Camaraderie & Humility at AMCi & ASAE 2009

Here are my three takeaways from two terrific meetings.

1. Camaraderie - As I approach my second anniversary with Association Headquarters I am still amazed at the level of camaraderie, respect, and consideration members of the AMC industry have for eachother. Not only does it make for a terrific meeting where members, who are often competitors, let there gaurd down and share with eachother but it also provides an opportunity for everyone to contribute to a positive culture throughout the industry. It was wonderful to reconnect with those I met in San Diego, have run into throughout the year, and have chatted with over industry-related issues.

2. Humility - I will be the first to say that even after working at a museum for several years and having spent the last two years with association management (AM) professionals, I am still humbled by the amount of energy, creativity, and dedication it takes to run an association or professional society. In my role at Association Headquarters, I often straddle the for-profit and non-profit world, never spending too long in either to fully appreciate the role AM professionals play in their respective organizations, in ensuring their own society (ASAE) moves forward, and in building relationships among their peers. As hard as I think I work I am humbled by what goes into running an AMC, and running a volunteer run organization.

3. AMCi & ASAE 2009 were full of terrific examples of camaraderie, professionalism, and for me, humility.

Team Chemistry Beyond Sports

As baseball inches closer to "October ball," and the NFL gears up for its season, ESPN is screaming about an interesting and often unmeasurable asset to any team, CHEMISTRY.

As an avid hockey fan I live by the notion that chemistry means everything, especially around playoff time. I wholeheartedly endorse the belief that locker room relationships can be the X factor and secret weapon for any organization.

But how does this impact the rest of us nine-to-fiver's who don't earn the big bucks but are often part of a team. In an article on this topic, Tom LaForce explores how building trust with coworkers can often lead to building chemistry and ultimately lead to successful projects.

(coffee break)

So how do you make sure there's chemistry on your team? I'm not entirely sure. My team is made up of anywhere from five to ten members depending on the individual project. When appropriate I try to focus on each of my team members' individual strengths, letting my colleagues shine in front of others which, I hope, allows everyone to develop their own levels of trust within the team.

This approach requires a unique understanding of the personalities that make up my team but that's what I'm good at so it works for me. I'm a people person and have come to terms with how to leverage that crazy talent beyond the "oh you should be in sales" gig. I build my team by making everyone feel so comfortable that they don't even know they're shining, they just see themselves as contributing.

How do you build your team?

Association Paralysis

Today I heard a very interesting term used to describe a very large association that had basically become so comfortable that it was suffering from association paralysis.

This apparently occurs when an association, non-profit, or professional society is engaged in an industry that is insulated from the cruelties of the world and begins to become so comfortable with itself that it no longer becomes innovative. How unique? I never imagined this was even possible but the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me. So after several hours of pondering this phenomenon I began to think of ways for an organization to break free from this stifling state of being.

Five ways to avoid association paralysis:

1. Hold an impromptu conference call with your board and have each member submit one issue that they are dealing with today. Write them down, circulate them among staff and leadership and have a down and dirty strategy session to see if any are worth exploring.

2. An easy one but it has to be on the list - explore the social ocean and make sure you're not missing your audience as the Tweet, join a group on Facebook, or find another way to obtain the information you're not providing. If you are, check out http://www.socialfish.org/ and take some time to learn how to make social media work for you. Please tell Maddie and Lindy I said hello.

3. Host a brainstorming session with your staff, leadership, or whoever you can find to provide you with some insight as to what you are and aren't doing. As in life, we often neglect to self analyze and overlook what we should be paying close attention to.

4. Dig up the last 3 years worth of strategic plans or marketing plans. Guaranteed there's something there that could be worked on.

5. Take an hour or two to explore an entirely different industry and see what you can learn and what can be applied to your own group.

And all while driving home from work.

Experience and Technology Create Opportunity

I'm a 38 yr old professional who is having a great deal of fun learning about how to incorporate social media/technologies into my personal and professional life. The two biggest challenges for me have been learning the nuances of the tools (Twitter, Hootsuite, Seesmic, etc.) and considering the whole personal/professional brand approach.

Fortunately, and largely because I've been working longer than some of my coworkers have been alive, I feel I understand my company's culture and brand to the point where I can work through these challenges. But it got me thinking about the other side of this equation. Do younger professionals who possess the technological skills struggle with grasping the culture and/or brand of their respective organizations? Do they have enough "worldly" experience to understand the long term implications of their actions, posts, comments, or approaches? Or, is their interpretation of the organization a true (or truer) reflection of the organization's personality or brand?

