BostonBlog

It"s time to go back to work. Another day, another dollar, right?

Well, tomorrow will start off a little different than my last full day at work. For one thing, I have several pages of notes to download and print out, and meetings to hold to go over them, and numerous good ideas to evaluate in the bright daylight. It's the usual "return-from-a-conference-and-compare-notes-and-see-what-works" kind of thing.

But it's more than that. Isn't it?

I go to ASAE for nuts and bolts concepts and suggestions and this-idea-works and this-idea-failed, no doubt. I'm fairly hard-nosed about it. We spend a lot of money and demand a good ROI. And I already know, we got a good one this year. We already began going over things with our staff during the meeting.

But hard-nosed business thinking aside, there are other, deeper reasons to invest in the ASAE meeting. Like, the difficult-to-quantify-but-oh-so-valuable (wow, I'm really into hyphenated phrases tonight) sensation of "being away" from our association yet at the same time being immersed in associations. As association staff, we spend all of our time deeply immersed in the industry or profession we represent. That's a terrific thing on the one hand, because those are our members, our customers, our markets.

On the other hand, it can be so damned isolating -- and one of the most valuable things about the ASAE annual meeting is that it saves us from that isolation, and we find ourselves suddenly surrounded by people who work for completely different industries or professions, but who understand. We can talk freely about cracks in the overall association business model, membership campaigns that were bad ideas from the start, those precious moments when we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (and nobody else seemed to notice) --- and everybody else at the table knows just what we're talking about.

I came away from this year's meeting with a full to-do list, some new contacts to add to my Outlook, and most importantly, a renewed sense of energy to tackle the challenges waiting for me tomorrow morning. Some folks seem overly concerned about comparing last year in Nashville to this year in Boston, which to me is silly, because the two venues were so completely different that they made for completely different kinds of events.

You did great, ASAE. This meeting has already made an impact on my organization and I'm looking forward to the dividends I'll get from it all year long. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Chicago ... and we'll be back.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:53 PM | Permalink

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Here's what the Boston Pops looked like (well, sort of) during Tuesday night's closing concert at the Bank of America Pavilion. A great time was had by all...music of the 60s and 70s sung beautifully by Tony nominee Liz Callaway, rousing patriotic numbers, songs from the Tanglewood Festival Chorus...and sing-alongs!

Conductor Keith Lockhart and the Pops wowed everyone, and the appreciative crowd gave standing ovations to the performers throughout the performance!

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 12:17 AM | Permalink

More from the innovation session...

What if we looked at member complaints as the seeds of new products and services?

If members are complaining, they're not happy with the way things are. Are you listening to the patterns in customer/member complaints? What are they telling you? Are there ideas for doing things differently that you can explore?

3M invented "Super-Sticky Post-It notes" because of so many customer complaints about "regular" Sticky Notes always falling off the old big-box computer monitors.

Imagine that.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just a few of the 52 tips shared:

Use the Outlook today view mode of Outlook to preview your day (your appointements, tasks, number of unread e-mails).

Check to see if your cell phone has coverage in the town you're going to at www.deadcellphones.com.

Use www.payloadz.com to start selling digital download on your website.

Experiment with podcasting at www.odeo.com

Posted by Mickie Rops at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Blogging in "Creating a Culture of Innovation," facilitated by Paul Meyer and Jeff De Cagna...

Jeff just outlined a six-step process for innovation:
Imagine a possibility - encourage everyone (staff and board) to imagine
Ideate the possibility - give people the opportunity to generate ideas (members and staff)
Inquire into the idea - learn more about it, just enough to make a decision
Initiate - create the idea
Implement - put the idea out there, even if it's not perfect (especially if it's not; waiting for perfection may result in a lost opportunity)
Impact - what is the result of the idea and its implementation?

Ideas generated are reviewed by an "innovation council" of middle-level folks (not at most senior level of organization) representing a cross-section of departments (about 10 folks). This group makes decisions about which ideas move forward. Engaging those closest to members sends a very powerful message about the value given to innovation. Besides, the senior folks will have a chance to look at them eventually.

Innovation doesn't have to be only for big projects, either...not everything has to be the new "Google" or the next "Post-It note."

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 03:05 PM | Permalink

Kevin Carroll, who calls himself a Katalyst for Change, is talking about fun, work and change. He has quite the interesting life story -- from abandoned child of alcoholics to well-educated, six-language-speaking athletic trainer for the '76ers and the Yugoslavian Olympic team, to create-your-own-title executive at Nike. He attributes his success to a "red rubber ball," and you really need to be here to get the whole story as to how the red rubber ball made a difference in his life.

Highly engaging guy with lots of props and gifts -- he has the audience wrapped up. My battery is starting to dwindle so I'll try to post some notes later.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Alas, the Philadelphia booth, which has been serving delicious cheesesteaks the last two days (inexplicably without whiz), seems to be out of them and has been reduced to serving (just as inexplicably) pretzels. We'd made a beeline there for lunch and experienced only disappointment.

Oh, well, Philly, we promise not to hold it against you ...

Posted by Kevin Holland at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What enabled Lincoln to pull together all these rivals into a cohesive team?

• A profound self-confidence
• Empathy -- he understood why others thought the way they did even when he disagreed
• Always shared credit with others
• Repaired injured feelings as soon as possible
• Would take responsibility for his subordinates' failures
• When angry, would write a hot letter, and then put it aside
• Understood his own moods -- so when facing a setback, he would always go to where it happened to boost morale
• Knew how to relax -- went to theater over 100 times during the Civil War
• Made himself accessible to ordinary people -- anyone could get an appointment

Posted by Kevin Holland at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...for equipping the Boston convention center, site of the ASAE & The Center annual meeting, with widely available wireless Internet access - at no charge! I've heard many attendees mention the convenience this has afforded them throughout the meeting, and it certainly allowed those of us blogging the meeting the freedom to blog live during sessions and sit down in any available spot to write a post. As I write this post, I'm sitting in the ballroom, just as the final general session has ended. I've also blogged and checked e-mail from the exhibit floor on the bottom level, from the corridors, and from any of a number of session rooms.

Other convention centers (and hotels!) should consider the example set at BCEC by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority as a wake-up call...complimentary Internet access - wireless or wired - will certainly win you a lot of friends! My hotel, the Courtyard Boston Tremont, has complimentary access; others, however, do not and as I've talked with people throughout this convention I've heard many complaints about hotels that charge a (somewhat hefty) fee.

Face it...more and more convention and meeting goers are expecting connectivity and convenience. Those organizations that make it easy and part of their customer service will be those, I'm guessing, that will inspire loyalty.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 10:19 AM | Permalink

Asked why he put all of his rivals for the Republican presidential campaign -- those he surprisingly defeated -- into his cabinet, Lincoln said that they were the best men, and the nation was in peril and needed them. Goodwin says a more likely explanation could be summed up in a phrase favored by her former employer, Lyndon Johnson: "It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:55 AM | Permalink

Congratulations to the 2006 class of the Diversity Exectuive Leadership Program, just introduced as we continue the Tuesday general session:

Sheila Austria
Susan Boswell
Karen L. Beverly Ducker
Pamela Dorsey
Oleathia Gadsden, CMP
Esther Gonzales Smith
Agatha Davis Johnson, CAE
Roberto Quinones
VR Small
Ching Ping Wei, CAE

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 09:52 AM | Permalink

I've come across a few other blogs featuring regular posts from the ASAE annual meeting. A few other perspectives to check out:

• Sue Pelletier at Face2Face
• Rick Johnston at CAE Weblog
• Zach Wilson and Fred Simmons at Gulo Solutions Blog

If you know of any others, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At this morning's final general session, they've just presented the "Associations Make a Better World" awards, representing the spirit of the association community worldwide:

Rotary International - PolioPlus Program
International Society of Nephrology & National Kidney Foundation – World Kidney Day
Association of Civil Society Support Centers - honest elections program, Kurkistan

Congratulations and kudos to these associations for their wonderful outreach programs that have truly made a difference!

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 09:35 AM | Permalink

I received Team of Rivals a couple months ago through my Zooba membership, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I suppose this morning I'll get the Cliff's Notes version from Doris Kearns Goodwin, and I'm looking forward to it. Certainly the concept of managing through a group of people with disparate agendas and potential rivalries has a lot of application to the association world.

Former White House chief of staff (and former association exec) Andy Card is talking right now. More later when DKG starts.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:32 AM | Permalink

Scott Steen, Greg Balestrero, and Seth Kahan did a fantastic session based on a Journal of Association Leadership article about future trends impacting associations. Specifically, they talked about complexity, globalization, and demographic changes. It was a refreshingly deep and important conversation.

One takeaway: if you are still trying to figure out if globalization and demographic shift is happening or not, you are way behind the curve. The really “cool” statistics about how Honda makes the car that has the most American parts in it are several years old!

Another: as you move to incorporate the broader world into your association, or even a broader mix of people within the United States, be prepared to change the way you do things in your organization. You must be willing to look critically at your own “model.”

