Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a successful week. Enjoy your weekend!

To finish out the week, here are my recent favorite association-related blog posts. There’s been some good stuff floating around this week, especially after Seth Godin’s “The Problem with Non” post. I love a healthy debate!

1. Elizabeth Weaver Engel shared her thoughts on why associations should have Chief Community Officers. Her description of what the position should entail makes total sense.  After all, associations are all about about community. She concludes by asking if she’s “lost her mind.” Definitely not!

2. Weighing in on the debate about whether nonprofits approach social media the right way, Maggie McGary agreed that many associations are afraid of change. People who are trying to create changes are getting frustrated. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” just isn’t cutting it anymore.

3. This wasn’t written explicitly about associations, but it definitely applies to them. We’ve heard all about being innovative, but are you awesome? To be awesome, you have to love what you do because that’s when true, meaningful value really appears.

4. The ongoing debate about the membership model continues. David M. Patt wrote at Association Executive Management that membership is not dead — it’s just being defined differently. People have to feel engaged before they become members, and we will always continue to interact with like-minded people.

5. Cynthia D’Amour compared associations to newspapers (love the metaphor!) since many of the dailies in Ann Arbor, MI are shutting down. Is there still a demand there? Would there still be a demand if your association disappeared? Would substitutes pop up?