The conversation started with a daring confession posted on ASAE’s listserv: an association at a loss what to do with a standing PR committee.  The exec asked if anyone had eked out a meaningful role for their PR committee. I won’t disclose the association because it could be any of us. Nearly every association I’ve met could make that confession.

Three useful points came out of the discussion.

1. The sequence isn’t (a) build a committee, (b) find a task. If there isn’t a compelling role directed tied to the ongoing work of the association, a standing committee is not needed. Identify the tasks to be done and fill the roles, being open to the fact that the role may not be best filled with a standing committee. One association executive reported that shifting from standing committees to as-needed PR task forces on specific initiatives turned out to be a better solution. As a bonus, it produced a successful way to engage eager volunteers for a specific job for a limited amount of time (see #3).
2. Every day there’s a sunset, followed by a sunrise the next morning. We can and should sunset committees when their immediate work is done. There are at least three great reasons for this: the cost of governance, the drain on volunteers, and the sunrise can’t come until the sun sets (or how can we create new if there’s no space?).
3. Sometimes the whole is not greater than the parts. We often see a bunch of jobs or tasks and so wrap them up into a committee. The thinking is a committee will provide a focal point for all those smaller tasks and create something bigger.  What happens instead is that some of tasks get lost in the bigger pool, others get far too magnified, and others get twisted.  This is also were we see committee conflicts. One of the suggestions on the listserv was that the PR committee could take on a fundraising role – just tell that to your standing supplier relations committee.  

There’s another part to lesson 3. When we bundle short-term, focused tasks into a committee, we inherently limit volunteer opportunities. We push more and more jobs onto fewer and fewer volunteers.

Look at the list of tasks suggested on the listserv:

• create a Strategic Public Relations Plan
• identify key audiences
• develop key messages
• identify new outlets and new programs
• draft talking points on various issues
• help liaise with chapter media contacts
• develop (or help in drafting) press releases
• monitor corporate communication to assure consistency and direction of your brand
• think up ways and means to promote the projects happening on the other committees task calendar
• deliberate on issues facing your profession relating to PR that need to be ironed out and create a proposed policy to come back to the Board for consideration
• create white papers

Any of these could easily be ad-hoc jobs which draw in new volunteers, new thinking and therefore new resources.

It all started with a confession – and just think it could be the beginning of a new volunteer model.

As the snow melts (slowly!), you might expect the conference memories too as well. At least that's what usually happens about 2 weeks after you've returned from a conference. Not so with #UnTech10. We're still living the spirit. Afterall my CafePress tee just arrived!

You can read about the technology unconference from more than a dozen angles here (thanks to Maddie Grant's aggregating) which also includes my posts. And you can order your very own shirt at CafePress.

So why did this conference last longer in my mind? Was it because of the content? I mean lots of conferences have great content. Was it the speakers? Lots of conferences have top-notch speakers. Was it the handouts? Ditto above. Yes all play a factor, but here are the three reasons that really make the difference ...

The experience! The drama! The event unfolded practically overnight which created drama and those of us who participated had front row seats. That excitement heightened our learning sensories. And in many ways for me, that meant I absorbed more.

The technology! I was using some of the technology we were talking about as we talked. Hands-on learning delivers a deeper understanding of the subject and in the case of technology a connection that opens eyes and minds.

The onus was on the learner. Right from the beginning, #UnTech10 coordinator Lindy Dreyer urged us with the counsel that we were responsible for our own learning. By coming to the unconference, we were signing the proverbial "I accept" statement and agreeing to be equally responsible for content and learning.

The challenge issued to all of us putting on events is how can we build these three elements into our events?

The reluctant volunteer just wants to know it's short-term.

My non-volunteering husband just said yes to the March of Dimes. They asked could he  send letters to peopel in his neighborhood. They'd send a kit. That's it. He said yes.

I actually spent six hours hooked up to a livecast, headset and Twitter today so I could be "in the room" for #UnTech10, the unsession that kept the spirit and learning planned for ASAE's 2010 Technology Conference alive.The energy was high and the learning great. Was was even greater was being a part of a great social media experiment and in on the sidelines to witness a great volunteer effort.

The social media experiment proved that with technology, you can weather lots of bumps even when those bumps are 3 ft of snow in a town not used to coping with blizzards. But what also made it work was the patience of the attendees and the wisdom of the crowd to see all the great things about this and not fret the annoyances.

Witnessing the volunteer effort, reminded me that volunteer's given creative license can build mountains. But also, if they are associated with association in that endeavor, even though you aren't officially sponsoring the endeavor, you still win. Many times through the day, ASAE was recognized - recognized as not getting in the way, recognizes as being the force that really was our connection, and recognized in that its was our collective community of ASAE members.

Part II - which is all virtual - opens tomorrow at 9am with a session on Microsoft 2010 & Sharepoint. Check out the schedule and join in - its all free.

Check out the Twitter feed at #UnTech10 for a peak at the learning from part I.

Before the second snowstorm could hit, before ASAE had to cancel, a group of intrepid volunteers were working on Plan B for ASAE's 2010 Technology Conference. This morning #UnTech10 was officially opened to association peeps at a cost you can't beat (free). And it also proves a point from the  Decision to Volunteer study pointed out - if the goal is big, the purpose serves the larger group, and there's flexibility in the how, the volunteer will rise to the occasion!