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:37 AM | Permalink

I go to a lot of sessions on generations because the topic really interests me, and Claire Raines was hands down the best one I’ve been to so far. I thought she really distinguished herself form other speakers about this topic in many different ways. She presented clear differences among the generations that seemed to resonate with the people in the room. She did put out the “Generation X are not joiners” line, which in the association context needs a little more thorough exploration, but ultimately I felt her description of Generation X was accurate and (unlike many others) not overly negative. Similarly, she did not make fun of Generation X or the millennials, which I think is common when the speaker and most of the audience are Boomers. She warned everyone about the danger of using these generalizations to stereotype people, which, again, many speakers on this topic seem to leave out. She also made the important point that generation is just one of many factors of our identity that impact who we are and how we behave.

She also did her homework about associations for this talk and didn’t merely re-state points in her book. Some of her recommendations to associations:

-Develop generational literacy
-Use a generational lens to review things like marketing, products, etc. regularly
-Solicit feedback from focus groups or representative individuals
-Ask members and prospects about their needs and preferences
-Foster acceptance of other generational perspectives throughout your organization.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s so hard to keep up with the content at this conference!

I thought the morning general session was outstanding. Takeaways:

Nobody is as smart as everybody. Create an “architecture of participation” to make broader connections and have more conversations in order to innovate and be more successful.

Looking at the industry the way everybody else does—including the customers—won’t get you traction. You have to go outside your world and experience things.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:31 AM | Permalink

Bill Taylor, co-author of Mavericks at Work, sat down with me for an interview to discuss the book, how association leaders can challenge their boards to challenge industry orthodoxy and what association mavericks need to know to succeed. (It is a little more than 10 minutes in length.)


MP3 File

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 05:35 PM | Permalink

Still in Gulko's session on brand differentiation .... more notes:

Be first, or at least be perceived to be first. IBM wasn't the first company to sell computers. Google wasn't the first company to offer contextual search advertising. But they might as well have been.

What "words" are owned by your brand? FedEx is overnight, Domino's is delivery ... when your members or potential members hear "XYZ Association," what word or concept comes to mind?

Leaders educate. Followers do not underwrite studies, leaders do.

Don't dilute your brand. Create sub-brands instead. Levi's makes jeans, and failed when they tried to launch Levi's brand khakis. So they created the Dockers brand. Same company, both pants, different kinds, different brands.

Understand your target's mindset. Lexus, which now sells more cars than Mercedes and BMW in America combined, sent its managers to the Four Seasons for the weekend so they would have a better understanding of the kind of service demanded by their customers.

We can't measure quality. We can only measure the perception of quality.

Two components of a brand: rational and emotional. Rational is important, but emotional is a lot more important.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 05:03 PM | Permalink

I am blogging right now at the follow-up Thought Leader session for Mavericks at Work. Some key points:

+The importance of storytelling--Organizations must continuously create energy to propel things forward. Stories help do that. People in the organization sustain themselves through stories, while new people use them to imagine the new chapter. ING DIRECT has The Orange Journey and it has helped create a mythology around the company that inspires its employees.

+Leaders handling failure--You must learn from your errors, but not ditch them, so you can learn from them again in the future. Innovation is a team sport, so you must look at both the individual and the system when assessing failure. Are you willing to tolerate a bit of chaos and disruption? You've got to let the organization make small mistakes, but it is the job of leaders not to let the organization make a big mistake.

+Pulling the plug on ideas that aren't working--Companies are using prediction markets to help make decisions about which projects will fly and which don't. Organizations should think about developing a system for allowing ideas to percolate up and then mechanisms for evaluating them. In your association's metaphorical clothes closet, you have room for only so many outfits. If you want to put a new one in, you must take one out. Which one will you remove?

+Sustaining your maverick approach--You celebrate successes and keep moving when you're a challenger. It's an attitude that you maintain and it helps if you can find an enemy, i.e., what's wrong in our industry or profession. That is your enemy. You must have an edge. If you don't have an edge, you cannot differentiate. If you cannot differentiate, people won't want to spend time with you.

+Maverick traits--Strength of character combined with intellectual humility and insatiable curiosity. It is somewhat the worst of both worlds, because everyone is looking for hypocrisy in your words and deeds when you're standing for something, but you don't get to tell people what to do and have a huge ego. The maverick is always learning about what's next.

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 05:01 PM | Permalink

Still in the "Dispelling Conventional Wisdom" session, and Mick Gallery has shared that there's been some concern that the 7 Measures study focused on larger associations, and I've heard that mentioned in hallway conversations. While he admits that is true (the smallest association studied had 50 staff), he offered two facts to consider:

1. Participation was a huge commitment for participating organizations...they were each asked for 15 years of data. Even the 50-staff associations found this a challenge, and smaller organizations would face a capacity problem. However, the task force believes that the factors identified will apply to any size organization. As an example, being mission-focused: who more than small associations needs to be mission-focused?

2. The participating associations were selected via a nomination process; 1000 CEOs were asked who they benchmark against. The likelihood of smaller organizations being mentioned is somewhat negligible.

A great next step, says Gallery, would be to study how the principles apply to smaller organizations. Given the number of small associations in our universe, that's a very good idea.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 05:00 PM | Permalink

It seems association execs all believe some fundamental “wisdom”…the things we all believe to be true. The “7 Measures” study dispelled some of our assumptions, and in this afternoon’s session Mark Golden, CAE is sharing those assumptions, from Chapter 6 of the book 7 Measures of Success. The study doesn’t prove or disprove these beliefs, nor did it find any support for them.

• Smaller boards are better boards
• Elections should reflect the democratic process
• CEO should come from association profession
• Reserves should equal 50% of annual revenues
• Staff driven vs. member driven
• Be proactive, not reactive

If these “sacred” assumptions can’t be proven, what does that mean for the decisions we’ve made based on them? In our work and personal life, maybe we should consider what other assumptions we should be rethinking.

The discussion is continuing, led by Mark Golden and Michael Gallery with a distinguished panel consisting of Phyllis Edans, Jim Dalton, Wells Jones, and Dawn Mancuso.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 04:44 PM | Permalink

After some technical difficulties, the session is off to a good start. Here are a few key points for those of you who missed it:

The legal risks of credentialing programs are higher when the credential becomes more important - like when denial or revocation of a credential impacts individual or organizational livelihoods (e.g., certifications required for licensure/practice or jobs).
To be legally defensible, the standards, policies and procedures of the program must be reasonable, fair and impartial.
Program governance should be well-defined (in organizational bylaws) and ensure autonomy from association governance.
Policies and procedures should be documented, made publicly available, and periodically reviewed.
Standards and assessment processes should be objectively developed (not just the opinion of a committee).
Eligibility criteria should be appropriate for the purpose of the program and should be fair and reasonable (you should be able to justify the criteria).
Marketing should accurately support the integrity of the program (don't over promise)
A due-process procedure should be in place (i.e., appeals).
Disciplinary policies should be clear and justly administered.
Program record keeping must ensure confidentiality and security of all materials (locked files, password protected databases, as examples).
Staff must understand and be attentive to legal issues (although this does not replace the need to have legal counsel with credentialing expertise).
Contracts must protect the interests of the program (such as security, confidentiality, document ownership).
You need to make sure your insurance policies cover your credentialing activities (don’t assume that they do).

If you’re considering developing a credentialing program, be sure to locate the Accreditation and Certification Law Handbook, an essential resource, through the ASAE & The Center.

Posted by Mickie Rops at 04:35 PM | Permalink

Larry Gulko, who is leading a session on brand differentiation, is a Boston native, and you can tell since his accent is thick as chowder. He warned us that we should expect to see a lot of depressed people around town tonight since the Sox lost their fifth in a row to the Yankees. (Of course, as he pointed out, the Red Sox sure have their brand loyalty down pat -- they lose, then go on to still raise their ticket prices in December, and sell out the whole season.)

Some thoughts from Gulko and my responses:

Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of product categories. Don't think about what "product" you sell; think about which "product category" you want to own. Be a specialist, not a generalist.

I agree with Gulko's point here; the problem, of course, is that many, if not most, associations are "generalist" by design. We have dozens of committees, hundreds of disjointed products, we lurch in and out of issues based on the whims of who happens to be occupying the board chair. How can we get associations to willingly "contract" themselves into something that may be "smaller" but more valuable, more focused? Time to stop buying into the old-fashioned association hype of "we serve our industry" and start answering the question, "how do we serve our industry?"

Department stores struggle while specialty stores thrive. There used to be Macy's, and they sold everything -- including books, bedding, shoes, and electronics. Today we have Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Foot Locker, and Best Buy.

Gulko had a funny point to make about Best Buy, which I agree with -- their service sucks. It's one of the worst places to do business. But we go there because they have the best selection at the best price, and so we put up with it. I wouldn't want to be the guy who has the lowest price and the worst service, but I suppose it's a viable business model for commodities.

A brand is promise, trust, and perceived value.

The three parts of a brand promise. According to Gulko, every brand has three sentences that start as follows:

• We create ...
• Providing ...
• For ...

