I mentioned this briefly last week, but the Splash blog has been nominated for an #eventprofs blog award! We are so excited, thrilled and honored to be in the running for Best Corporate Blog.

These awards were conceived by Lara McCullogh, founder of #eventprofs on Twitter and CEO of the special events industry’s highest rated blog. Industry experts looked through all the nominated blogs, and narrowed the choices down to seven nominees for each category. The winners will be announced at Event Camp Twin Cities on Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. CST.

When we started this blog (just one short year ago!), we knew we didn’t want to focus on MemberClicks. Instead, we write for the industry we serve: small staff association professionals. Although we’re certainly proud of our association management software, we want this blog to be focused on all issues that affect small staff associations. We live and breathe their causes each and every day, and we’re honored to be nominated with other fantastic blogs.

So please, check out our fellow nominees (and congratulations to the other association bloggers nominated!), and, if you’re so inclined, vote using the simple survey found here. We’re overwhelmed with the positive feedback we receive about the blog, and we thank every one of you for reading.

Elyse Savaki, a MemberClicks solution adviser, shared her notes from a session at ASAE’s Annual Meeting and Expo titled Get Your Data Under Control, which was presented by Kevin Conley, Wes Trochlil and Denise Streszoff.

Your organization’s data can be extremely powerful if you know how to properly harness it. Be sure you’re only keeping track of fields and guidelines you actually need. Not only create, but also executive data integrity reports. Formal training is absolutely necessary to be sure your organization knows how to properly use its database.

For training purposes, create a test environment. Many association management software companies will do this if they offer implementation and training. Additionally, integrating your AMS with your e-mail client (such as Outlook) can be extremely beneficial and save you a lot of time. Create one “source of truth” for your organization by eliminating shadow systems and redundant databases. Having to sort through duplicate information will only lead to frustration, and if you’re a small staff association professional, you need your AMS to save you time, not create more headaches.

Many organizations find it useful to track all volunteer activity — even non-financial and non-volunteer activity and interactions. You can use your “Notes” field to track all of your interactions with individuals, whether on a formal volunteer basis or not.

Be sure to properly utilize the tags feature. If you tag everything by topic, you should have little to no trouble finding data at a later date. By setting realistic benchmarks for data accuracy (such as performing an integrity report at regular intervals), you will ensure that your database continues to be as powerful as possible. It truly can be the backbone of your organization, if you’ll let it.

One major thing that stuck with Elyse was “Pursue success, not perception.” A database can be deceptively organized and almost tidy-looking, but if you can’t find information easily, or if you’re not tracking the right things, it can be a huge mess and a lot to sort through. And as a small staff association professional, you need your database to save you time, money and frustration.

Image source

Happy Friday! After working for 12 days straight, I’m psyched to enjoy a weekend with a ton of R&R, perhaps with a leisurely brunch or two with close friends thrown into the mix. Those four days in Los Angeles for ASAE’s Annual Meeting and Expo were just enough time to almost get my body adjusted to Pacific Standard Time — and then my poor internal clock was thrown back to Eastern Standard Time. Anyone else feeling the exhaustion?

There are an overwhelming number of ASAE recaps in the blogosphere, so the ones I’m sharing here are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve chosen these ones because of the fantastic comments and discussions, insightful thoughts or uniqueness of topic. I’ll also be sharing some more recaps on Twitter, and whether you attended the meeting or not, many of the posts are useful for all small staff associations. As the “association of associations,” ASAE can serve as a larger example to may of the smaller organizations out there.

1. I loved Bruce Hammond’s post explaining why an exec at a fraternity would attend ASAE. Most Greek organizations are no different from membership organizations, and many alums remain active members well into their careers. Although members of Greek organizations may not be bound by similar careers, they still benefit from networking, education opportunities and publications.

2. If you haven’t read the conversation in response to Maddie Grant’s post asking if ASAE has lost its mojo, you’re missing out. Maddie shared her personal observations about the conference, and so many people stepped up and agreed (or disagreed) in the comments section. I love seeing a good discussion on a blog post!

