Happy New Year’s Eve! Instead of reflecting on the past year, I thought I’d share a few predictions for associations in 2010. I could be way off base, but that’s OK! Feel free to share what your association is excited about going into 2010, too!

- Virtual attendance gains traction. Maggie McGary tweeted a link the other day about how the American Society for Parental and Enteral Nutrition is offering virtual attendance for its 2010 conference. I think this is a fantastic idea – today’s technology absolutely supports this kind of thing, and in a still-unstable economy, people may not want to travel as much.

- Crowdsourcing becomes the norm for associations. ASAE and The Center experimented with this for Associations Now, but I think the concept will grow for associations in 2010. Use it among your staff, or give your members a say in some of the association’s decisions.

- Organizations will stop adopting social media just for the sake of it. This is more of a wish than a prediction, but I hope it comes to fruition. Obviously “social media” was the trend of 2009. But what does it mean? To me, social media is just another level of communication with your members and staffers. Perhaps you can ask your members how they prefer to receive information (get your “crowdsourcing” on) and create different options. You don’t have to be everywhere, all the time, online.

- Young professionals become even more active. From ASAE and The Center’s Young Professionals resources and committee to YAPStars, Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers are making their presences known. These groups allow for great networking opportunities and professional development, and I love the enthusiasm YPs are displaying.

- Associations embrace mobile technology. Who isn’t attached to their phone these days? (Seriously though, if you aren’t, I envy you.) Maybe 2010 won’t bring an iPhone app for your association, but it’s definitely time to embrace the real-time access our smartphones provide. Twitter has accomplished this in a way, but 2010 can take it a step further.

Have a wonderful and happy (and safe!) New Year’s Eve. So long, 2009!

(Image via Optical illusion on Flickr.)

Who doesn’t love a good recognition program? No matter how big or small the achievement, I think we all enjoy a little positive reinforcement. But could a more unconventional program work for your organization?

This post was inspired by an old Acronym post about its unique recognition program – when someone achieves something noteworthy, a bell is rung throughout the office.

Some people may find this annoying, and I’m sure if used too liberally, it would be a little grating. But if you work for a small-staff association, I think something like this is a fun idea. Another option (perhaps for slightly larger associations) is to host a staff meeting every quarter and recognize people’s achievements.

At MemberClicks, we hosted the First Annual Clickies (loosely based on Michael Scott’s “Dundies” on “The Office”) last March. In addition to the more serious awards, people received semi-silly awards that garnered lots of laughs and allowed them to recount the past year.

Of course, the possibilities for recognition programs are nearly endless. You can host a ceremony at your annual meeting or conference, but be aware that many people find them too long and tedious. Recognize when members reach milestones such as five, 10 or 15 years of membership.

Keep in mind that not everyone likes to be recognized the same way. I’ve been discussing more casual recognition programs, but of course, formal options are often necessary (and important). And don’t forget to recognize your volunteers! Without volunteers, your organization likely wouldn’t function as well as it does.

How can your association recognize milestones in a fun, unconventional way?

Image via Kevin Patrick, MemberClicks Director of Product Experience

It’s almost 2010, and I think it’s safe to say technology is a mainstay in our lives at this point. But it can be frustrating. There is so much software and information at our fingertips, and it can be difficult to know what’s worth it and what’s not.

To sort through it all and streamline your technology experience, I’ve compiled just a short list of useful applications your association could benefit from. Some have a great convenience factor, others are useful for sharing information with others. Feel free to contribute to this list and add your own favorite applications!

1. Google Reader – Some say RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is on the decline thanks to services such as Twitter, which lets bloggers and news organizations give updates as they happen. But Google’s RSS Reader also lets your tag items to share with others. You can put blogs into different folders for easy sorting (I have several related to “Social Media,” “Associations,” etc…) and you can also import your Google Alerts into the Reader. So useful.

2. Tweetdeck – I love Tweetdeck for its monitoring capabilities. I follow the #assnchat hashtag and if there is a conference going on that I want to keep up with, I add a new column with that hashtag. It lets me keep up with my personal Twitter account as well as MemberClicks’. And when I need to buckle down and get productive, I turn off those pesky notifications.

3. Evernote – If you’re on-the-go (and even if you’re not), I predict you will adore this application. Evernote claims you can use it to “capture everything,” and it’s true. Whether it’s an image, text, a screen cap or pretty much anything else, you can store it in Evernote and access it from any computer. You can tag items and have different folders for organization. And there are mobile apps for iPhones and BlackBerrys, so you can add to your account anytime. If this sounds overwhelming, check out Evernote’s About page — it will rock your world.