Fill in the blanks.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 04:14 PM | Permalink

Entertainers in the BCEC this morning.

Posted by Ben Martin at 03:30 PM | Permalink

Still in Erik Wahl's session....

We've been trained to give left-brain, analytical thinking preferential treatment. From school to corporate structure, we react to everything based on the context that's been defined for us. An example: Wahl showed us the following symbol:

VII

and then asked how to add one line and make it an 8. Everyone knows this, right --

VIII

Then he showed us this symbol

IX

and asked us how to add one line to make it a 6. Everyone looked a little puzzled, until he showed us the answer:

SIX

The way we define the context of a challenge determines how we resolve it.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I can already tell that this is the sort of session that will make me wish I brought a camera with me. Wahl opened with a woman playing the keyboard and singing "God Bless the USA" while he quickly painted a striking image of the Statue of Liberty. After his applause he said he brought another canvas with him, and asked, "Who here can draw?"

Unsurprisingly, following his display of talent, the only response from the audience was laughter. "Don't feel bad," he said. "I've asked that question of financial executives, sales executives, healthcare executives -- I'm lucky to get even one person to respond.

"But if I go to a high school and ask that question, I get 10, maybe 15 percent hands raised.

But if I go into a preschool -- any preschool -- and ask who can draw, how many do you think say they can draw?"

Of course, the answer is -- all of them.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 03:11 PM | Permalink

This is what you see walking into an ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting general session.

Posted by Ben Martin at 03:07 PM | Permalink

Are any of these thought leader sessions not packed? I'm waiting for Erik Wahl's session to begin and it's in the same room as Bourdain's yesterday, and once again it's an SRO crowd. In this morning's Daily Now they wrote that there are at least 24% more association executives this year than last, and it certainly feels more crowded.

I've seen a few of those people who are working here riding Segways around the expo floor -- whether they are for ASAE or the convention center or someone else, I don't know -- and my tired feet are making me jealous. Perhaps they should rent Segways out to attendees to help us get from Room 253B to Room 109 in the fifteen minutes they give us between sessions? That would be cool ... if a little dangerous.

It's starting now, more later....

Posted by Kevin Holland at 03:00 PM | Permalink

I'll be blogging some videos taken with my still camera throughout the rest of the day. Here's a video from the first few minutes of today's General Session.

Posted by Ben Martin at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Baldridge National Quality Program, under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, is going non-profit next year for the first time. Associations will be able to submit a Baldridge Award application (starting in November), and by next year NIST expects to have a non-profit case study online.

In this morning’s session Malcolm Baldridge for Associations, we learned from Paul Borawski, CEO of the American Society for Quality, and Jamie Ambrosi, deputy director of the Baldridge National Quality Program, about the Baldridge process, the plans for the non-profit category, and how associations can get involved. We also heard from Terry Perl, CEO of the non-profit Chimes, about how his organization is using the Baldridge criteria to enhance its operations. For organizations willing to undertake the extensive framework Baldridge provides to explore the seven awards criteria, the journey can be enlightening, rewarding, and beneficial.

ASAE & The Center, under the staff leadership of Michelle Mason, will be raising awareness of this exciting news and sounding out association needs for getting engaged in the process. The extent to which people are interested in starting this journey is the extent to which resources can be considered and developed.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 02:37 PM | Permalink

Reflecting on the fly feels like a bit of a contradiction in terms, but I wanted to share some initial impressions of how the Collins and Taylor general sessions stack up for me.

My first observation is that I don't think the two sessions were as different as we might think. Following yesterday's session, some people who know me well thought I might be upset by Jim's apparent "dissing" of innovation. I am well aware of Jim's concerns about the pursuit of innovation, and on some level, I share them. The mindless and undisciplined pursuit of innovation is not a strategy for long-term success. But all organizations, including associations, can create enduring success if they make innovation a genuine and consistent strategic priority. Contrary to popular belief, Jim's long view of moving from good to great is not at all incompatible with the work of innovation.

A second thought comes from the focus in today's general session on what I would broadly characterize as the creative and emotional side of the organization. Bill Taylor, Arkadi Kuhlmann from ING DIRECT and Lyn Thomas from Cirque du Soleil all spoke to this issue in their remarks. I doubt, however, that these leaders are any less committed to using data effectively to support intelligent decision-making. At the same time, they recognize that the human imagination and spirit are also critical elements of organizational success. The notion of "data-driven strategies," one of the seven measures of success and an area of emphasis of Jim's talk yesterday, strike me as unnecessarily one dimensional. In voluntary organizations, the energetic and passionate engagement of all stakeholders is an essential ingredient of strategic advancement, and I'm personally struggling with the notion that an Excel spreadsheet is always the best spark for the creativity our organizations very much need to thrive.

One final thought is simply that all association leaders must entertain a simple notion: there is no one "right" way to make sense of or drive toward organizational success. The ideas contained in the 7 Measures of Success book are now a part of our conversation flow and we will talk about them. I am a passionate advocate for innovation and while I know that all associations can benefit from actively engaging in the work of innovation, I recognize that not all leaders in our community will agree. One characteristic of real leadership is being able to live with the tension of competing ideas, and that is precisely what ASAE & The Center are challenging us to do.

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 11:27 AM | Permalink

Like many, here at this conference I was really looking forward to Jim Collins' session yesterday. His work in Good to Great and Built to Last has inspired this community (and the corporate community) and still continues to do so. I appreciate the amazing effort of the volunteer committee that worked on the 7 Measures of Success project - big kudos to each of these individuals for their time and commitment. I also want to thank the individual associations that took part in the project and those that submitted information to participate. It takes a lot of foresight to put your organization out there for microscopic examination.

In this day and age of information and data overload, I think it is essential for all leaders to Socratically question just about everything we hear. We need to strive to achieve a deeper understanding of the data, research, and information we gather and receive before placing a value judgment on it. Whether it is data from staff, from our own association, from our field/profession, or research outside our “world”, we need to Socratically evaluate what we are receiving. These questions are not value judgment questions but questions to help clarify and better understand the research. I hope that as you read the 7 Measures of Success book you do so with an inquisitive mind because, in fact, it is simply one-way to look at the association world.

As I do a deep dive into the 7 Measures book over the coming days I know my list of questions will grow. Here are a few of my questions that stem from the Collins presentation yesterday:

- Why did Collins not speak specifically to the 7 Measures and provide, at a minimum, a strategic view of the findings?
- The list of participating associations seems to include all large associations. Is there any evidence that the findings from this book also apply to smaller and mid-sized associations?
- What did the participating associations think about the process?
- Does the criterion used for this project truly compare the associations accurately?
- Is the matched pair methodology the best way to compare associations?
- Were there any issues that the committee feels were left unanswered or were not addressed in this research effort?

I encourage you to add to this list! Feel free to post comments; I would love to hear your thoughts.

Posted by Amy Smith at 11:11 AM | Permalink

Bill is talking with Larry Huston from Procter & Gamble about the company's "connect and develop" strategy for innovation. P&G is a consumer products behemoth, with a very well developed R&D function. But P&G has also recognized that most world-class innovators don't work for the company, so they have created networks with innovators around the world.

The case study of Pringles Prints is an example of how "connect and develop" works. P&G shares an innovation brief with its networks looking for a technology that can print directly on to Pringles chips. The brief works its way through the networks to a professor in Italy who has created technologies that makes this food-based printing process possible. This is a new form of innovation that is open and collaborative, a significant departure from the traditional R&D approach.

Your association can succeed with this same kind of approach by building innovation networks with individuals, associations, companies and other contributors, reaching out around your community, the country and the world for new ideas. No association needs to go about the work of innovation alone.

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Panelist Lyn Heward just shared a Cirque du Soleil philosophy that might be kind of radical in the association world that focuses so strongly on members: what do staff members want to feel about the place they work? How do their perceptions and their emotion and their passion connect with what they do every day?

Seems to me that giving some attention to our people – not just their skills and what they bring to the work, but finding out what they’re passionate about and connecting that to the jobs they do – might light some sparks that could lead to innovative and creative approaches to member service. Even if that passion is not directly related to the jobs they were hired for…maybe look at another way to align responsibilities so that people can bring their passions to work and actually use them.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 09:46 AM | Permalink

In this morning's Daily Now, I suggested that today's general session would send the message that associations must challenge conventional wisdom and industry orthodoxy. So far, it has not disappointed at all. Right now, Bill Taylor is interviewing Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of ING DIRECT. ING DIRECT has been called "the Southwest Airlines of banking."

ING DIRECT is an excellent example of a disruptive business model. Virtually all of the company's activity occurs online in order to reduce fees to customers. Although the company has "branches," they are more like cafes. ING DIRECT has challenged the underlying assumptions of the banking world, including those of customers who expect to have their hands held. (ING DIRECT actually fires customers who are too needy when it comes to help.)

