The ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition was held from August 10-13 in Columbus, Ohio, and neither the convention nor the city disappointed. The conference opened with a keynote by bestselling authors Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms in which they discussed the “new power” dynamics in today’s society. Their talk was based on their bestselling book, New Power: How Anyone Can Persuade in Our Chaotic, Connected Age. Until recently, the world was defined by “old power” which was held by only a few and was jealously guarded. “New power” is transparent and participatory. New power can help us run more dynamic associations especially in an era where the public is demanding more openness and input into their associations and many individuals’ engagement with associations is declining. The challenge is to channel this “new power” to make it work for you and your association and to develop a leadership pipeline for the future. The book is a fairly easy read and relatively inexpensive (available through ASAE or Amazon for less than $17).

At this year’s ISAE Annual Convention, held in South Bend, fun and learning were in abundance. Topics ranged from facing change, to best practices, to what young professionals want out of their association career and more. 

You’ve heard the saying, “What you say is not as important as how you say it.” Well, what you say is certainly important, but when it comes to marketing - and particularly, marketing to young professionals - how you say things is key.

Regularly feeding your association’s blog, newsletter, and social media channels with new content keeps members coming back to get the latest industry information straight from your association. But that’s easier said than done when you’re facing a limited budget or staff resources. That’s where repurposing comes in. If you take the time to create a strong piece of content, you can reuse it in multiple ways to keep it fresh, timely, and relevant – all while taking less time than developing an entirely new piece and better ensuring that content gets maximum impact.

Associations are vulnerable to many of the same thorny issues that for-profit businesses face. In an environment that values relationships and status to some degree, it is no wonder that there’s a risk of nepotism and cronyism in associations and nonprofits. Let’s look at why this is a dangerous problem, how it happens, and what to do about it.

Summer is a great time to get to work on those “parking lot projects” that get squeezed out of your calendar by annual conference planning and membership renewal campaigns. It’s also an excellent time to reconnect with members without asking for anything but engagement in return.  

As a marketing professional one of the key responsibilities of my job is to ensure my client has a strong brand that promotes the mission of the association and its members.  This past week an ASAE discussion thread about rebranding an association was shared with me, around some potential brand conversations.

New York Times bestselling author Cy Wakeman’s book, “No Ego,” has grabbed the attention of the corporate world since its release. The book makes a compelling case for the epidemic of workplace drama and its costly impact on an organization, and serves as a tutorial for how leaders can cut the cost of these ego-driven events. I believe all of us would agree that the association world is by no means exempt from workplace drama. If you have living, breathing people working with you in the association and serving on the board of directors… drama can exist. (No joke, right?)

Ever wonder why the ad for those Zappos shoes that you really wanted to buy now show up on every website you visit? Or why that book that you were going to order but left in the Amazon cart also shows up on the sidebar next to your email and other websites. All these ads are part of digital remarketing. What exactly is digital remarketing? Basically, it is a tool that allows you to put a tag on a webpage that a person visits and that tag follows the user’s computer IP address to other sites they visit and places an ad on those sites. This blog will not delve into the technicalities of digital remarketing but instead explore the advantages and disadvantages of using a digital remarketing tool, share some results from two associations that have used this tool to their advantage, and pose some questions to ask providers of digital remarketing tools.

Are webinars a part of your organization’s offerings? If so, how successful would you say they currently are? Are registrations and attendance high?

We love to multitask. We talk on the phone while writing an email, or jump from task to task rapidly, fully believing that we are delivering our best work. “I’m great at multitasking”, is a phrase we love to say in both our professional and personal lives.

There is no doubt about it, this is a challenging time for corporate and board culture. Changing demographics mean that the two largest age groups in the workforce are the Baby Boomers and Millennials, who have different approaches to almost everything. The political climate of the past several years is increasingly tense. Changing racial dynamics in the country provide a wealth of opportunity and advantages, but also challenges. How does a board of directors maintain a productive and civil culture with so many complicating factors?

Renewal season is in FULL FORCE. But even though you knew it was coming, that doesn’t exactly make it easier. How can you bump up the chances that your members will actually renew?

Technological advancements have radically change how we live our lives. With unprecedented advancements, we face continued rapid change in how we work and play. Organizations who look at outdated ideas and modes of learning are falling behind. The days where organizations can solely rely on a few large, lengthy (and often expensive) in-person training events as their professional development program are rapidly disappearing.  According to the Center for Association Leadership, associations would be best served by focusing on learning that is specific, competency-based, and interactive. Technology allows for a wide range of possibilities in these focus areas and can offer education paths that are tailored to the learners individual needs.