Lately, I’ve dropped the ball when it comes to reading. (This is very upsetting to me.) Joe Rominiecki recently wrote about crowd-sourcing over at Acronym, and it reminded me to step up my game. I’ve been staring at “The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Suroweicki for the past month or so, and I’m only about 100 pages into it so far. I’m a voracious reader, but I’ve found myself reading novels lately rather than nonfiction.

Black Friday unofficially kicked off the holiday shopping season, and it’s also never too early to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Somehow, I’m practically done with my Christmas shopping but have barely started on my own wish list. And since one of my goals for the upcoming year is to read more nonfiction, I’ve compiled a list of books I want to tackle in the coming months. I think they’d be great for association and nonprofit staffers, too!

1. “The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Suroweicki. I’ll finish this one eventually, and can’t wait to review it. Although the book was originally published in 2004 and then revised in 2005, the concept — crowd-sourcing — still applies today. So far, the book has been chock full of real-world examples, ranging in subjects such as pop culture, sports, business, biology and psychology.
2. “The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth” by Steven S. Little. Associations are famous (notorious?) for their many policies and procedures. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they can be stifling to an organization’s growth and prosperity.
3. “Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School” by John Medina. Despite the research out there, I remain a consummate multitasker. I’m hoping this book will finally convince me of the error of my ways and show me why focusing on one thing at a time will make me more productive. (Of course, I realize in theory this is true but I can’t help flitting from task to task.)
4. “Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business” by Jeff Howe. Yup, more crowdsourcing. I think it’s important to read more than one book on a topic to get as many perspectives as possible.
5. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell. Why do some people succeed while others don’t? Gladwell argues that superstars don’t come out of nowhere – there are common factors to their success. And if you haven’t read Gladwell’s famous book, “The Tipping Point,” I would highly suggest that one, as well.
6. “Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone” by Mitch Joel. This is another one I’m embarrassed to have not finished yet. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf for a few months, but I’m excited to delve into it. Clearly the Internet is changing how organizations can get their messages out, and from the reviews I’ve read, I think association staffers would enjoy this one.
7. Finally Charlene Li’s “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” should definitely be on your wish list this year if you haven’t taken a look yet. Li was a keynote speaker at ASAE and the Center’s 2009 Annual Meeting, and she’s an expert in social media analysis. I read a review that said this book has “staying power,” which, when it comes to social media books, is rare.

Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them? What would you add to the list?

(Image via roland on Flickr.)

In honor of Black Friday, I thought I’d share a few interesting holiday shopping-related statistics. If you braved the crowds this morning, I hope you got some great deals!

• 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites last year (which was an increase from 2007′s 147 million) (National Retail Federation)
• Spending reached an estimated $41 billion (NRF)
• That averages out to about $372.57 per shopper (which was an increase from 2007′s $347.55 per shopper) (NRF)
• More than 47 percent of retailers will use social media this holiday season (NRF)
• About 60 percent of retailers have updated or improved their Facebook pages and/or Twitter streams (NRF)

(Image via besighyawn at Flickr)

We hosted an in-office potluck yesterday and ate tons of delicious food! Here are some highlights:

Just some of the canned goods we’ve collected for the Atlanta Food Community Bank.

Developer Aaron Gunn getting his veggie dip ready.

Product Expert Joel Walton and Developer Ian Snead prepping their contributions.

President Thomas Howard setting up plates by the desserts.

Director of Product Experience Kevin Patrick was very enthusiastic about the ham.

The final spread (desserts not included!).

Developers Matt Boetger and Ian Snead getting the party started with Solution Adviser Hannae Berhanu and Go Team Member Sarah Bigorowski

Nom nom nom

Huck and Matt Boetger facing off.

Developer Glenard Loy and Lead Maximizer Duncan McCreery (maker of delicious potatoes) enjoying the meal.

The crowd chowing down (and Hannae and I are laughing right in the middle!).

The aftermath

Matt Boetger perusing the many, many dessert options.

Thomas and Duncan chilling out and enjoying the desserts.

From the entire MemberClicks family, happy Thanksgiving! We wish everyone who celebrates a fantastic holiday!

This is the third in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The first two installments on Flickr and Delicious can be found here. Stay tuned.

What do you get when you cross Twitter with a traditional blog? One of two sites: Tumblr or Posterous.

Although there are some important differences, Tumblr and Posterous do have a lot in common. Both let you compile all types of media – text, links, photos, videos, audio clips and more – into a virtual scrapbook to share with your members.

First up, Tumblr.

(Don't mind my goofy thumbs up)

Tumblr users can “follow” each other, much like on Twitter. (Following doesn’t have to be reciprocal.) There’s also the option to “like” a post, or “reblog” it and add your own comments if you’d prefer.