Perhaps by posing these questions we can introduce a new solution to closing the generational gap. By finding value in both generations we begin to introduce new pathways for meaningful dialogue about the value in combining technology with experience and insight.
For the time being I'll continue to sit down with my younger colleagues to explore their interpretation of our organization and, when possible, steal a tip or two about how to manage multiple Twitter accounts.

Bridging the "Bookends" and Creating Dialogue

I'm a 38 yr old professional who is having a great deal of fun learning about how to incorporate social media & and rapidly changing technologies into my personal and professional life. The biggest challenges for me have been learning the nuances of the tools (Twitter, Hootsuite, Seesmic, etc.), considering the whole personal/professional brand approach, and integrating what I've learned over the course of my professional career.


Fortunately for me, and largely because I've been working longer than some of my coworkers have been alive, I feel I understand my company's culture and brand to the point where I can work through these challenges. But it got me thinking about the other side of this equation and the recent online chatter over "bookend" generations.

Do younger professionals who possess the technological skills struggle with grasping the culture and/or brand of their respective organizations? Do they have enough "worldly" experience to understand the long term implications of their actions, posts, comments, or approaches? Or is their interpretation of the organization a true (or truer) reflection of the organization's personality or brand?

Perhaps by posing these questions we can introduce a new solution to closing the generational gap and filling the space between the "bookend" generations. By finding value in, and utilizing the stregnths of both (all) generations, we can begin to introduce new pathways for meaningful dialogue about the value in combining technology with experience and insight.

For the time being I'll continue to sit down with my younger colleagues to explore their interpretation of our organization and, when possible, steal a tip or two about how to manage multiple Twitter accounts. I will also work hard to help them understand the culture of our company, the importance of seeing the world through an old, wise man's eyes (not that old) and the value of engaging in a dialogue with those who may not know about Flickr, but know about the importance of teamwork, developing meaningful relationships, and the nuances of interpersonal communications.

Examples of Two Smart Marketing Approaches

Twice this weekend I was struck by events that I thought were so cool that I just had to write about them. Oh, and both can be applied to non-profits and outreach strategies and neither, sadly, came to me through SM.

The first is the "Do You Bleed Eagles Green" blood drive sponsored by the American Red Cross. Obviously the AMR has some pull so it probably wasn't too hard for them to partner with the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was the approach that I like most. The AMR is setting up a blood drive at Lehigh University where the Eagles hold their training camp. There are a few incentives for those who donate including a fan pack, chances to win VIP field passes, and additional chances to win tickets to a home game. However, this is a good idea because of what the AMR did for its organization, not for who they partnered with.

The most impressive part of this program is the AMR's decision to go to their constituency, to not sit back and hope that people show up at one of their preplanned blood drives. I love it, a group that says "yup, we're a non-profit but we're aggressive and we're gonna get what we need."

The message - if your members aren't coming to you, then go to them literally; and don't limit your search to those areas that you think potential members will be. Spread out, have fun, and take a leap of faith. Then came Dan Deacon, a pool at an airport, and some pre-kid flashbacks of what life was like before serious responsibility smacked me in the face.

Today, the family I were invited to join some friends at an outdoor pool at, of all places, an airport. In fact, the pool was in the shape of an airplane. It sounded fun and differenct so we went and what an experience we had. As it turns out, the airport has not only figured out how to stay relevant and unique (pool, resturant, lounge, and hotel), it has also figured out how to secure its longevity by hosting a three-band summer jam with one of the hottest alternative artists in the Northeast.

Of course, we had no idea what was happening as flocks of young hipsters rolled into the pool area and parked themselves in front of a stage that largely went unnoticed for the better part of the day. After a brief inquiry I learned that Dan Deacon was playing later that evening. WHO?

Now, his music isn't really my style but what we hear was good. More importantly, by the time we left there were more than 600 people around the pool and more were being bused in.

The plan was brilliant. A tiny little airport in Southern NJ just introduced its uniqueness to more than a 1,000 FUTURE customers. It figured out how to tap into a market that in all likelihood would have never considered visiting the Flying W airport in Medford, NJ. On most Saturdays, families can be found poolside while small planes and helicopters buzz down the runway to the amazement of little kids. But on this Saturday, a funky indie artist out of Balitmore brought with him a non-traditional crowd and it was a huge success. Most of the people I spoke to remarked how cool the venue was, bet they'll remember it in ten years when they're looking for a spot to bring the kids on a hot summer day. By the way, admission was $10 a head.

The message: think ahead, go outside of your comfort zone, and don't be afraid to introduce a new set of demographics to your organization.

BJR