3. As a first-time Annual Meeting attendee, Teri Carden shared the lessons and benefits she gleaned from ASAE10. The first Annual Meeting and Expo can be overwhelming, but it sounds as though Teri had a fantastic time meeting colleagues and fulfilling her goals for the conference.

4. Although he wasn’t able to attend the Annual Meeting (with a very good excuse!), Jeff Cobb shared some fantastic statistics about the #ASAE10 hashtag on Twitter and how important the Twitter stream was to the event. It’s crucial to keep in mind that ASAE itself didn’t control what was said with the hashtag — it was a natural discussion of the event with honest reactions. And that’s pretty powerful.

5. Elizabeth Engel, Lynn Morton and Layla Masri led a session called “Plays Nice With Others” at the Annual Meeting. Elizabeth shared the Prezi here, and some fantastic tips for social media in general (as well as Facebook and Twitter). There’s a ton of info here, and it’s all great stuff for small staff association professionals looking to step up their social media game plan.

We hope everyone has a fun and relaxing weekend! Be sure to check out

We’re all safe and sound back on the East Coast, and I’m still reflecting on some of the amazing things I learned at ASAE’s Annual Meeting and Exposition. It was a fantastic experience and, as a second year attendee, I can say that knowing what to expect made a big difference in enriching my time at the conference.

I did want to share some of the amazing photos our Director of Product Experience Kevin Patrick took during our time in Los Angeles. LA is a beautiful city, and I was thrilled with the venues chosen for many of the events — especially the California Plaza for the Closing Celebration!

Making our way from LAX to downtown Los Angeles

Opening Celebration

Ryan Seacreast introducing Melissa Etheridge at the Opening Celebration

Scenes from the red carpet

Hannae, Elyse and gadgets galore

The MemberClicks team: Hannae, Elyse, Duncan, Shannon, Kevin, Brandon, Thomas and Mark

The tradeshow team with their iPads — complete with hand straps!

Busy on the tradeshow floor

SSA: Small Staff Association.

The Small Staff Reception, which MemberClicks proudly hosted

Small Staffs Rule.

Closing Celebration

The beautiful venue at the closing celebration

Cyndi Lauper

See more photos from ASAE10 at Kevin’s Flickr stream.

We had a fantastic time in Los Angeles, and a big thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth or introduced themselves during other events. We hope everyone had a fulfilling conference experience, and remember — small staff associations rule!

Hello from somewhere above Las Vegas! (Isn’t technology amazing?!) I’m headed back to the East Coast after a busy few days in Los Angeles for ASAE’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, and it truly was a fantastic trip. The sessions provided me with a ton of food for thought, and I really enjoyed meeting so many people “in real life.”

Today, I wanted to share a quick tidbit of info from Jeff De Cagna’s session on mobile technology. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days and I think it’s really important, especially for small staff associations.

Jeff shared a great deal of important statistics (for example, for every one computer sold, there are four mobile devices sold), but the point that really stuck out to me was about the generations. Everyone uses mobile devices. Not everyone uses social media.

Too often, we talk about the importance of having presences on social media and engaging with your members online, but it’s vital to remember that not everyone uses Twitter, Facebook, et al. Nearly everyone — from the 22-year-old new member straight out of college to the 65-year-old who’s about to retire — uses mobile devices. Perhaps not everyone uses a phone that can connect to the Internet, but those phones’ market shares are growing each and every day, and experts predict that within just a few years (5 or so, I believe), we will access the Internet more on our phones than on computers.

So when you’re thinking about what to include in your communications arsenal, don’t forget about mobile. It could be more important to your association than social media. If you use Google Analytics or another website analytics program, it should show you how people are accessing your website — whether it’s via iPhone, BlackBerry or computer. Be sure your website is visually appealing and has easy-to-digest information. Ask your members if they would use an app.

Most people are never more than 10 feet away from their mobile phones. Members should have easy access to your association on those devices.

Does your organization have a mobile strategy?