People volunteer to be part of something larger without being larger than life in that project.

Glenn Yonemitsu, chair of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants, a volunteer for the Olympics shares his journey and the excitement of seeing one of his members carrying the torch. 

Of all the responses I received to my request for help in setting an agenda for 2010, the one that gave me most pause was from Jeff De Cagna (like I was surprised?):

In 2010, association leaders need to ask a fundamental question: how can we make everything we do more social?  This question is not primarily a technological consideration, but a strategic and human one.  The challenge is to look beyond the tools at the diverse relationships they enable and the deeper meaning they nurture.

Jeff is reminding us ever so succinctly that at the core it’s the relationship– it’s me being able to reach out to friends on Twitter to ask for help and, because we have relationships, getting rich advice back. It’s me knowing that the ones that replied care about me (no I’m not going Sally on you!). It’s knowing that trust and respect is mutual.

Earlier this week, we hosted the monthly ANEX brown bag lunch & idea swap in Columbia, MD. Our topic was “Big Idea Month Revisited” which sought to extend the great conversation from last month on Acronym (read my take here). One awesome big idea that certainly relates to Jeff’s advice came from Shaun Callahan of Groupsites.com: he makes it a point to get on the phone with people. If he gets an email that requires more than a simple yes or no, he picks up the phone. And he ends every conversation with a simple entreaty to find out if is there anything else he can do for you. Again it’s the relationship.

Is he all talk? No. At the end of the gathering I was in a quandary because I had to find a book for my 16-yr right after the meeting. Shaun right there and then made two calls that helped.

As I travel through the new year, I hope that I will spend as much time nurturing relationships as I do anything else. And I offer this challenge – if I have failed in my end, let me know.

PS If you haven’t already, read Jeff’s post in Acronym on new work of governing from more food for thought that extends his simple advice here.

Bruce Butterfield's question and Peggy's earlier post on the comparison of associations to newspapers begs a fundamental question…

”Is that all there is?”

If associations define themselves simply as purveyors of information (filtered or not), I would respectfully suggest they’re doomed. We may be able to “microprice” our information products to better compete with other sources, but I suspect the real problem lies in our consistent inability to place a compelling, visible value on the elements of the benefit package for which associations often have a significant competitive advantage (peer-to-peer networking, professional recognition, legislative/regulatory representation, etc.).
Micropricing will succeed in a “customer-oriented” business model. Associations will only succeed in a “citizen-oriented model” where members recognize that their participation is essential to the value they receive from their membership.

P.S. Perhaps some newspapers have successfully re-engineered themselves (see Dana Milbanks’ The state of The Post: Not too bad as apocalypses go) and, in doing so, present a news model associations might emulate.

I crowdsourced my 2010 action list and received a great reply from colleagues. The ideas included “quick actions” which I shared in my first post, tips for listening, several thoughts on integrating social media (which will come in future posts) and this checklist for building relationships from David Nour, author, speaker and consultant. 

David was on my list to reach out to because of his philosophy that focuses on relationships as currency. He describes this in his book, Relationship Economics, but really lives it day-to-day as I experienced first-hand when I reached out to him with my simple question.

I first met David at ASAE & The Center’s 2009 annual meeting where he gave two presentations. He described his early introduction to  the concept of relationship as currency when as a child he accompanied his father on their weekly errands at the bazaars of Iran. His dad got things done through relationships or what David terms “favor economy”.  Later, he said, a business trip to China reminded him that “the rest of the world builds relationships first, before they do business.”

I was curious then to know what David would suggest as important to add to my 2010 list. He offered his top 10 in 2010 which by no surprise focuses on building relationships:

1. Version one is better than version none!  Get on and try it before you claim "it doesn't work"
2. Worst thing you can do on social networks is to sell - it inevitably turns people off
3. The best thing you can do on social networks is to listen - louder!  Engage, influence, learn from those who matter.
4. If you don't want it found, do not put it online!
5. Use discretion before you blog, tweet, or friend others.
6. Are you building fans or followers - the former is Relationship Economics at work!
7. Get your off- and on-line presence, in-line!  Make sure you're consistent and congruent with the brand called you!
8. When it comes to social networking, consistency is a lot more valuable than creativity.
9. If you think of social networking as yet another "have to" you'll never get it!  Leverage social networking to help you get things done!
10. Add value with every interaction - would you want to read your tweets?

