After a few days of percolating on what I experienced at GSAE’s Annual Meeting and Tradeshow, I’ve finally got a recap! Because I’m extremely interested in how association professionals use social media, I attended Deirdre Reid’s session, “Using Social Media Effectively,” and Sterling Raphael’s “Social Media and Your Membership: Engagement Strategies.” (MemberClicks sponsored the latter session.)

Everyone has different levels of understanding when it comes to social media, so I think it can be very difficult to present a session on that topic. It’s so broad, and encompasses so much, and there’s no way to hit all of the fine points during a 60- or 90-minute presentation.

However, I think both Sterling and Deirdre did a fantastic job of hitting the high points during their sessions – the key for any organization is to listen before jumping in.

Some of the key points I got from the sessions:

- You can’t just throw up a Facebook page for your organization without nurturing it.
- Be authentic
- There’s a complete paradigm shift between different generations regarding the way they communicate
- There are three building blocks to an organization’s Web presence: database, website and social media
- The average user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events on Facebook – brands, organizations and companies are all competing for attention
- Aim small and miss small. Get out there and learn what does and doesn’t work
- Your members are your best tools online
- Leverage your database to create a community and engage with your members – marry new and old media

Some great tools recommended:

- To collect and distribute conversations: Tweetdoc or Wthashtag
- To recap and evolve conversations, and drive people back to your website: Slideshare, YouTube, Flickr
- To improve operational efficiency: Skype, GoTo Meeting, BaseCamp, Remember the Milk, HootSuite

I think all organizations, no matter how big or small, can take advantage of these tools. In a way, some small-staff organizations could almost have an easier time engaging their members online because if the organization has fewer members, they likely know each other better to begin with.

If your organization has a social media strategy, how did you get started? What is your best tip for associations that are just getting started? Do you have any cool tools to recommend to others?

For more photos from GSAE’s Annual Meeting, check out our Facebook page!