Here's a mixture of blog postings that I've recently read which in their own way offer some insight into how to build better chapter and component communities ...

• Lindy Dreyer talks about Simplicity and I wonder if we can we produce a simplicity barameter?
• EMarketer caught my eye with this report You’ve Come a Long Way, Boomers, and You’re Online Now! which is very useful in helping make the case for social media strategy in our associations.
• Maddie Grant challenges us to think about the community manager’s role which she suggests is NOT one of "listening" (which everyone should be doing) but of pulling together all those conversations in a way that makes sense across the organization for strategic and leadership purposes.
• Sonia Simone offers 47 Ways Copyblogger Can Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions. It’s really just a wonderful collection of the blog’s 2008 postings that are worth tagging. We know 2009 will be challenging and here are some suggestions for facing those challenges with a little fun and savvy.
• Andy Steggles takes us on a wild ride through the world of digital ribbons in his piece for Associations Now Keeping Score of Your Online Member Engagement (sorry you'll have to be an ASAE member to read; but leave a comment and I'll fill you in if you aren't a member). Beware this is new thinking and will take effort, but worth every dime.
• Interactive Insights Group serves up the Social Media Case Studies SUPERLIST- 18 Extensive Lists of Organizations Using Social Media. So if you are looking for examples to cite, stories to excite, ideas to build on, here’s the source.