Happy Friday! One more weekend until (American) Thanksgiving … what are everyone’s plans besides being full of turkey and gratitude? Does your family have a special tradition?

Before you head out for the weekend, be sure to check out our favorite blog posts from the association community!

1. Jeff Hurt shares six important connections to be aware of when planning your association’s conference. The most important one (to me, at least)? Connecting participants to outcomes. Your conferences should always arm people to succeed once they get back to the office – and not every new idea has to be big and flashy.

2. Do your staff members sit on the association’s board? David M. Patt discusses why this isn’t a good idea. Staff members and board members have different goals and roles, and they could sometimes conflict.

3. Do you know what your strengths and weaknesses are? (I know my weakness – I tend to work too quickly and make little stupid mistakes.) Aaron Wolowiec shares why it’s important to know your personality, how you work and what you need to work on with regards to your style.

4. Tony Rossell shares five steps to creating a marketing recruitment program: the who, what, where, how and why. I think this is a great article for small staffers to read since duties can overlap and no matter what your title, there’s a chance you’ll be doing some marketing. There are some great comments on this post, so be sure to check it out!

5. Elizabeth Engel shared some great takeaways from a PRSA meeting, including info on Google+ (still made up mostly of early adopters) and LinkedIn (likely the future of business social networking).

Have a great weekend!

Ahh, the board … the thing many small staff association execs dread. It can come with tons of red tape and productivity can be difficult, but there are ways to successfully manage your organization’s board. Perhaps not every one of these will work (all boards are different, of course!), but it’s crucial to always remember that your board members are people too!

- Your board members are people with varying knowledge of the association and industry, all with different personalities and interests. You won’t be able to please everyone all the time, but you should be willing to listen to all viewpoints.

- Keep in mind that every board member has a different reason for serving on the board. They all have different expectations of the association, its staff and the board itself. Respect those expectations.

- Be transparent about your own expectations for the board. Be upfront about sharing information and lead by example. By sharing your expectations, you and the board can develop common goals and work toward those goals together.

- Avoid seeming self-serving. Lead by example and foster teamwork and engagement – among the board and organization’s members.

- When meeting with your board in a formal setting, be sure to have charts and numbers – information that can be easily digested and understood.

- Have realistic goals and strategies when presenting information to your board. Not only should they be realistic, they also should be as specific as possible. Be sure to include the impact on the budget.

- Board members should clearly understand their role in the association. They should be aware of their roles between meetings, and your staff should encourage and foster their leadership.

- Always recognize retiring board members. They’ve put in a lot of work for the organization and they deserve to be recognized upon retirement or the end of their tenure.

How do you successfully work with your organization’s board?

We’re still blogging about ASAE11 (of course)! Here’s a great overview from a learning lab designed to inspire association executives to get the most out of their boards:

1. Research the issue and present alternative options for discussion
2. Involve the Board early and keep them informed of progress at every Board meeting
3. Appoint a task force made up of key elected leaders and committee members—have the Board chairman chair the task force
4. Give the full body of elected leaders and chapter leaders (if appropriate) a chance to discuss and comment on the issue
5. Inform the membership and give them a chance to comment on the issue
6. The Board listens to all parties and makes the final decision after weighing all factors
7. Communicate the decision to the membership

How can you promote strategic thinking among your board?

- Structure your agenda into defined areas: generative, strategic, operational
- Allow adequate time for consequential decision making (dialogue, deliberation, decision)
- Use consent agenda for reports and less controversial items
- Provide enough information in advance for knowledge-based decision making
- Assess post meeting (evaluation) how you did
-Fra ming a discussion vs. influencing conversation
- Establishing ground rules
- Allocation of ample time
- Identification of a symbol or tool that serves as indicator a conversation has gone from strategic to tactical … or ventured into sensitive territory

How does your association inspire its board to make strategic decisions?

Good morning and happy Friday! I’m not sure how we’re halfway through July, though – doesn’t it seem like 2011 is just flying by? It’s just about time for ASAE’s Annual Meeting again! (Didn’t I just get over my jet lag from LA?!) Seriously, though, it’s been a great year so far here at MemberClicks and we’re excited to meet as many small staff association professionals as possible.

Obviously, it’s time for me to share some of my favorite posts from the association blogosphere to help kick of the weekend. Ready? Set? Go!

1. Valeria Maltoni’s The 5 E’s of Content Marketing is definitely worth a read for association professionals. My personal favorite E? Enthusiasm! I think it’s really obvious when someone’s just not that into what they’re writing about, and being enthusiastic in your writing absolutely makes a difference.

2. Erik Schonher posted some early results from the 2011 Membership Benchmarking Survey and good news! -membership is on the rise compared to 2009 and 2010! New member recruitment also seems to be on the rise, which, according to Erik, accounts for the increase in membership.

3. Elizabeth Engel has been posting insights and learnings from Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody” for quite awhile now, and this week’s post was examines the quote, “What are we going to do about the negative effects of freedom?”. Through technology, people now have the freedom to form all kinds of groups, which, obviously, can be tough for associations.

4. At the Acronym blog, Joe Rominiecki examines the life cycle of a board – namely, is a year too short? It’s difficult for some board members to get acclimated in that amount of time, and thus, your board could be less effective. What do you think? Do you lower your expectations of the board or train them more?

5. I have really been into Jeffrey Cufaude’s posts in recent months, and it’s likely showing with every Friday Top Five I write. This week, Jeffrey points out that today can be the perfect day to … share a big dream, ask a question to reframe a conversation, give encouraging feedback, clarify perspectives and more.

Happy Friday! Is it just me, or did this week absolutely fly by? Between meetings, writing sessions, research, triathlon training sessions and a social life, I barely had time to catch my breath! Luckily, I’m planning to use this weekend to recharge – not every weekend has to be jam-packed with activities! What are you up to this weekend?

Of course, it wouldn’t be Friday if I didn’t share a few (five, to be exact) of my favorite blog posts from around the association blogosphere. Feel free to share your own favorites in the comments!

1. At the Hourglass Blog, Eric Lanke shared a great example of how one association – the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives – came up with some real-world ways to put innovation into practice. Lots of great information about leadership development here!

2. Beth Kanter shared 25 SMART social media objectives for nonprofit organizations, and how organizations she works with benefit from them. These are real, solid benchmarking goals that organizations can use to set their social media goals.

Don't let your board meetings become bored.

3. Jeffrey Cufaude discussed four “alternative beliefs” that can help association executives better balance their lives. For example, instead of constantly believing that you have to certain things yourself, shift your thinking so you just need to make sure the task gets done – no matter who does it.

4. After hearing an interesting NPR piece, Ann Oliveri asked, is it time for associations to trade in their past? If you’re getting stuck in a rut or becoming complacent, or wondering if Millennials will join your organization, definitely check out this post.

5. Maria Bianchi at the Association Management Group blog shares a few great ways to prevent your board meeting from becoming your “bored” meeting. One idea? Frame the conversation in a way that allows the Board to focus on strategic governance and not day to day management.

From everyone at MemberClicks, have a great weekend!

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