Even ASAE
admits associations missed the boat on social
networks: “Now that we’ve all stumbled out of the
blocks on social media, it’s time to get it right.”
(Associations Now 6/09)
INSIGHT: Perhaps there is
some wisdom in this quote (Associations Now 7/09).
“Here’s the thing about communities and
associations: Community is about people and
relationships. Associations are about
associations. I’m just sayin’.”
TechAmerica is the result of a merger of the
American Electronics Association (AeA), the
Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA),
the Information Technology Association of America
(ITAA) and the Government Electronics and
Information Technology Association (GEIA)
(Washington Post 6/17).
QUOTE: “It was getting tough
to get technology companies to pay membership dues
for a half-dozen trade groups.”
Remember last issue’s item on the
merger of National Retail Federation and the
Retail Industry Leaders Association? Now
both boards have decided against moving forward (Washington
Pos 6/25).
ASSOCIATION MERGERS:
Difficult, complex with high failure rates.
Thinking about a blog for your association?
Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs,
reports that of the 133 million blogs it tracks,
only 7.4 million have been updated in the last 120
days (NY Times 6/7). And they estimate that
1% of the active blogs generate most of the page
views.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a
civil action against financial planner James Putman
for kickbacks on client investments and fraudulent
conduct in regards to client fund allocations (NY
Times 6/7). Unfortunately, Mr. Putman is a past
president of the National Association of Personal
Financial Advisors, an organization that has
criticized other financial professionals that accept
commissions or fees from insurance companies and
mutual fund firms.
WHOPSIE: Do you adequately vet your
leadership, particularly officers? Or is it “whose
turn is it?”
Crowdsourcing, the Internet-based process of group
collaboration and idea generation, is popular and
appealing, but… (NY Times 7/19). “Research
suggests that open-innovation models succeed only
when carefully designed for a particular task and
when the incentives are tailored to attract the most
effective collaborators.”
COMMENT: So much for “the
more, the better.”
Meeting attendance off due to the
economy? You are not alone. Over half of state
governors decided not to attend the annual meeting
of the National Governors Association (Washington
Post 7/19). Given the
budget problems at the state level, “constituents
would not look kindly on the use of taxpayer funds
for a summer getaway.”
NOTE: Not a critical meeting, but a “summer
getaway.”
Retailers are simplifying. “For years,
supermarkets, drugstores and discount retailers
packed their shelves with an ever-expanding array of
products in different brands, sizes, colors,
flavors, fragrances and prices. Now, though, they
believe less is more.” (WSJ 6/26) The shift
means less choice for consumers, but also less
trouble sorting through an often bewildering variety
of offerings.
ABANDON: The biggest
opportunity for associations in these tough economic
times is to eliminate marginal programs and
services. The result is an easier to communicate
and manage product line.
Marketers of everything are capitalizing on
mobile-device applications. (USA
Today 6/25) In less than
a year, the number of Apple iPhone apps went from
zero to 50,000.
APPS: Do you have an app for your
association?
P.S.: Apple sold 5.2 million
iPhones in the three months ending June 30th
(USA Today 7/24).
Outsourcing with
virtual administrative assistance contractors is
growing. The membership of the International
Virtual Assistants Association doubled in 2008 (Washington
Post 7/9). Expense
reductions are obvious: no space, on-demand only
use, no benefits.
COMMENT: We’ve gone to home-based to virtual
employees rather quickly.
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