I happen to be an ING DIRECT customer for savings, and I love what the company offers. I am definitely an evangelist for ING DIRECT, something that Arkadi believes is very important to its success. So the question for your association is two parts: 1) does your business model disrupt industry orthodoxy, even to the level of the member or customer and 2) do your members/customers have such profound passion for the way you do your work that they will share their zeal with others?

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The attendance at the Benefits and Risks of Certification Programs session once again shows the strong interest and need of association executives for more guidance in this area. We’re discussing some of the most problematic issues facing certification programs, including:

Maintaining autonomy in decision-making by the certifying governing body from the association’s board of directors. The body does not have to be independently incorporated, but at minimum, it must have autonomy in decision-making of all essential certification decisions.

Establishing fair and reasonable eligibility requirements. Be careful of antitrust violations. Requiring membership is not recommended.

Establishing defensible grounds for revocation. Here are 3: criminal conviction in the area of responsibility covered by the credential; gross negligence or malpractice; and misrepresentation of information in the certification or recertification process

Being careful about what you promise. It’s safe to say that your certificants meet your rigorous standards, but not safe to guarantee they are competent or say they’re better than someone else without the credential.

Having disciplinary policies and procedures in place before launching the program (versus creating when the issues arise!). Key elements are notice of the violation, opportunity to respond, and fair and impartial decision-makers.

Posted by Mickie Rops at 09:28 AM | Permalink

Bill Taylor, author of Mavericks at Work, is speaking right now, and he has raised three fundamental questions for all association leaders to consider in the areas of strategy, innovation and the human side of the organization:

+What ideas do you stand for?--It isn't enough to have great products and services. Maverick organizations are fighting for important ideas that will change their industries.

+How will you surface great ideas no matter where they are?--Most of the world's brilliant people will never work for your organization. But they doesn't mean they can't work with you.

+Why would great people want to work for you?--Paying more money is not a strategy for attracting great people. Maverick organizations treat the people side of the organization with the same discipline as other functions.

As an association leader, how will you and your organization answer these questions?

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:11 AM | Permalink

It's not, after all, about the products and services we offer to members...it's about strategy focused on values, innovation from the perspective that anyone in the world can have great ideas (imagine customers designing products!), and the human side of enterprise. Top companies, and leaders in their marketplace, use these approaches to their businesses.

As to the human side...Bill Taylor of Fast Company suggests you ask yourself why the best people in the field should work for you...how can you get more than your fair share of the best people in association management on your team?

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 09:10 AM | Permalink

Richard Green from Marriott has just received the Academy of Leaders Award, ASAE & The Center's highest recognition for industry partners. Richard has been a friend for many years and he is definitely a deserving recipient of this great honor.

Congratulations Richard!

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:08 AM | Permalink

Bill Taylor is making some great points this morning...

On strategy: Products and services don't transform an industry, but the ideas you stand for can. So then, the essence of strategy is to advance ideas, not to offer new products or services.

On innovation: Great ideas come from all levels of the organization and outside of the organization, but the best leaders are smart enough to ask.

On human resources: The people are the company. You can't wait around for them to come to you (through traditional job ads, for example); you need to seek them out.

Posted by Mickie Rops at 08:59 AM | Permalink

We welcome the contributions of all ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting attendees for the BostonBlog. You can send your brilliance to bostonblog@gmail.com, and we will get it posted!

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 08:55 AM | Permalink

The super session I went to yesterday was done by Bill Strickland, and it was unbelievably powerful. I can’t do it justice in a blog post, frankly, but I wanted to share what a powerful session this was. Bill has an amazing story, building a training center in a poor neighborhood in Pittsburgh that provides world-class training in areas ranging from art to medical technicians.

What was most inspiring to me was Bill’s clarity of purpose and his simple but powerful conviction to get things done. He was faced with the same barriers that we all face in organizations—the same lack of resources, the same opposition, the same societal obstacles—but they just didn’t phase him. He was clear, and he got it done. He’s evidence that we underestimate our own power.

His key message, by the way: It’s the way you think about people that determines their behavior. People are a function of expectations. Bill trains poor people, and he treats them like world-class citizens in his programs. And they produce extraordinary results.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:55 AM | Permalink

I liked what Jim Collins had to say yesterday (see all the live blog posts below!). I’ve always been a fan of Good to Great. But I think that some of his points should come with a warning or caveat.

For example, he made the point that association greatness is not attained simply by being more like businesses. I agree. But don’t let that be an excuse for ignoring what businesses do to be more effective.

Similarly, he talked about the difference between the executive leadership corporate CEOS have, versus the “legislative” power association CEOs must wield. Again, this is an excellent point—there is no single leader in an association. But I worry that this might be an excuse to NOT be bold and decisive. Even within the legislative model, there is room for bold moves.

So I hope that people will take what Jim says and think about it some more. It’s great stuff, but it’s not necessarily the “answer.”

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:44 AM | Permalink

Okay, so I’m a little late to the Jim Collins party…a number of my blogging colleagues have already mentioned key points he conveyed in Sunday morning’s general session so I won’t repeat those. There is, though, one point he made that resonated with me…and perhaps it seems an obvious one. However, depending on your organization, there could be big implications.

“Growth is a cumulative process,” Collins said, “a constant process of asking how we can do better tomorrow.”

What does it mean to do that? Do we have a process in place, and is it part of our organizational DNA? If we don’t and it isn’t, what would it take to put it there? If we look at every program, product, and service as a learning lab for the next one, what shift in perspective might it give us to look at the possibilities instead of what didn’t work?

I greatly enjoyed hearing Jim Collins…I was a little disappointed, though, that he didn’t talk about how the “7 Measures” project results compared to the “Good to Great” findings. What differences and similarities were there, and why? What are his perspectives on how the association community might capitalize on its strengths?

Hopefully, we’ll read about that in the book.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 11:15 PM | Permalink

Live blogging Larry Friedman's session, "Connecting With Your Customers" (handout).

* There are no orange kangaroos in Denmark (if you were here, you get it).
* If you're not uncomfortable from time to time, you're not taking enough risks.
* The currency of the 21st century is time.
* Speedy service is good customer service.
* Understand and create the "perfect world" for your members.
* Motivate employees to give great member service by catching them doing something right.
* Humor is the ability to take yourself lightly and find something funny in your predicaments.
* Laugh lines impact the bottom line.
* Choose your attitude by asking yourself these four questions:
1. What do I have to be grateful for today?
2. What can I do to make a difference in someone’s life today?
3. How can I challenge myself today?
4. What great thing is going to happen to me today?
* ‘AUR’ Way to approach these tough situations:

Acknowledge the situation. Listen empathetically. Four phrases to ackowledge a problem: Isn't that awful? Isn't that horrible? Can you believe it? That's my favorite problem!
Understand: Get the facts; learn the details. Accept responsibility.
Resolve: Do what you can; take some action to meet or exceed their expectations. Give alternative solutions.

Manage your moments of truth: (first impressions, when you do something wrong). Any time a customer comes in contact with any part of you business it's a moment of truth. The most critical moment of truth is when you make a mistake. How are you going to handle it?
Stay Informed: Make yourself indispensable with information and resources.
Make Every Customer Feel Special: Create their “Perfect World.”
Innovate Constantly: What can I do to create my members' ‘UCE’? (Ultimate Customer Experience)

Posted by Ben Martin at 04:59 PM | Permalink

The roar you heard a few minutes ago was the ovation for Anthony Bourdain, a thoroughly enjoyable keynoter, if a little unusual for this sort of meeting. He had us all in hysterics and managed to make a few salient points, as well (Amy Smith summarized them nicely). At the end he took a number of questions from the audience -- in fact, it may be the first time I've been in a session like this where the audience loudly said "awwww" when someone indicated the questions were coming to an end.

The questions covered a wide range, from the Lebanon story Amy described, to an audience member's question as to what Bourdain has against vegetarians ("I like vegetables," he said, "especially when they're cooked in duck fat"), to immigration reform ("I think we need to be honest," Bourdain said, "we're talking about between 17 and 70 percent of the restaurant and hospitality workforce, depending on what region of the country we're talking about. Amnesty, at least. Or we don't eat.").

A couple of the points he made in reference to leadership lessons from the kitchen:

Bad decisions are better than no decisions. A chef needs to be decisive because in the high-pressure world of the kitchen, there is no time to dither. Better to make a decision and stick to it. If it's wrong, you can analyze it later. This ties into a lot of research lately that shows that being decisive -- being able to see a path, make a decision, and stick to it -- can actually be more valuable to an organization's performance than whether or not the decision was objectively "the right one" to make.

To inspire loyalty, the team members have to see the leader work hard. Nobody wants to be led by a dilettante who wanders in and out of the workplace. Bourdain had to make the tough decision to give up his chef position to handle his new media duties, because he didn't be one of those chefs who sort of shows up once in a while -- refusing to give up the chef title but not really doing any of the work. Team members want to know that they're being asked to work hard by someone who's working even harder.

And finally during the q&a session, Bourdain made clear his opinions on his former employer, the Food Network, and their current uber-star Rachael Ray. "$40 a day," he snorted. "Tip, already!"