It’s a list that has simple ideas, provoking thoughts and admonishments. One item jumped out at me: #10. In the simple world of social media, this helps us rein in our interactions. But that’s not why this jumped out at me. Every day we have thousands of interactions and how many of them add no value or more likely detract value ... the sigh when I pick up the phone to answer a member’s call ... the reply to my teenager without looking up to acknowledge him ... the inching closer to the car in front to block the merging vehicle.

Hmmm – David, thank you for this simple, yet challenging list!

Thoughts, reactions to David’s list? Or send me your own suggestions for 2010.

Conservative estimates put the number of service projects on MLK Day of Service at more than 10,000.
From President Obama and his family to kids and their families at an elementary school in DC, people took a “day on not a day off”. Twitter crackled with news coming in from all parts about in impromptu and very-organized activities (follow #MLKDay).

One of aspects of this service that went unreported are the hours put in by association volunteers on the all-important business of their associations. I don’t mean in any way to discount the work of many for communities and charities, but I would like the shine a light on the thousands of volunteers who toil for their professional and trade associations.

These volunteers are doing important work that impacts many of us in ways we’ll never quite see. Association volunteers help develop and set standards that affect professions as diverse as medicine to computer languages to recycling. Association volunteers help enact laws and regulations that protect consumers. Association volunteers develop training and education programs that prepare professions to care for or minister to the public – think diabetes educators, radiological technicians, CPAs and massage therapists. Association volunteers produce books, magazine, research, wikis and so many other resources that the public taps to answer questions, to find solutions, and to make their lives better. Association volunteers mentor young people and older workers seeking career transitions to find employment and succeed in careers. Association volunteers perform thousands of hours of service to communities raising money for charities, doing service and supporting their schools.

Yesterday, just among my association management clients, I had members put in a full days’ worth of work. Five volunteers attended an important teleconference on responding to legislative agenda that will impact lives in North Carolina.  Others volunteers worked on shaping up training events for event professionals and one for PR professionals. Volunteers for the Maryland Recycling Network worked on a two professional development issues.

Over the course of just one month within the five associations that Mariner’s manages, our association volunteers will log no less than 250 volunteer hours. Some months this more than doubles.

So, association volunteers take a bow and then please keep on working – you are making a difference.

Two-dimensional thinking by newspapers has put them in a precarious spot. They aren't the first industry to be in this same spot. In fact, they have reported on the many before them. They have in some cases even predicted the situation to come. And yet, they watched smugly by.

One of my very favorite association thinkers, Bruce Butterfield of The Forbes Group, reminds us that our industry - associations - is patterning itself after the newspapers. Maddie Grant, another of my fav thinkers, captured Bruce Butterfield's latest thoughts in a post with the intention of getting us talking. Will talk help?

In December, ASAE hosted its Big Idea Month on Acronym. About half-way through, Shannon Otto asked what's going to happen with all the talk.

A number of years ago, I attended a leadership meeting at ASAE and we talked about creating a incubator for associations to create the future model. We urged ASAE to create a safe haven for associations to explore.The project hasn't (yet?) reached the light of day. But this would take the talk to action.

Today, I am working with two associations that are venturing out of the safe world to create a new future. They are finding the path unmarked. They are gambling with resources. They are fielding questions and jabs. They are the brave ones though. They may be the survivors too.

So, read Bruce's comments and the growing number of replies. Add you own. But don't stop there. Talk didn't save the Rocky Mountain News or the hundreds of others shuttered in 2009.

In the waning hours of the Aughties (or Double Ohs??), I sought advice from a cadre of friends and colleagues to help me set some goals for the fresh decade. I tweeted to about 30 peeps:

peggyhoffman pulling together a new years list for social tips/to do for 2010 - let me add one from you ... dm okay?

