Our third conversation in our continuing celebration of the Association Volunteer (read more here) is with Chris Carbone, a volunteer with the Public Relations Society of America-Maryland Chapter (PRSA-MD). Chris joined PRSA-MD for the networking; however, he soon discovered an association community that values its profession and its members, and offers support and encouragement to all.

We continue our celebration of the Association Volunteer (read more here) by talking with Claudia Ciolfi, Sr Communications Specialist at Injured Workers' Insurance Fund (IWIF). Claudia first joined PRSA-MD, the Maryland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in 1999, and soon found a place where she could grow professionally and personally, all with the encouragement and support of her employer.

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.

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.