Posted by Kevin Holland at 03:21 PM | Permalink

Last year's highest rated speaker, Matt Weinstein, is making a repeat performance here in Boston. I guess I'm not the only one who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I arrived at room 205 to find a standing-room only crowd. Here's the scene as I saw it:

Posted by Ben Martin at 02:45 PM | Permalink

A quick post from a blue chair in the Connection Cafe about the opening general session. I thought that last year's opening session in would be difficult to top, and unfortunately I was right. Last year's opening session featured a Cirque de Soleil style acrobatic troupe, which was just incredible. Today's entertainment portion of the general session was a rapper, some "fly girls" and a magician. The theatrics were good. But not great.

I think this stood in stark contrast to the general session keynote presentation by Jim Collins. Jim's session was excellent, just as I had hoped it would be. There are a number of posts already on the Boston Blog, so I won't go into detail about his presentation, but suffice it to say that it was great.

Perhaps the most entertaining part about the opening general session was seeing ASAE's President & CEO, John Graham, decked out in gold chains and more bling-bling, get behind two DJ turntables, don a pair of headphones, and "scratch" (the DJ setup was part of the rapping and fly girls routine I mentioned earlier). Not only did John's headphones fall off (twice) but his scratching was totally out of sync with the track. It was a Milli-Vanilli moment to be sure.

I give the opening general session an A for substance, but a B for style.

I've heard stories about an ASAE or GWSAE meeting from several years ago when a UFO or a spaceship occupied the stage. Apparently those theatrics were the stuff of legends, and people compared future events to the "spaceship meeting" for many years. I have a feeling my expectations for general sessions may be exceedingly difficult to surpass because of my experience at last year's annual meeting in Nashville.

Posted by Ben Martin at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fellow blogger, Kevin Holland, is in this overly small room - somewhere. I'm blogging from the floor of a room that filled up 10 minutes before Bourdain started. Fabulous session! Fabulous and entertaining speaker. Clear cut, dynamic, fun, and with clear expectations of his kitchen staff, Bourdain's decisive nature provides his staff with the old fashioned "tough love" approach to management. How refreshing!

As a leader of an organization--

1. Be clear. Set clear expectations of your staff. Do not waiver on those expectations.
2. Be fair. Apply the expectations to EVERY member of your staff even handedly.
3. Have down time with staff. Building relationships outside of the office
4. Set unwaiverable standards. Set very high standards and never waiver from them.
5. Be prepared to break all rules that you set. Always give yourself the ability to change the rules, break the rules, etc.

On a somber note - Bourdain answered questions about his recent taping of his show in Beiruit. The short version is that he and the crew started taping a show. 7-8 days into taping they watched the bombing of the city and were evacuated on a Marine transport. The show will air tomorrow night and will show the crew's experiences.

What an amazing speaker! Kudos for using a non-traditional speaker for this conference!

Posted by Amy Smith at 02:25 PM | Permalink

They seem to have underestimated Anthony Bourdain's appeal considering the throngs of people lining the walls around the packed-out room. Bourdain himself seems somewhat surprised at his new role of management guru; he opened by saying that after he wrote an "obnoxious, testosterone-filled" memoir he was amazed to see it used as the basis for an article in the Harvard Business Review. And now here he is, speaking on management to an SRO crowd of association executives.

He starts off talking about employees. In the high-pressure, dysfunctional world of restaurants, Bourdain says that when he hires an employee, he looks for character. "I can teach them the skills," he says. "I can teach them to make hollandaise sauce later. But are they worth the investment?" (Of course he also admits that "young, fresh, naive and totally moldable" makes for a good candidate.)

"I don't care if you were up late last night worshipping Satan," Bourdain says, "as long as you're on time for work. You show up on time every day, almost everything else is negotiable."

Posted by Kevin Holland at 02:06 PM | Permalink

More from Jim:

+There are no shortcuts to greatness...it is built day by day, year by year, decade by decade.

+Associations face a profound challenge in "getting the right people in the right seats on the bus." How do you make sure that your key seats (staff, volunteers and board) are filled with the right people?

+The leadership difference in great companies is not the presence of leadership itself, but the kind of leadership demonstrated. (Level 5 Leaders)

+In associations, there may be a "legislative" type of leadership, i.e., not executive leadership, but bridging different views to come up with the right decision, although not necessarily the consensus decision.

+The question of staff-driven or member-driven associations is the wrong question. Associations should be data-driven, intelligence-driven and acting on that data.

+Ask your staff or board, "What do we mean by great results?"

+Your most powerful motivational tool might be an Excel spreadsheet. (Personally, I find that pretty hard to believe. ;>)

+The move from great to good occurs when you refuse to accept the brutal facts and refuse to engage in dialogue and debate about them.

+The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change, but chronic inconsistency, i.e., preserve the core while stimulating progress.

+It is not just being a change agent that makes you great. You must also be a continuity agent.

+How many of you have a to do list? How many of you have a stop doing list?

+The importance of "disciplined people engaging in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action."

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 10:16 AM | Permalink

What are the early indicators of decline? The moment you begin to doubt the facts of your data and debate its ramifications, you're already in "level 2" of decline. Level 5 is capitulation to irrelevance -- or death.

Collins studied 40 companies that have fallen from great to good, or never became great. He asks, what is the signature of mediocrity? He describes the extraordinary success of Southwest, which actually, literally, copied the business model of another airline. They have been one of the most successful publicly-traded companies and yet they did not innovate anything. Today, Southwest is still around and profitable, while the airline they copied is long gone. Why? The other airline got spooked by all the changes in its operating environment and didn't stick to its plan. Southwest never changed.

Mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 10:05 AM | Permalink

Collins says, be neither -- be "data driven." Gathering the right information and then acting on it is not "staff-driven" -- it's "intelligence-driven."

Posted by Kevin Holland at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Jim Collins says he started the "Good to Great" research by insisting that there not be a "leadership" answer. Turns out, the research proved him wrong. Leadership does matter, if you hit what he calls a "level 5 executive," combining overarching ambition for the purpose of the organization with a ferocious will to get things done no matter what.

He admits with associations, it gets a little complicated. A business CEO can simply make a decision. In a complex membership organization, there are many "circles of power." It requires building a way to make the right decisions happen in the right way. Associations have a "legislative leadership" as opposed to "executive leadership."

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:53 AM | Permalink

The giant teleprompter on the back wall of the opening session.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:44 AM | Permalink

Sys Jim: The WRONG answer to the question of how can associations be great is to be more like businesses. Why? Most business are NOT great.

Posted by Mickie Rops at 09:41 AM | Permalink

More from Jim Collins...

+The 7 Measures of Success is about comparing gold medal winners to silver medal winners. It isn't about being competent, it is about being great.

+The pathway to greatness in the social sector is not be more like a business, because most businesses aren't great.

+Greatness is a cumulative process.

+The minute you say you're great, you're not.

+When you're building something great, there is no single moment of "achieving greatness."

More to come...

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:34 AM | Permalink

Did the first 30 minutes or so of this year's opening session live up to last year's standard? I'd say certainly yes .... in fact, I thought this year was better. There was a group of singer/dancers, a rapper doing his best to make association work sound hip (props for trying, anyway), and a DJ laying down some beats. But the most interesting part for me has been the connection videos -- videos that start off with one attendee and then take their association and go through a series of connections to get to another one. It was a nifty idea I may steal.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 09:28 AM | Permalink

Jim is on the stage right now. Here are some key points from his talk so far:

+Jim says that through the project, he has learned that associations are the glue that holds society together.

+Everyone has an opinion. Where's you're data? How do you know that you're opinion merits attention?

+Best practices disseminate too quickly to everyone to separate great from good. How do some become exceptional?

More to come...

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:25 AM | Permalink

Here are the 7 Measures of Success, as just announced at the general session:

+Customer service
+Alignment of Products and Services with mission
+Data-driven strategies
+Dialogue and engagement
+CEO as broker of ideas
+Organizational adaptability
+Alliance building

More to come...

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:18 AM | Permalink

Unless you've been living in a cave, you're likely aware that ASAE &The Center were planning to release the 7 Measure of Success at the meeting today. Well, finally, here they are, the seven measures of success of associations:

Customer service culture
Alignment of products and services with mission
Data-driven strategies
Dialogue and engagement
CEO as broker of ideas
Organizational adaptablility
Alliance building

Posted by Mickie Rops at 08:52 AM | Permalink

Let me tell you, wireless Web access ROCKS! The wifi at the BCEC is awesome and it is FREE! It is wicked pissa.

Outgoing ASAE chair Paulette Maehara of the Assocation of Fundraising Professionals says she generally gets three reactions when telling people that she runs a professional association:

+A blank stare
+The very sincere question, "So you're a lobbyist?"
+The even more sincere question, "Do you get paid to do that?"

Paulette is right on. Whenever I call my mother to tell her about something I'm doing in the association community, she always asks me to hold the phone. When she comes back, I ask her, "Did you just get a piece of paper and a pen to write this down so you could explain it to other people?" Her reply is always yes. Why is association work such a mystery to people?

