Since ASAE’s Annual Conference officially kicks off tomorrow (!!!!), I wanted to share some of the amazing photos we took at the conference last year. What are you most looking forward to this year? Even if you’re not attending, be sure to follow the Twitter hashtag #asae11!

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

Happy Friday and happy September! If you’re on the East Coast, I hope you’re not feeling the repercussions of Hurricane Earl! It’s been a fun week in the association blogosphere, with people continuing to share insights about ASAE’s Annual Meeting and Expo, and looking ahead to next year’s conference as well.

1. Peggy Hoffman shard some great insights about the new conference attendee and how they can help shape the conference experience for others. From liveblogging to a live Internet show to open discussions and facilitation in lieu of PowerPoint presentations, there were lots of innovative things at the conference in LA.

2. Over at DelCor’s blog, Dave Coriale discussed RFPs and what they should include — or not include. Dave writes, The RFP isn’t the problem.  If you’re issuing or working with a consultant to issue an RFP, make sure the process is focused on the goal – clearly communicating as much as you can with potential solution providers so that the most successful match can be made.

3. I loved Jeff De Cagna’s latest post, which looks ahead to ASAE11 and focuses on questions association professionals need to consider to be successful. Associations have to adapt, change and innovate to thrive, and harness the power of member engagement. Additionally, the “mental model” for associating will have to shift. Tough questions for association professionals.

4. Beth Kanter shares several tools for listening, engaging and social media management. Listening is so important and social media, and there are so many different tools to successfully utilize social media. Having the right tool for your organization is vital, so this list is definitely a must-read for small staff association professionals.

5. Jeff Hurt shared the three Rs of ASAE10, which include relationships, revelry and reengage. He also shared some things that should be revised for next year’s conference, such as the general sessions, AV capabilities and quests for more money. Every conference has its ups and downs, but hopefully the ups outweigh the downs!

From everyone at MemberClicks, have a fantastic long weekend! And if you’re a college football fan, enjoy the beginning of the 2010 season! I know I will (pending the outcome of tomorrow’s game)!

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!