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August 15, 2005
Hunting white whales
In one of the sessions yesterday I heard a term that resonated very well with me as an issue associations need to think about. I work on ASAE & The Center’s magazines (formerly Executive Update and Association Management, and the new Associations Now). A couple of the editors have issues that haunt us, that we want to write about, but we just never can quite get it started in a meaningful way. We’ve labeled these article ideas “white whales.” (For those of you who know her, ask Kristin Merriman-Clarke on our magazine staff about associations in schools -- one of her white whales.)
My white whale is the idea of how people have started to form groups – in person and online – separate and apart from more traditional associations. Hannes Combest, managing director of member programs for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, was in a session I attended and asked a question, using the term “community competition,” which is a good way to look at my white whale. I caught up with her after the session and asked her about community competition.
“Our model works pretty well for baby boomers like me,” she said. “We know how to get involved and the community we’ve established is important to us. For Generation X and younger, they don’t have the same needs. They’ve developed community in ways that are different than what we are used to. They have their own volunteering needs and they want to contribute in ways that are different than our existing models.”
She noted that GCSAA is beginning to take steps to address this dichotomy. Perhaps there will soon be a case study that will help me catch my white whale.
Posted by ScottBriscoe at August 15, 2005 08:52 AM
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