there's plenty of interesting online conversation happening in the association realm to keep me distracted.

Innovation. Jeff De Cagna and Eric Lanke, CAE, have begun a back-and-forth series of blog posts on innovation in associations. Jeff kicked it off last week, and Eric followed up this week. These two have likely devoted more personal mindpower to the broad topic of association innovation than anyone else you'll find. This is a conversation to follow.

AMS ROI. Wes Trochlil explains that an association management system should benefit an association in ways beyond just enhanced data management.

Open GR. Stefanie Reeves, CAE, interviews Maddie Grant, co-author of Open Community, about how the concepts it the book apply to association government relations professionals.

Facebook. Maggie McGary explains why the thought of Facebook fully replacing websites sounds like "the worst idea ever."

New products. Seth Godin asks, Why the need for a big splash? Perhaps a quiet, obscure launch for a company or product is best. That's how Google and most major web companies started, after all.

Online groups. Maddie Grant points to a new Pew Internet Research study about the effects of the web on how people form groups. Obvious implications for associations.

Microvolunteering. Robert Rosenthal at the Engaging Volunteers blog explores the varying definitions of microvolunteering and asks whether the definition really matters, as long as organizations are experimenting with it.

The over-50 crowd. Dan Pallotta at HBR writes on the value of age and experience, which often goes overlooked in the fuss over young "potential."

Website landing pages. Copyblogger offers five common mistakes made by organizations that build website landing pages, whether it be a "sales page, an email opt-in page, a video landing page, or even a content landing page designed to rank well in search engines."