I don't even know at this point who all gets the initial accolades, but I do know that SocialFish's Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer along with great folks from ThePort (like Colleen Flynn), Omnipress and Avectra had a hand.

So basically, the unconference is a combo face-to-face/virtual experience on Thursday and all virtual on Friday. The onsite location is Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St, NW, Washington, DC. Follow the convo at #UnTech10. Connect - and register if you can attend at the Thursday on-site conference on the un-official UnTech10 site.

Many thanks to these awesome volunteers!

How many associations would be wise and open enough to let member volunteers save the day? For that matter, how many associations create an atmosphere where members can become passionate, energized volunteers? Hats off to you ASAE!

I had the opportunity to speak with three different groups of volunteer leaders this week and in each case we talked about the challenge of increasing member engagement. What struck me was that the focus of engagement is on the “big ticket items” of event attendance or volunteer leadership (read serve on committee or board). It will be difficult if not impossible for us to increase engagement if we keep this focus so narrow.  And there is a lot at stake.

Given that ASAE’s Decision To Join survey showed a direct correlation between engagement and renewal, it is certainly worth the effort to explore how members engage and will engage in the future. We need look no further than the web to see how people are engaging. They are collaborating, evaluating, sharing, and rating: creating content. And it’s increasingly about research. Before we make a purchase, choose which movie to watch, even visit the doctor, we log on to check out the options.  Engagement is so much more than attending an event, making a purchase or signing up to volunteer.

It follows then that member engagement is evolving too. It’s not just about attending the event or serving on a board, it’s about being a contributor and being an information consumer.
I would propose that the new definition of engagement can be formed by looking both at how many ways members can plug into our association and what they can do once they connect.

The list might include:

• Log onto web
• Call staff or another member
• Email staff or other member
• Join an e-community (our site or public site as Facebook, LinkedIn etal)
• Follow on Twitter
• Subscribe to RSS feed or a newsletter
• Visit the association
• Attend an event

Where they …

• Create/update a profile
• Join a discussion on listserv, blog, e-community
• Write a blog post, article, white paper
• Rate a product, service
• Share a link or resource
• Refer a colleague to join or attend or participate
• Give a presentation
• Complete survey, poll
• Upload pictures, presentations, videos
• Purchase a product
• Talk with members, staff
• Participate in a committee, team or on board
• Endorse our association

These are starting points. Our challenge is to begin to build the list for our associations. So, let’s have a brainstorming meeting with staff to get started. Ask members how they define engagement – not just in your association but in their daily life. In your list, be as inclusive as you can. The idea is that if we can broaden how members can engage, we can increase that engagement.

Of course, we’ll need to figure out how to measure it, for if we can’t measure it, we can’t improve it. What I’ve seen from many associations is a great reluctance to build systems to measure these newer elements of engagement. With one group I heard it’s impossible to track behavioral info to the member record and in any case why would we want to?

One enlightened association exec, Andy Steggles, now Chief Operating Officer & Social Strategist at Higher Logic, was working on this at Risk & Insurance Management Society, where he built a more inclusive engagement model proving it can be done. But as I said to a group of chapter leaders at the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists leadership meeting this past weekend, even if you have to start by using a spreadsheet that includes the member’s name, ID and then checks for all he’s done, do it. Sometimes the simplest approach gets the job done.

Eric Schonher, Marketing General, recently offered in an ASAE listserv discussion that engagement is “…defined by actively participating in an association activity….” The challenge is simply to build that list. What’s on your list?

I paid my dues on-line today to continue my membership in ASAE & The Center. No, it's not cause to alert the media or sound the trumpets. I've been doing this steadily since about 1981. Some years, it was paid by my association, a few out of my pocket and of course the last 8 through my association management company (read my own pocket). So what's the cause for the announcement? Well, I paid on-line as the result of an annual reminder set-up in the finance folder. The announcement is: I didn't need a 5-step dues billing invoice system to renew.

I routinely pay my professional memberships on the actual month due. I routinely toss-out the reminder notices and delete email notices that come in beginning months ahead because I have it set as an bill payment in my system. I don't expect ASAE to know that off-hand.  It got me thinking though. Like ASAE, each month here at Mariner we send out scads of renewal notices to members. I have to wonder if my members are like me. Do they have it in their checkbook or monthly bill pay without reminders? I'm sure some are like me. Certainly not all. I'm not suggesting that we throw out dues invoicing, but is there a better way?

Most associations provide members the opportunity to set preferences on a myriad of things. Can we add dues billing to that? What if I could set the option to send me an email with renewal link on the expiration month?Or perhaps let me sync a reminder to my Outlook Task list or Calendar? And then I could even choose the reminder time and hit snooze if I can't get to it right away but don't want to forget. Or maybe just a thank you letter with a date reminder and a follow-up after the fact if I forget?

I know I can already hear the naysayers ... people will just ignore that. Or will they? Some may, but for those that don't, you've saved the mail and email costs.

And, I might add it wouldn't leave me feeling a little cold like the generic, pseudo-personalized invoice.

A number of years back at a trade association where I was membership director I did an analysis of our dues payments and found the majority paid the month the dues were due using the first notice sent. So they held on to the first notice, tossing the others, and paid when it was due. We revamped the dues invoicing and saved money without losing members. It's time to analyze again and I think I'll start by asking my members ...

How do you want to be billed for your dues?