Social Media Flower for Volunteer Leaders

In my role at Association Headquarters I often assist our client partners in developing strategies that implement social media into their communication plans. Shortly after seeing David Nour map out a communication plan at ASAE 2009, and after several conversations with Maddie Grant from Social Fish, (who I am eternally grateful) I got to work.

With the help of two of my colleagues, Elizabeth Cies and Mark Denato, I came up with the following illustration.

Please feel free to distribute this to your groups and a special thanks to Steve Drake ,whose constant efforts in the world of SM continue to focus on moving forward.

The Six Primary Components of the Social Media Flower

The Seed - Content Leaders: These are the experts of an organization and typically consist of members of the board, but can also include general members who are willing to submit original content on behalf of the organization. They are the seed and are responsible for the cultivation of the social media flower.

The Soil - Your Association: The association or professional society serves as the soil and field for the seed and provides the environment for the content, and future content leaders, to flourish.

The Stem – The Content: When original content is created it serves as the support system (the stem) for the flower. It flows from the content leaders, through the association, and directly to the Web site or blog (the stigma).

The Stigma – The Website or Blog: The website serves as the center of the flower whereby all things emanate. It hosts the original content and serves as the hub or home base for the petals.

The Petals – Social Media Tools: The petals represent the various social media tools that can be used to drive interested parties (members & nonmembers) to the Web site. These tools serve as:
• Communicators – relaying messages to the public
• Directors – pointing your audience to original content
• Marketers – raising awareness for the organization. The main purpose of the petals are to attract raindrops (members) and bumble bees (messengers).

The Bumblebee – Additional Messengers: The ultimate goal is to reach new individuals and new audiences, and social media tools make it easy to have someone else carry and convey your message for you. By creating original content, posting it to the web site, and employing social media tools to attract and direct members to the site, more and more individuals will learn about the organization.

Role of Volunteer Leadership
As outlined above, volunteer leadership plays a vital role in the success of online social media initiatives. It is our recommendation that a key group of individuals are appointed to play a highly involved part in the implementation of the associations social media strategy. This could be comprised of:
• One or two Board or Committee members
• Key enthusiasts from the organization’s Facebook page
• Technologically-savvy members responding to a “call for volunteers”

By having several members initiate and participate, the organization can experience increased success in grassroots awareness of its’ online presence.

Hashtags for the association world

Here is a list of hashtags for association exec's who enjoy Twitter. Please feel free to add to this list or recommend to me and the rest of the world where to locate a larger, more robust collection. Cheers!

#eventprofs
#assnchat
#asae09
#MPI
#meetings
#nonprofit
#amgtco
#sponsorship
#nimble
#associations

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.

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.