Come to think of it, this was a most appropriate exercise to end the Search Decade (so named by Micheal Kruse in his article in the St Petersburg Times). The responses back were all over the board and yet all on the board. I’ve since spent the first couple weeks of the new decade pondering this advice. What I’ve come up with is one major action item:

Dance.

To some dance is simply a set of movements. But dance is really more than that.  It’s a philosophy that keeps you lighter than air, flexible, and in concert with space around you, the people in the dance and the rhythms surrounding. It draws equally on art and science (notably physics). And a dancer is always exploring and always ready to move.

So in 2010, I will dance with technology, with people, with change. I will embrace the rhythms of the social sphere – that on the web and outside my door.

Having said that, the advice I got from back from my simple tweet is so rich, I have choreographed it into a series of posts and offer the first movement here which I call Quick Actions:

lindydreyer hmmm. Ok. Ask for Twitter user names on event reg forms.

lindydreyer or spend 20 minutes a day commenting on member blogs/tweets.

cardcat To Do: Find all the blogs about your industry and put together an RSS feed of all those blogs and publish for your members.

kikilitalien Great idea, lady! My SM to do for 2010: Use Tweetake to backup Twitter friends, DMs, followers, favorites in CSV format.

lindydreyer or become a fan or member of your association's chapter pages/groups.

ISES_DC My tips: DO - follow & reply to industry leaders and journalists; DONT - try to constantly sell yourself.

MissLynn13 I guess my 2010 socmed resolution is to stop using "Check out" in social media postings. I see it to often, it's becoming insincere.

lindydreyer put together a detailed inventory of your associations social spaces. Include mbr-created.

DeirdreReid I like to filter my Tweetdeck by "?" and see whose questions I can answer. It feels good to help out. Twitter karma, I suppose.

WhitmoreGroup Mine may be too simple: Just meet 5 new people IN PERSON! If it's a comfort problem, have someone else with you.

Look for more in the next couple of posts and add your own! And follow these great advice givers for more ideas and cool thoughts!

With the New Year finally in I’m ready to commit to New Year’s resolutions. Very simply it comes down to (1) spend as much time as possible with my family, (2) enjoy biking indoors and outdoors, (3) dance often and (4) get answers. The first three are easy because I have control over those (note I work out of a home office, teach spinning and am in a dance group). The last one, now that’s like pledging to lose 30 lbs. You see I want to get answers to some exasperating questions:

• How can I best manage IMAP email accounts without exchange server in Outlook 2007 on Windows 2007 platform?
• How can I save emails sent from Blackberry to my Outlook?
• How can I selectively sync Outlook contacts to my Blackberry (so I don’t have to fight having 100s of contacts on my Blackberry)?
• Which is better – keep this blog here in Drupal or move to Wordpress – and if I move to Wordpress how do I keep in right here embedded in my website? (I have lots of other questions related to my blog but I suspect Wordpress answers most of those.)
• Where can I find a SME (subject matter expert) who can give me a lesson on tips and tricks to optimizing my Blackberry? 
• Ditto for Word 7?
• Ditto for PowerPoint 7? (Admittedly I can probably figure out this and previous two but frankly I’m more of a show-&-tell type than read-the-manual type!)
• Where can I recycle perfectly good half-full cans of paint (in or near Laurel, Maryland)?
• Where can I find a pair of swimming goggles that really are leak proof (so I can wear my contacts) but don’t leave me with “goggle-face” when I remove them?
• What’s the best way to prepare my son, who’s 16, to be a safe driver?
• What are some great projects that would grab the interest of 13-year-olds in religion class?
• How do we get the C-suite in associations to sit down a talk strategically about components and member communities within their association?
• Who’s willing to really test the chapter of the future model? (Call me if you are!)

Got answers to any of these or have a suggestion? Email me, DM me on Twitter, message me in LinkedIn or Facebook or hey – call!