Just checking out the new unconference headed our way: The Hacking Associations Unconference is coming.

Its about putting your money where your mouth is (ok and getting a pay back!). It's all inspired by Acronym's Big Ideas Month. Behind it are Principled Innovation's Jeff De Cagna) and DelCor Technology Solutions' KiKi L'Italien. If you are ready for innovating your association, check out the video here. mark the date (April 22) and follow #hackaction.

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?”

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.

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?

For those with "building community" on their list of goals for 2010, check out SmartBlog on Social Media's posting by Merritt Colaissi - Spike Jones' 11 Lessons to ignite a fan community. It was lesson #9 that caught my eye:

Movements live online and offline. 90% of WOM happens offline. It’s important to get people together offline.

We are spending much time, energy and dollars on our IT and virtual communities that we fail to see the importance of being face-to-face. Some associations are even going so far as to replace traditional events and, yes even chapters, with online learning and virtual chapters. But it's not a either-or proposition. As Jones learned in building Fiskars successful crafters movement, its the combination that wins.

What if associations looked at volunteerism through the lens of fundraising? Specifically, what if an association set up its reward and recognition program ala fundraising categories? So that we’d track – and report – volunteers based on the number of hours or the “amount” given to the association. There would be the Gold, Silver, Bronze volunteership…

I am prompted to ask this what if question as part of Acronym’s Big Idea Month. This has generated quite a few interesting ideas including these by KiKi L'Italien, Jeffrey Cufaude, Jamie Notter, Eric Lanke, Elizabeth Weaver, Shelly Acorn and, one of my fav’s, this one on Association’s as facilitators on Acronym by Jeffrey.

As we mentioned in our last post, we are pleased to launch a year-long project capturing the stories of association volunteers. We’re picking up on the National day of Listening, StoryCorps' project to encourage Americans to collect and share stories.

We begin with Lisa Miles’ story as told to Carol Blattau. Lisa, president of Miles Public Relations, is the consummate association volunteer. Her passion for her profession fuels her passion for her volunteering. And she has cultivated this passion through the Maryland Chapter of The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-MD).

Today – the Friday following Thanksgiving – is National Day of Listening. It began in 2008 when StoryCorps launched the effort to encourage Americans to start a yearly tradition of listening to and preserving a loved one’s story.  It’s an effort to collect stories that will surely grow more valuable with each passing generation. 

This day has spurred a year-long project here at Mariner to collect and share the stories of association volunteers. Over the next year, we are seeking your stories.  We will gather them, create an archive and share these for all to read, find motivation and celebrate the thousands of volunteers who make associations rich. To share, just contact us and we’ll set up a time to talk. Or send us your story.

As a ballerina wannabe, it was natural that the headline in the Stillwater Gazette would catch my eye: "More than roles for ballerinas." It came to be through my Google Alerts for association + volunteer. The teaser simply said "Every year the parents of "Nutcracker" ballerinas and cavaliers are asked to log at least a couple of volunteer hours to support their children. ..."

Look at that teaser again and notice the phrase "asked to log at least a couple of volunteer hours to support...." Parents respond to this graciously because (1) it's expected, (2) the expectation is fairly minimal and there are plenty of quick jobs like poster-hangers and greeters, and (3) they are asked. There's a great lesson here for associations. What if we presented volunteering as an expectation? And backed up that expectation with a host of short-term, ad-hoc positions, and then simply asked?

It surely seems odd that a public relations professional chapter wouldn’t be an early adopter of the new media. But we weren’t. Our members were – and are – curious though. It’s that curiosity that gave us the platform for entering into social media sphere.