More when Jim Collins takes the stage.

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 08:47 AM | Permalink

Here are two interviews with first time attendees. I ask what their expectations are for the conference, and I'll be following up with them after the conference to see if their expectations were in line with their actual experience:
Paul Smedberg (2 min MP3)
Mary Childress, CPA, CAE (2 min MP3)

Posted by Ben Martin at 07:59 AM | Permalink

The general session will start in about 30 minutes, and I'm blogging from the lobby directly outside the general session ballroom. The bass is thumping, the lights are swirling -- I feel like I'm about to stop into a nightclub! The first 30 minutes of last year's annual meeting are an unforgettable time for me. Those first 30 minutes influenced me enough to believe that last year's annual meeting was the best annual meeting ever. It is now the standard by which I compare every other event I go to, and it's a very hard standard to live up to. Which leaves me feeling a little nervous for ASAE & The Center. Can they top last year's fireworks? Can they impress us just a little bit more than last year? I certainly hope so, but Nashville will be tough to beat. And I've got some skin in the game too: I've been telling people they simply CANNOT miss the first 30 minutes of the general session. So my reputation is on the line, too -- well, just a little.

Posted by Ben Martin at 07:55 AM | Permalink

That’s the number of magazine titles published per year in the United States. More than double the number not so very long ago. It’s no wonder I have a 2-foot-high “to read” pile of magazines sitting in a corner of my office. Seems like every time I get a new magazine, as much as I want to read it, it goes into the “to read” pile. Ya know what? That darn pile is getting to the point of intimidation (visions of malevolent magazines dancing around my desk singing “read me!” “no, read me!” come to mind).

That’s one of the reasons I attended Abby Marks-Beale’s Saturday afternoon session “Conquering Information Overload: How Not to be Pushed by Paper and E-mail.” Among the many helpful tidbits she shared was this four-step process for developing a “quality pile” of publications (according to Abby, this works for e-newsletters, too):

1. Inventory: look at the pile to determine what you have, including how many issues of each magazine are in the pile.
2. Value: rank each magazine on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “I don’t know why I bother to read this,” and 10 being “this is the best thing ever; I get a lot from it.”
3. Triage: put all the publications rating from 1-5 in one pile, those rating 6-10 in a second pile. Toss out everything in the 1-5 pile. Do this step again if you need to, until you have a (smaller) pile of what you consider helpful, quality publications that you want to read.
4. Time: determine how much time you have to read. If you can’t read all the magazines in your quality pile in that time, either toss more of them or increase your reading time.

One thing I liked about this session is that while Abby focused on a variety of tips for coping with the ubiquitous information overload, she also reminded us we’re all human. It helps to rememember, she says:

* You have speed limits (humans don’t work at the speed technology is capable of. Really.)
* You have a forgetful memory (short-term memory can only hold 7-9 pieces of information at any one time; that 10th one means you’re gonna forget something).
* You probably have too-high expectations (know your limits and negotiate with yourself or your boss what can be delayed or delegated).
* You have a need to know (let go of needing to know everything).
* You already know a lot! (probably more than you realize)
* You have a need to breathe (in a stressful day, take a few minutes to pay attention to your breathing as you close your eyes and breathe deeply from your diaphragm).

That last may seem touchy-feely to some, but in the middle of a hectic day it really can help you concentrate, and focus on what’s truly important.

18,821. That's a lot of magazines.
Oh, and by the way, there are 175,000 new book titles (the amount in an average Barnes & Noble retail outlet) published every year.

No wonder there’s so much to read, so little time.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 11:09 PM | Permalink

I don't want to be "the guy that only writes about food," but if you're here in town and have a chance to get to the North End (and there's lots of reasons to make sure that you do), be sure to stop by Mike's Pastry. It's a veritable mob scene and you better be sure to know what you want by the time you reach the counter (they are a little Soup-Nazi-esque in their approach to customer service), but it's worth it.

Yesterday afternoon we were told by a good source in the afternoon that if we made it to the North End to be sure to go to Mike's Pastry. "No matter what anybody else tells you, do not go anywhere else for pastry!" we were sternly lectured.

Sure enough, when we informed our waiter at dinner that we were walking down to Mike's Pastry for dessert, he tried to steer us to another pastry shop across the street instead. Apparently Boston is in the grip of a major pastry war and frankly I'd rather not get caught in the middle of it. But we followed our original instructions, and didn't listen to the waiter, and it was worth it. The chocolate-dipped cannoli was excellent, and there was this thing called a strawberry lobstertail fluff that ... well, I don't know what it was, but it sure was tasty.

Now it's off to the opening reception, and hopefully even more good food, but from now on I'll try to keep my posts centered on more edifying things ...

Posted by Kevin Holland at 06:15 PM | Permalink

During a session today on communications and marketing audits, Kevin Whorton presented a case study on Catholic Relief Services, where he used to work, and showed a picture of a direct mail package sent by the organization that he admitted was "ugly." It had very little color, an old-fashioned look, black-and-white photos, lots of text ...

Ugly it might be, but he said it also consistently produced the best results of anything else they sent out, and as a control package in tests consistently beat out all their other packages.

He said every time he sent it out, he heard from some consultants who saw it and would say, "Hey, we can make that package much better for you, we can make it four-color, we can make it look really good!" To which he would say, "You don't know much about direct mail, do you?"

I've written about this before on my own blog, but it bears repeating and I'm glad Kevin's experience backs up ours: the marketing and communications pieces that we pass around the conference room for everyone to go "ooh and ahh" over aren't necessarily the pieces that get the responses we want. If you're asking for money (whether that's a direct appeal, like the organization Kevin profiled, or if you're selling a product or event to a price-conscious market), sometimes sending something that looks expensive won't get you the best results.

Posted by Kevin Holland at 05:59 PM | Permalink

Live blogging Larry Johnson's session: Destroy the Status Quo, leading change in a changing world (handout).

Larry weaves storytelling, audience participation and visual elements to help attendees understand managing and leading change.

Three good ways to help teammates and stakeholders embrace change:
* Use incentives
* Let people know that change is coming
* Explain why change is necessary

People experience three kinds of pain in change:
* The pain of not changing (P1)
* The pain of not knowing what to do (P2)
* The pain of changing (P3)

When P1 + P2 > P3 then change occurs.

To help people change, a change leader should:
* increase the pain of not changing (P1)
* increase the pain of not knowing what to do (P2)
* decrease the pain of changing (P3)

Healthy options for dealing with unpleasant situations:
* Proactive change (make change happen)
* Accept (just deal with it)
* Leave

Posted by Ben Martin at 04:49 PM | Permalink

I couldn't help myself. I had to blog from the blog session. I'm at Bill Dyszel's session, "Podcasts and Blogs That Excite Your Membership and Enrich Your Organization." I was surprised that about 1/4 of the audience indicated they currently listen to at least one podcast! That's higher than I would have thought.

Some nuggets for those of you who couldn't attend:

Blogs matter because 1) Blogs rank high in search engines, 2) they are now perceived as credible, 3) journalists now source from blogs, 4) defensive blogging may be necessary if other blogs are talking about you and ranking higher in search engines than your association webpage, 5) your association's blog can look just the same as CNN and other big players within an RSS feed.

Tactics for blog promotion: Link to member blogs. Invite member bloggers. Create Blogging contests. Carry news.

Podcasting Pitfalls: Need be careful about playing music if it is licensed. Audio quality can be tricky.

Check out:
www.podzinger.com - a service that translates podcast to text and enable searching by key word - like a google search for podcasts.

Grape Radio as a model for providing an educaitonal podcast that generates sales for the business.

Technorati - search tool for blogs

Posted by Mickie Rops at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Posted by Ben Martin at 01:50 PM | Permalink

If you were not one of the fifty or so people in the preconference Innovation session that fellow blogger Jeff De Cagna facilitated - you REALLY missed out! Regardless of whether you are an association executive, business owner, supplier, consultant, etc. this session had the group excited and energized about creating innovative ideas within their organizations.

Participants crafted an innovative idea for their own organization and utilized the network within the room to build on their idea. We explored the concept of association innovation from a 360 perspective - taking a look at the political and implementation issues around getting innovative ideas through the "giant hairball".

Posted by Amy Smith at 11:56 AM | Permalink

I love cities...they can be great places. I love the theatre, and eclectic neighborhoods full of locally owned shops. I love the hum of activity, the festivals and celebrations and everything else about cities. But at 2:45 this morning, I was reminded of why I LIVE in a small town in a rural county, 45 minutes FROM a big city. That's when I was awakened by what sounded like a riot. The sound of fellow humans in an uproar - yelling, sitting on their car horns, and general carousing - permeated my consciousness despite the closed windows of my 10th-floor downtown hotel room. I could clearly hear the voice of one guy who probably is a candidate for a heart attack; his angry-sounding voice was clearly heard above all the din.

The noise lasted nearly 45 minutes, and my sleep was shot for longer than that. I don't know what all the ruckus was about (the Sox lost the game, after all), and I'm not sure what time I finally fell back to sleep; I do know I wrote most of this post on my bedside notepad between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. After all, I wasn't sleeping!

