Last month, we gave four brand new iPads away to four lucky winners. As the winners, each association agreed to be featured on the blog and check in with us every so often to let us and our readers know how they’re using the iPad in their operations.

The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association is looking forward to its conference in July. Ashley Crist of PCPA says they’ve downloaded a few applications, such as MyCongress, so they can receive updates and contact congressmen if necessary. Additionally, the organization is hoping to get in touch with someone at the Department of Justices’ Amber Alert program to begin the process of developing an application that will allow them to receive Amber Alerts on the iPad.

PCPA posted a video on its Facebook page to show members how to log into the MemberClicks solution using the iPad. View it here. Very cool!

Additionally, Ashley told me they’re looking to buy the iWork application so they can more easily share presentations and documents at their July conference. They’re also planning on using it as a sound system, so an iPod will be one less device to carry around and keep track of! “Everything will be in one central location,” Ashley said.

Barton, the president of the National Urban League Young Professionals told me he’s added some shortcuts to the home screen (one to their MemberClicks website!), as well as shortcuts to news, travel and their social media outposts. They’re all grouped so they’re easy to find and accessible.

“So far, so good,” Barton told me. “It’s pretty cool – we’re able to access a lot of things with it.” They have also loaded performance management modules so they could see from a mobile standpoint where they are with their performing metrics.

Additionally, NULYP has a board of trustees meeting coming up, so Barton said he’s planning on taking the iPad to show it off and demonstrate how they want to use it with their MemberClicks solution.

These organizations are just getting started with Apple’s tablet, so we’re excited to see where the journey takes them. We’re thrilled to learn that they’re taking the time to experiment and get the hang of using it, and happy they’re sharing the experience with all of us!

Next week, we’ll check in with the other two winning organizations!

Hi, everyone! Just wanted to give one more quick reminder about our lunch event at Johnny’s Half Shell in Washington, D.C. tomorrow, April 21 at noon! We’re really excited to meet with everyone and share a little bit about how technology can benefit associations.

Not only is it free, all attendees will be entered into a raffle to win an Apple iPad! This is a great opportunity to network with professionals in the area, enjoy a free meal and learn about how MemberClicks can help associations get the most from their Web presences.

Johnny’s Half Shell is located on North Capitol Street, just a few blocks north of the Capitol Building.

Click here to register. It should be lots of fun! We hope you’ll join us!

Rumors had been swirling among tech geeks for months (nay, years!) and Wednesday, their suspicions were confirmed with the announcement of Apple’s iPad, a hybrid iPod Touch/laptop. Although it doesn’t have the iPhone’s ability to make phone calls, it  has a ton of other capabilities, and could rival Amazon’s Kindle with its iBooks application and through contracts with publishers.

There have been mixed reactions about the iPad. Some are enthralled; some don’t quite understand the purpose. “It’s a bigger iPhone that can’t make calls,” I’ve heard.

However, keep in mind this is just the first version of the iPad, and if the product takes off, there will surely be many more versions to come. Apple is setting the stage for a very different type of computing experience.

I think the iPad could truly have some amazing implications for small-staff associations down the road (and so does our Director of Product Experience Kevin Patrick!).

I’ve written before about cloud computing, and this product could take that to a whole new level – especially because it syncs perfectly with Macs, PCs, iPhones, and iPod Touches through Apple’s MobileMe Storage. As technology moves to Web-only, devices such as the iPad will become even more mainstream because, as Jobs said, you’re literally “holding the Internet in your hands.”

The iPad and its subsequent versions could be extremely beneficial for small-staff associations. The amount of hardware needed at events would drastically diminish. For smaller meetings, all check-ins could be done instantly just by passing the device around the room.

I’d be willing to bet than many association management software companies are in the midst of developing iPhone and other smartphone apps for their products, especially amidst the buzz about mobile technology for associations in 2010.

But the iPad will also have access to Apple’s App Store, and will be able to run about 140,000 of them right away. Apps can also be synced with the iPhone or iPod touch, which could greatly streamline communication among staffers.

Although the iPad clearly won’t replace laptops (at least for awhile), the possibilities are still numerous. People who travel constantly and prefer not to carry their laptops could greatly benefit from owning an iPad, and I think the iPad dock, which includes a keyboard, is pretty spiffy.

In all honesty, I think the real “magic” (to quote Steve Jobs) of the iPad will come later, especially once developers begin creating apps for it. Additionally, I’d love to see Apple add a camera and video-chat capabilities (which would be amazing for small associations working remotely), as well as multitasking.

The release of the iPad is just the beginning. Right now, I think the device would be most beneficial at events – no matter how big or small. Exhibitors could easily run demos with iPads. It would make blogging-on-the-go a snap. Multimedia could be used in presentations more easily, and attendees could use iPads for receiving event updates and news.

Samuel J. Smith wrote an excellent post about the iPad for events and I agree with many of his points. Be sure to check it out – I especially love his idea for creating e-versions of meeting newsletters and exhibitor guides. Multimedia could be included in those, as well.

How would your association use an iPad? What are your initial thoughts about the device?

(All iPad images via Engadget.)