In January 2002, Peter and I, on something of a whim, opened Mariner Management & Marketing.  We had just both left our “day jobs” (Peter as EVP and me as Membership & Marketing Director for a trade association) at the close of 2001. We had a vision to create a new model for supporting association chapters. In came out of a belief that chapters are a critical link in the member value equation that too often falls short.

Our first step was a research project to identify the make-or-break elements for a successful chapter.  Our white paper, Dashboard Indicators for Chapter Success, captured the findings and a place in the ASAE Component Relations Handbook and the on-line course.

More importantly, it provided for us a roadmap for helping our management clients – all chapters or affiliates of national groups – succeed.  Today, our four clients, Public Relations Society of America Maryland Chapter; Intl Special Events Society DC Chapter; Maryland Recycling Network and Washington DC Metro Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, are testimony that the dashboard is right on. The key ingredient, frankly, is appropriate administrative framework.  Not all chapters are alike so there is hardly one solution. Many do not need a formal board, incorporation, Roberts Rules of Order dictate et al. Some simply must have paid staff and detailed policies and procedures.  Today’s chapter –oft called the chapter of the future – is driven first by function, then by form.

Just as we started the first decade with a search, we’ll embark on the second similarly – in search of new models for association components and volunteer programs. Among the activities is an innovation peer group, begun in 2011 to bring together association professionals with an interest in learning from each other as they embark on new organizational models. We are also working with a number of associations, including SHRM, American Association of Diabetes Educators and Internet Society to explore concepts and applications.

We are equally pleased to note that we will be involved in two new ASAE programs:  the launch of the Advance Component Relations on-line course (I will be co-facilitating and am pleased to have helped develop the program which includes a week on new and emerging models) and the rewriting of the Component Relations Handbook (see current version here).

And beginning next month, we’re rolling out a series of updates and add-ons to celebrate what we believe is the year of new models.

It’s been a great decade and we’re geared for an even stronger second decade.

Peter and I led an energizing discussion at ASAE's Great Ideas Conference last week and I'm still digesting the good ideas. The session was on embracing the unofficial volunteer leader. Who is this person you say? Well it's the hell-raiser and the quiet saint. It's the person who is doing work for the profession and maybe even the association -- but unofficially. By ignoring these folks, you could miss out on some good work or inadvertently fuel a disruptive force. Here are two examples we talked about where associations embraced the unofficial leader.

I’m taking part in the virtual book tour Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer are doing to explore concepts from Open Community: a little book of big ideas for associations navigating the social web. In this post, I asked Lindy and Maddie to dig a little deeper into the concept of sharing control, which they describe in the book.

Let’s face it – being a leader of a group of members is tough. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking about chapter or a Special Interest Group or a virtual community. We’re all busy, busy, busy. Getting face-to-face is near impossible.

It's 2010, what are your plans for your chapters and other components? What - just updating last year's? Well, in the words of Oliver Blanchard "Soft goals create soft strategies. Soft strategies turn into weak tactics. Weak tactics turn into bogus metrics."

That tells you why your chapter program is getting your association nowhere. So do you still want to just update last year's goals?

I haven’t been very active in this playground because I’ve been spending more time on a new playground More than PR Basics helping our PRSA Maryland chapter launch a blog (and plan and build a phenomenal 1-day event about the marriage of traditional and new media for pr professionals which takes place Tuesday Oct 6) and in Hootsuite land helping two nonprofits get involved in the Twitter conversation.

My focus on our chapters and their respective social media efforts has been fun and has reminded me that we do need to nurture and coach our leaders for success. To that end, here are some links that are definitely worth sharing with your chapter leaders (and really any and all volunteer leaders) to help them succeed:

Associations Now is offering an opportunity and a case study with its latest crowdsourcing option. By logging in you can submit content ideas, vote on others, add comments and throw your name in as a contributor. At least check it out as a sample of how you can engage members even if you don't allow yourself to be drawn in and engage.

It began with a simple question asked by a chapter: how can we - with limited dollars and limited resources - get into social media? Generally the response back is its simple start a Facebook group.

KiKi L’Italien and I decided that its not that simple – but then it's not all that complicated either. Our conversation led to a session at ASAE 09 Annual Meeting “Adding Power to Member Communities with Social Media” where we shared our simple formula for getting chapters - and any component - engaged in using social media.

Maybe it was the title, maybe it was the enthusiasm of Brian Contanzo when I first met him by phone several months ago, but I will go to Developing a Rock Star Chapter at ASAE & The Center’s upcoming Annual Meeting, Tuesday, August 18, at 9:00am (even though this is right before my own session with at 12:45 Adding Power to Member Communities with Social Media).

@Marc_Meyer maybe social media is dating and community is living together...

This quip caught my eye in Rachel Happe’s recap of #socialmedia chat over on her post Fast & Furious—Twitter Chat. The topic was "The Difference between social media and community". She notes that this conversation is happening all around. She’s right. I was on a conference call whose topic was very much related. The call brought together a lively group of volunteers who are in the process of developing a more flexible, intuitive road map for communities in their association. We were grappling with the questions: when is a robust listserv group a community? When is a community an organization? When do we need structure?