Cities can be vibrant, exciting places. But for someone like me, who prefers the sound of wind through the trees, geese honking as they fly overhead, and the slapping of water against the hull of a sailboat, a big city will never be home. They're nice - even wonderful - places to visit, however I wouldn't want to live there.

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 08:25 AM | Permalink

A tip from the concierge today led us to lunch at the Parish Cafe on Boylston. It's an unusual cafe that's known for its sandwiches, each of which is the creation of a different local superstar chef.

Don't have the time or big bucks to enjoy a meal at Boston's elite French restaurant Radius? Hey, not to worry, stop by Parish to enjoy "The Schlow," named after its creator, Radius owner Michael Schlow. It's roasted rare sirloin with caramelized onions, tomato confit, arugula and horseradish-cream sauce, served on Tuscan wheat bread.

The famous Southwestern cuisine restaurant Cottonwood Cafe offers the "Zuni Roll" (smoked turkey breast, crisp bacon, chopped scallions, Dill Havarti cheese and cranberry-chipotle sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla) and Ming Tsai, owner of the highly-rated Blue Ginger and Food Network host, came up with, yes, the "Blue Ginger" (grilled rare tuna steak brushed with teriyaki glaze on scallion foccacia with avocado, wasabi aioli, lettuce and tomato).

Okay, so it's not chowdah, but it's like a taste of Boston's best food concepts in one place. Stop by and read through the menu, you'll probably have as hard a time making a decision as we did. (Oh, and high concepts aside, the sandwiches tasted fantastic.)

Posted by Kevin Holland at 05:10 PM | Permalink

News reports and handwringing from meetings types over the last week had me convinced that flying to Boston today was going to be a nightmare scenario. In actuality, I don't think I've ever had a smoother, quicker trip through security. Not sure which domestic regions are experiencing delays, but this morning's whole flight experience from Reagan to Logan was as uneventful as any I've taken.

So, don't believe the hype! (But leave your bottled water at home.)

Posted by Kevin Holland at 02:32 PM | Permalink

After many long weeks of the Big Boston Quiz, we have our winners. That's right, I wrote winners! I have reviewed the submissions for the BBQ Gi-norm-ic Grand Finale (they are below) and, with Solomon-like wisdom, I have decided that Steve Smyth and Sue Pelletier should share the coveted title of BBQ Grand Champions!

Congratulations Steve and Sue!

Now I know that the purists out there will say that a "tie" is like kissing your sister. Well, this isn't a tie. (And besides, I think the NHL made a mistake doing away with ties, so there!) This is understanding that two very busy people stuck this out over a long time and they both deserve to be recognized for their efforts, and since I'm the BBQ Master, that's exactly what I have decided to do!

So check out Steve and Sue's final essays by clicking the "Continue" link, and post your congratulatory comments below! Steve and Sue, we will get together in Boston to make sure you get your "lovely" prizes! And thanks to everyone who participated in the BBQ!

BBQ Final Submissions

From Steve Smyth

Boston: Bo-Sawx, Blogs but no beans – who knew?

This is the first ASAE Annual Meeting I’ve attended in over 12 years, so I’m particularly excited that ASAE 2006 will be in Boston, the infamous “city on a hill”, home of the Sox’s nine MLB MVPs and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones!

I feel very connected to Boston, thanks to Jeff’s efforts in leading intrepid readers through a weekly discovery of Boston-based trivia. My trivia mission will be complete if I can find out why “Boston Baked Beans” are not made in Boston!

My other Boston ASAE goals: experiencing the new Boston Convention Center; absorbing enlightenment from innovative speakers, energized exhibitors and some of the best education available to association senior management; trying avidly to avoid most, if not all, of the “Big Dig” tunnels.

From Sue Pelletier

Classifieds: Love Match
Association seeks city for a short-term yet meaningful relationship. State-of-the-art convention center, great hotels, fabulous food, a sense of history, and a commitment to the future are musts.

--ASAE and The Center

Dear ASAE and The Center,
Alls I’m saying is, one taste of my chowdah and you’ll want more than a four-night stand! I’ve been around since 1630 (but don’t look a day over 300, honest). While my recent facelift still needs some reconstructive surgery—they don’t call it the Big Dig for nothing—I’ve been running marathons for years and can keep up with any association exec. And who says you have to go to Virginia to visit Williamsburg? It’s all right here—let’s get Moving in Stereo!

Love,
Boston

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 09:55 AM | Permalink

In a comment to my post about Saturday sessions, Zachary Wilson, who I guess will be attending his first annual meeting this year, asked what the “can’t miss” sessions would be. Ultimately, that’s a pretty subjective question, and there’s SO much content at this meeting that there are probably sessions you shouldn’t miss but you will, because you’re at other great sessions. That being said, here’s a high-level response, and I invite the other Boston bloggers to share perspectives.

First of all, be aware that the plenary sessions are always giving you the cream of the crop in terms of speakers. We’ve got Jim Collins, for goodness sake, and he’s talking about a project done specifically for associations. I think that’s pretty special. Goodwin and Taylor are also best-selling authors. I usually find myself feeling quite fortunate to hear the general sessions.

The other big point to make is that after the general sessions, there are still the thought leader super sessions. These speakers are also very high-caliber, national-level speakers—and you have many to choose from! Again, I think at this conference the “problem” will be too many good choices. As an example, I’ve read the books by Carroll and Reichheld (and commented a bit about them on this blog), but they are both speaking at the same time!

And then you have all the concurrent sessions. Here the content really drives my choices. Of course, there are nearly 30 sessions in each time slot, so it will take some studying to figure out which ones to choose. It definitely helps to have a plan.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It’s the final countdown! Just a few days until I travel to Boston, and besides planning my packing to avoid airport security challenges I’m spending time this weekend finalizing the sessions I want to attend and the people I want to meet.

Have you tried introNetworks, a cool tool that supports the networking aspect of the annual meeting? You never know who you’ll meet once you’ve signed up and completed your profile; today I heard from London-based Thought Leader Rohit Talwar. He’s speaking on Tuesday at 1:30p about global trends and challenges for associations. I’m in his “inner circle” of annual meeting participants, and he’s in mine – that is, we have a number of things in common according to our profiles. He took the opportunity to say hello from “across the pond;” we had a nice exchange, including pondering whether there was such a thing as a "wearable laptop" he wouldn't have to check as baggage given new trans-Atlantic travel restrictions. Our conversation prompted me to find out more about his session, "Dancing in the Dark: Global Trends and the Challenges for Associations," which sounds absolutely fascinating.

One thing Rohit is doing in preparation for his session is conducting a short opinion survey on the critical trends, ideas and issues that will shape the future of the exhibitions, meetings and events industry over the next three to five years. He’s inviting confidential responses to the survey, and will share the emerging findings during his Thought Leader session. Consider participating; the survey is seeking responses from around the world and you’ll receive a copy of the final report when it’s completed.

Connecting with Rohit was fun, and I’m planning to see who else is in my “inner circle.” I know I'll make some new connections at the convention - I always do, and it's my favorite aspect of this annual gathering (besides learning new stuff!). Using an online tool to help facilitate the process is way cool!

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 05:08 PM | Permalink

Although I am hesitant to bring this up (because I don’t mean to be self-promotional), I just want to remind everyone that this year there are concurrent sessions the day BEFORE the opening plenary session at the conference (yes, I’m speaking during that time). I only bring it up because I was talking to a first-time attendee yesterday, and he didn’t realize there were sessions in that slot. He knew there were pre-conference workshops on Saturday, but had overlooked the “kick-off” Learning Labs in the afternoon (they are, in fact, BEFORE the “opening” reception that night). This is the first year, I believe, that ASAE & The Center are doing these Saturday afternoon sessions, so you may need to remind people as they’re planning their time at the meeting.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

All over Boston, you can’t miss the cows. Yes, that's right, I said COWS.

As soon as you start walking around Boston, you'll see them. These unusual and interesting Cows are everywhere. Over 100 life-size, painted cows are scattered all over the city. Organized by and benefiting The Jimmy Fund, CowParade Boston is happening all over Boston during the summer of 2006. There’s a Wally the Green MOOnster Cow. And of course, there are a Bruins, Celtics and Patriots Cow. There’s one covered in fish, named Coral, on display (where else) outside the New England Aquarium. There’s a Swan Boat cow (no image available), a Tea Party Cow and a Goodnight Moo Cow. There’s a Cash Cow in Boston’s Financial District and an Art Ducko Cow in the Back Bay.

Each cow has been painted and decorated by a local artist. At the conclusion of the public display in September, the cows will be rounded up and sold to the highest bidders. Approximately 50 of the cows will be sold at a live auction in October 2006 and the remaining cows will be sold in an online auction. I’m not sure what someone would do with a life-sized painted cow, but the proceeds will benefit The Jimmy Fund. See how many you can find!