4. Typinator – This one can save you tons of time if used correctly. To sum it up, I’m just going to quote from its Web site: Have you ever experienced the tedium and frustration of having to repeatedly type your name, e-mail address, home page url, or other words or phrases again, again and again? Typinator is an automatic text software that helps you insert words or phrases quickly into any document. You can abbreviate any phrase and it will be updated as you type. Unfortunately, this one is Mac-only, but there is a similar one for special characters (called PopChar) that works for Windows.

I hope one or more of these can help your organization be more productive! If you use a cool application I didn’t mention (trust me, there are thousands), feel free to share it! I love finding new tools!

(Typinator screencap via its Web site.)

This is the eighth 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 seven installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

I just realized I haven’t talked about blogs! Depending on your definition, blogs aren’t exactly social networking “sites,” but they definitely allow for social networking. It’s also an easy way to update your membership on what the association is up to.

Some early adopter bloggers claim blogs are “on their way out,” but I still think blogs are a great, tried-and-true way of communicating with others.

There are a few options for blogs: internal and external. If you have a large staff, maybe an internal blog would be useful for keeping everyone in the loop about happenings within the organization. But an external blog can be ideal for keeping members updated and give them another way to communicate with the organization.

A blog post doesn’t have to consist of hundreds of words – it can be as simple as an embedded video or even a “Top 10” list. You don’t even have to post every (week)day, but the more you update (without overdoing it), the better.

Your organization’s annual conference is an ideal time to promote the blog and share awesome content. Blog before, during and after the conference, and share it in your conference e-mail marketing. You can also interview your conference speakers for a more in-depth look. Let your members write guest posts. There are tons of possibilities!

On this blog, I try to mix it up between association management, social media and technology posts. Your association’s blog probably has more of a built-in topic than some blogs – but I think it’s important to mix it up and not necessarily keep it all business, all the time. Show your association’s personality and be creative!

There are many outposts for creating a blog. The most popular are WordPress and Blogger. Both are very user-friendly and intuitive. However, from my experience, WordPress allows for more plug-ins, so if you decide to get fancy later on down the road, it could be a good option.

During the past few months, I’ve shared a few examples of associations doing cool things to get their mission out there. This video, though, remains my favorite. How could your organization use a blog? Of, if you already have one, how do you use it?

If your association doesn’t have a blog yet and you have more questions, feel free to e-mail me at shannon@memberclicks.com. I’d love to hear from you!

(Photo via digitalrob70 on Flickr)

Merry Christmas to one and all (if you celebrate, that is). I hope everyone is enjoying their break and spending time with family and friends. Even though it was technically a holiday week, there was lots of good stuff going around the association community this week.

1. Oh my gosh. When I read this poem, I couldn’t believe how well-crafted it was. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: The Association Version by Joe Flowers is wonderful. I have to turn to rhymezone.com when I’m seeking a rhyming match, so I can’t imagine how long something like this would have taken me. This is so well done, and definitely a must-read if you haven’t already.

2. Shelly Alcorn contributed to Big Ideas month over as Association Subculture with her post about the actual environment of associations. I love each and every one of her posts, and this one was great because she turned a critical eye (in a good way) to how current associations can execute everyone’s big ideas. So glad you wrote this, Shelly!

3. I’m loving the conversation about non-profit vs. for-profit, especially Kevin Holland’s post from earlier this week. It’s true that there are many for-profit associations out there, and every situation and organization is different. Kevin writes, But for those of us who work for associations because we like making a bigger difference for the sectors we serve, I think the non-profit status still makes sense. Very true.

4. Over at SocialFish, Maddie Grant has been posting interviews with social media managers at various associations (and association management companies). The series is great, and there were two new ones this week — one with Kristi Donovan of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration and one Brian Riggs of Association Headquarters. Such valuable information here. (And look out for my own responses on the SocialFish blog sometime!)

5. Lisa Junker at the Acronym blog shared a round-up of holiday-themed posts. Just in time for the holiday, I wanted to pass the link along.

From everyone at MemberClicks, happy holidays to you and yours. For a little bit of holiday cheer, check out our Christmas video (it wouldn’t let me embed). Merry Christmas!