As far as mobility goes, there are great BlackBerry and iPhone apps for Tumblr. Personally, I’ve found the BlackBerry one very easy to use. Tumblr allows for Twitter integration, so your posts on Tumblr can be automatically sent to your Twitter stream, and tweets can be sent to Tumblr.

Newsweek magazine has recently started using Tumblr. They posted a great explanation of “Why they Tumbl” on Tuesday. In the post, they fully admit they’re not sure how to monetize Tumblr, but that they hope it creates a dialogue between magazine and readers.

Next up, Posterous:

The great thing about Posterous is that it was designed to be used via e-mail. Simple e-mail anything you want – text, photos, audio, even iPhone videos – to post@posterous.com. Your subject line will become the title and the e-mail’s body will become the post itself. You can even add tags in the subject line by including a double parentheses: ((tag:socialmedia, photos, association)). You don’t have to set up an account before e-mailing — whatever your e-mail address is becomes the URL (http://youremail.posterous.com). (Although if you want a specific URl, I’d recommend signing up for an account first.)

Update Posterous via e-mail

Posterous is handy if you’re on-the-go and attached to your smartphone. Like Tumblr, the site also has a community aspect: users can subscribe to other users and marks posts as “favorites.”

Media Bistro has done an excellent job using Posterous as a community blog. People can submit contributions to a specific e-mail address, and three curators approve and post the content. Granted, Media Bistro isn’t an association, but it is an online community that uses Posterous as a user-generated blog.

The best part about the contributions? People who submit don’t have to have Posterous accounts – just an e-mail address from which to send content!

You can export content from Posterous to any other social sites on which your association has a following – and vice versa. Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube – you name it, you can automatically post information across the board with a simple e-mail.

So how can associations use these sites?

Imagine if conference and meeting attendees could easily submit their own videos and photos to one main aggregator. ASAE and The Center had a great online hub for ASAE09, and they also had a Flickr group to aggregate attendees’ photos. I think Posterous would have been a comparable alternative because it lets many people share different types of media in one place. Attendees (real-life and virtual) could contribute their own videos, photos and thoughts to the community to create a great “scrapbook.”

Check out the FAQs for both Posterous and Tumblr, and I also love this Mashable post comparing and constrasting them. Each has its pros and cons (Tumblr allows for more theme customization, Posterous lets people submit contributions more easily), but maybe one of them is right for your association.

If you have any questions about either Posterous or Tumblr, feel free to e-mail me at shannon@memberclicks.com!

(Posterous screencaps via Mashable.)

By Duncan McCreery, MemberClicks Lead Maximizer

What can associations learn from one abysmal NFL team and its fans?

For those who don’t follow the NFL, the Browns are terrible. In just about every national poll, the Browns are rated in the bottom three teams in the league.  The team is so bad, my own mother teases me for wasting my Sundays watching them play.

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn (10) was sacked four times by the Baltimore Ravens.

There was significant national media coverage in the past few weeks about a few especially disgruntled fans who planned to stage a protest during the start of a Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens. The protest organizers asked fans in attendance to vacate their seats during the opening kickoff.  If the plan had been executed, ESPN would have televised the start of the game and a seemingly empty stadium.

In recent weeks, many journalists and bloggers have written in support of, or disappointment in, the protest. Instead of focusing on whether the walkout was a good or bad idea, let’s look at the parties involved and their motivations.

The protest organizers have paid hundreds of dollars – yearly – for season tickets for several decades and asked other paying attendees to participate by walking out. Although overall attendance is down this year, tens of thousands of people paid for tickets and will still attend every Browns game for the remainder of the season, despite the abysmal play on the field.

Clearly, there is a powerful force at work that motivates fans to purchase tickets and attend games. Given that the team has only won one game this year, the motivation for fans to purchase tickets does not stem from playoff expectations. Having purchased tickets and attended games within the past year myself, I would suggest that Browns fans are so dedicated because we are emotionally attached to the organization.

What can association leaders do to develop the level of dedication in their members that Browns fans display year in and year out?

I’m not saying that associations should prioritize emotional bonding over delivering meaningful content and successful day to day operations, but, undoubtedly, there is tremendous value in connecting with members on a higher level than more traditional offerings at meetings and conferences.

Unlike the Browns, who can rely on native Clevelanders’ youthful attachment to the organization and undying faith in the yearly draft for this emotional connection, association staffers and board members need to make a concerted effort to show that they, the leaders, value the members’ participation and support of the association

As Robert Hall advises in his book Chaos for Breakfast: Practical Help and Humor for Nonprofit Executives, this can be as simple as dedicating time to answering the phone instead of letting a call go to voicemail, or embracing volunteer enthusiasm and channeling it to help the association reach its strategic goals. It doesn’t take a lot of time or resources to leave a great impression with members at every interaction, and these little efforts will go a long way to ensure the success of the association in the long term.

The question is: what can leaders in the association do to engage members on a higher emotional level?

(Photo by Chuck Crow of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.)