Posted by Lorraine O'Grady at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's the moment everyone has been waiting for...the Gi-norm-ic (which is a combo word for gigantic and enormous!) Grand Finale of the Big Boston Quiz. It's been a fun summer of questions and answers and one week from today we are going to announce the BBQ Grand Champion!

As I posted last week, it is a tight race, with only 8 points separating the top two. And with 100 points on the line this week, it is anybody's guess who'll win. Here are the standings once again:

+Steve Smyth--58 points
+Sue Pelletier--50 points
+Amy Hilson--20 points
+Kimberly Mosely-10 points

This week, I'm going to change things up on you completely. NO questions, NO answers. Just your thoughts on a very important question. That's right, it is the dreaded Essay Final Exam-edition of BBQ! (Yes, don't you just love me...;.) All submissions received by this Friday, August 11, 2006 at 5 pm EDT will be considered. Please send them to bigbostonquiz@gmail.com. And don't forget that the top three finishers will receive a "lovely" prize, so there's no reason not to submit something. You never know where you might end up in the standings. (BTW, I've already been mocked about the lovely prizes, so why stop now!)

To find out the essay question and other instructions, click the "Continue" link.

Okay, here is your very special final essay question:

What I love best about ASAE & The Center coming to Boston is...

Now, there are a few parameters you'll need to follow in preparing your essay.:

1. It must be no less than 75 words and no more than 125 words in length and it must have an original title. (By that, I mean don't call it "BBQ Grand Finale Essay" or something like that.)

2. It must include something you learned from EACH of the previous five BBQs. (It is a final exam after all!)

3. Originality and style, as well as spelling and grammar, will be considered by the judges (well, the judge :>).

4. Suitability for publication on the blog will be considered as well, since the overall winner's essay will be posted in this space next week.

I like finishing up this way because it gives you a chance to express your excitement about the ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting (less than two weeks away), rather than simply answering a bunch of trivia questions. I know it is a little bit more work and that's why I'm giving you more time, i.e., Friday submission instead of Thursday.

I very much look forward to receiving your essays. This is it folks! We will know the winner next week!

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 03:18 PM | Permalink

Okay, now that I’ve read a bunch of books to prepare for the Annual Meeting, Associations Now puts out the “cliff notes” version!

This month’s magazine has several articles that tie into speakers at the annual meeting:

There is a sneak peak at the long-awaited results of the “measures of success” project on page 67. Those results will be officially released at the annual meeting.

Don Blohowiak has a brief piece on page 20 about younger managers leading their elders. Don will lead a Thought Leader Session in Boston.

On page 83 there is an interview with Kevin Carroll about work and play. Kevin has a Thought Leader session in Boston.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 08:17 AM | Permalink

Every time I hear the term “best practices” I cringe a little. We hear it frequently in the association world; we all want to know how another organization’s success can be transplanted into our own. It’s human nature to want to avoid reinventing the wheel…and gee, if we could just take that strategy, that event, that plan and paste it into our organization, we’d be successful too!

Who’s to say what’s best, when parameters can vary so widely? Even use of the more palatable (to me) term “effective” in place of “best” puts limitations on the creativity and innovation an organization might generate if it looked inside and considered its possibilities. Yes, it’s helpful to see what others have done, and how it’s worked for them. However, what has worked great in another organization doesn’t take into consideration our own uniqueness, challenges, and strengths.

We like to solve HOW we do things, without spending much time on WHY we do them. When embroiled in the tyranny of the urgent, it’s really difficult to think about possibilities. We don’t ask “what if” questions nearly enough; we’re generally way too busy focusing on “how do we…?” to spend time with “what if we…?” – a much more challenging and powerful question.

What if, when you return from Boston loaded with new ideas and new possibilities, you asked your colleagues “what if we…”? What possibilities might that conversation generate?

Posted by Kathi Edwards at 03:51 PM | Permalink

I can’t believe that two weeks from today I’ll actually be in Boston. I’m now shifting my perspective from “what things do I need to do to prepare,” to “what exactly am I going to do when I’m there.”

In doing so, I come to the inevitable conclusion: there isn’t enough time.

I’ve got too much to do, too many people to see, too many places to be. Of course, this isn’t a bad problem to have, but it reminds me that I need to be disciplined in my scheduling. I’m the personality type that likes to play it by ear, and just hang out in various places and see who I meet. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work. So here are two things I’m doing to be more disciplined about it.

I am making a list of the specific people I want to spend time with at the meeting, and I’m going to contact them ahead of time and either schedule a time to talk, or at least give them my cell phone number so I can connect at the meeting. Remember, there are 25 hotels in use during this conference, so hoping to “bump into them” may not work!

Balance work and play. One reason I love the annual meeting is hanging out with my friends in this community that I rarely get to see. Unfortunately, if I hang out with them all the time, I’ll miss out on opportunities to meet new people. I need to hang out with friends, and I need to meet new people, so it simply requires some negotiation with my friends (so they’re not insulted when I go in a different direction!) and some discipline on my part.

Posted by Jamie Notter at 10:44 AM | Permalink

As I wrote earlier, we're going to take a break from the quiz this week to give everyone a breather (including me) but next week we will have the exciting Big Boston Quiz Gi-norm-ic Grand Finale. It will be worth 100 points, so anyone can win this thing!

In the meantime, here are the standings after five quizzes:

+Steve Smyth--58 points
+Sue Pelletier--50 points
+Amy Hilson--20 points
+Kimberly Mosely-10 points

Only 8 points separate the top two, and with 100 points on the line, it's wide open. We're coming down to the wire, so don't miss out on this final chance to squeak out a victory. The winner will be named on August 14!

As always, the answers to BBQ #5 can be found below by clicking on the "Continue" link.

ANSWERS TO THE BIG BOSTON QUIZ #5 (quiz worth 15 points, plus a 10 point bonus question)

1. By what name are the partitioned-off bullpens in right field at Fenway known?

ANSWER: Williamsburg

2. Which Red Sox player hit an 8th-inning pinch hit homerun in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series to tie the game against Cincinnati?

ANSWER: Bernie Carbo

3. In what year did the team change to the nickname Red Sox and from what nickname was it changed?

ANSWER: Boston Americans in 1907

4. What is the message inscribed in Morse Code on the manual scoreboard in left field at Fenway?

ANSWER: TAY-JRY (initials of Tom and Jean Yawkey)

5. How many times have the Red Sox won more than 100 games and lost more than 100 games?

ANSWER: 3 and 6 (Amy pointed out that the Sawx lost exactly 100 games in 1965; I thought it was 3 and 7 when I wrote the question, so everyone got the point.)

6. On July 14, 1956, Mel Parnell accomplished something that no Red sox player had achieved in nearly 33 years. What was it?

ANSWER: Pitched a no-hitter

7. How many different Red Sox players have won the American League Most Valuable Player award?

ANSWER: 8 (Ted Williams won twice)

8. By what unusual margin did the Red Sox lose the American League East Division title in 1972 and to which team?

ANSWER: 1/2 game to the Detroit Tigers

9. What important Fenway Park record is marked by a red seat in the stadium's right field bleachers?

ANSWER: Longest home run (502 feet by Ted Williams)

10. Who wrote "Why Red Sox Fans Make for the Best Poets?"

ANSWER: Ian Strever

11. What did Manny Ramirez accomplish in 2004 that no Red Sox player had ever done before?

ANSWER: World Series MVP

12. In which season did the Red Sox first break the 2 million fan mark at home?

ANSWER: 1977

13. On September 2, 2001, the Red Sox narrowly avoided being on the losing end of a perfect game for the first time in team history. Who was the opposing pitcher and team, and which then-Red Sox player broke it up?

ANSWER: Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees, broken up by Carl Everett

14. Who was the first person to hit a ball over the Green Monster?

ANSWER: Hugh Bradley

15. Who is the only player in Major League history to pinch hit for Ted Williams, Carl Yastrezmski and Roger Maris?

ANSWER: Carroll Hardy

BONUS QUESTION: In 50 words or less, provide your explanation of why the Red Sox couldn't win a World Series in the 86 years between 1918 and 2004? Please don't copy your response from Wikipedia or other Web resources. Please share your own thoughts. I will allocate points on the basis of brevity, content and style.

Here is our only 10 point submission, from Sue Pelletier. Great job Sue!

There once was a girl named Elsie
Hailing from Peterborough, not Chelsea
When she was 14
Her favorite team
Won the Series and filled her with glee

Blame for the drought you could lay
On the Curse or mismanaged plays
But the real reason might be
So Great Aunt Elsie
Could feel 14 on her 100th birthday.

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 08:02 PM | Permalink

Okay, okay, I know. It's Wednesday and I have not posted BBQ results and questions. I'm sorry, it's been one of those weeks. But don't despair because I will get the latest standings and answers to last week's questions posted this evening.

We're going to take this week off from BBQ in preparation for next week's Big Boston Quiz Gi-norm-ic Grand Finale, which will be worth 100 points! It's still anyone's contest, so keep your eyes on the blog for updates!

Posted by Jeff De Cagna at 03:11 PM | Permalink