One college professor finds a way to combat the dreaded “classes cancelled due to inclement weather” scenario. After her experience with the Snowmageddon of Winter 2010 when the university shut down for a week, R.S. Zaharna, associate professor of communication American University, decided to find a way to make the current technology work for her and her students. She got the chance this past week when classes were cancelled.

Yesterday in the closing hours of National Volunteer Week I had a conversation with one of our best volunteers, June Ring, president of the ISES DC, during which she told me how much she and the board appreciated Mainer. Her year is coming to a close and she thanked us. But it is us who should thank her – and her board. They have been extraordinary volunteers!

It reminds me once again that National Volunteer Week shouldn’t be a week. It’s really a 365-day celebration.  In fact there are 365 ways (at least) that we can recognize our volunteers. It begins I believe not with a list of rewards (although this one from Indiana 4-H is packed with ideas – some of which show up below!)

Today is the start of National Volunteer Week, April 18–24, 2010 and I’d like to kick it off with a thank you for all the association volunteers around the world.

And particularly to our main volunteers ...

Association Volunteers! Facebook Fan Page is launched and you're invited to join in the conversation.

What is this? An effort to highlight the energy, enthusiasm and work of association volunteers. It's a place to share our stories and celebrate our work. And it's a place for those interested in volunteering for associations to chat and learn more.

I just ran across an older posting - a challenge sort of - on Acronym where Lisa Junker, one of the bloggers behind Acronym asked us  to take 5 minutes to spread the word about our association. She was prompted by a very cool conversation with Andy Sernovitz of GasPedal who’s a word-of-mouth expert (and three-time association CEO) in which he offered up a few idea starters.

It all started with the Lindy Dreyer’s feature in January issue of Associations Now “Get your members talking! Word-of-mouth expert Andy Sernovitz tells you how.” Catch more of Andy's WOM insights in his book Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking. The idea goes that in a down economy, word of mouth can make all the difference.

CTAM shows the power of Facebook for driving a chapter's event to new levels ... shared from ASAE's Listserv!