Happy Friday! I hope everyone’s week has been happy, productive and fun. I’m still in disbelief that we’re just about halfway through May – where did the month go?! Of course, there were lots of fantastic posts and ideas around the association community this week. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

1. The CAE exam was one week ago, and KiKi L’Italien chronicled her study process at her blog, From Failure to Fabulous. Her reflections on the exam were so inspiring, especially after she took the exam last December with undesirable results. It’s been great to read about her journey, and I would encourage anyone thinking about taking the exam to read her archives there.

2. At the Idea Center, Peggy Hoffman wrote about adhocracy and how, despite the term’s popularity, organizations have been slow to adopt it as a practice. Defined, adhocracy means “episodic volunteering,” and Peggy writes that associations should redefine what it means to volunteer and not be afraid of conflict.

3. I love love loved Frank Fortin’s post about the difficulty of breaking silos. He writes that every new communications channel in an organization requires silos to break down and shares an example from his own organization. There’s no magic pill. There’s only one way revolutions happen – one conversation at a time. Definitely a must-read.

4. Deirdre Reid had a fantastic post published at SmartBlog Insights yesterday – she discussed how association professionals can foster new ways of associating for members. First and foremost, it’s the members’ association, she points out, and reminds us that younger members want to contribute and be heard just as much as “older” ones.

5. Jeff Hurt wrote about the five different memory lanes in our brains and how event organizers can provide great, memorable experiences to attendees. There are different strategies the human brain uses in different situations, and Jeff provides several tips and suggestions to take advantage of each strategy.

What were your favorite posts from the past week?

Whatever your plans are this weekend, we hope you have a great one!

Photo source

Happy Friday! Who’s ready for baseball season (not just the spring training games) to begin?! I actually scored some tickets to the Atlanta Braves’ home opener on Monday evening, and I’m psyched to see them play the Chicago Cubs. Any other baseball fans out there?

Anywayyyy … as a lot of people know, there was lots of excitement (err, controversy?) this week in the association world, which was spurred by the removal of a blog post from ASAE’s Acronym blog. I chimed in on Wednesday, and there was certainly a thoughtful discussion going on elsewhere, too. So, without further adieu, here are a few of my favorite blog posts from this week.

1. Gotta start with the post that prompted so much discussion. The Acronym post informing everyone that a previous post on consultants was removed has 18 comments at the time of writing this, and they’re all worth reading. And I’m curious to know: How would your organization handle a similar incident?

2. After moderating a lively Association Chat (#assnchat on Twitter – transcript here), KiKi L’Italien posted her thoughts on the removal of the Acronym post. She thoughtfully considered each side of the issue and filled everyone in on the facts in case they weren’t caught up. Be sure to read the comments on this post, too!

3. Deirdre Reid wrote a great post for SmartBlog Insights about her thoughts as a new CAE. There’s lots of great info for anyone thinking about taking the exam, and Deirdre has a great attitude and perspective about the whole thing. She asks, How many times have you scribbled great ideas down on a notepad in the dark? A must-read!

4. At the aLearning blog, Ellen Behrens wrote a great post called Life Support Can Be Expensive. With all the talk about how conferences have to change for anyone to get any value from them, Ellen pointed out that overhauling them can be expensive, and wonders if conferences are even the ideal places to engage members.

5. Jamie Notter wrote this week about three new leadership models for association professionals to consider. He succinctly discusses “Ecosystems, not machines,” “Innovation as a staple, not a luxury” and “Clarity over control” and asks leaders to consider each one in their own organizations. How could you adapt these for a small-staff organization?

If you’re curious about the original post about consultants that was removed from Acronym, feel free to contact me and I can e-mail you a PDF, along with the original comments.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Happy Friday! Of course, the major buzz this week in the association community was the cancellation of ASAE’s Technology Conference and Expo and the emergence of an un-conference, UnTech. Organized by a group of volunteers and supported by several vendors, UnTech was a virtual un-conference and had 500 total attendees — 75 in person and 425 on a Webcast.

MemberClicks is proud to be a sponsor, and although we wish we could have made it to D.C. to participate in the awesome-ness, it is quite a bit warmer in our Atlanta office.

However, UnTech wasn’t the only thing association bloggers wrote about this week. There were lots of other awesome topics covered, so, in no particular order, here’s my top five.

1. Aaron Woloweic wrote a fantastic post about tips for studying for the CAE exam. His five tips will help anyone who is already taking the exam, or thinking about sitting for it. There’s a lot of material covered, to be sure, but determining a schedule adn sticking to it can help you earn that CAE designation.

2. After the Super Bowl was over, Deirdre Reid wrote a thoughtful post about the National Association of the Deaf’s reaction to The Who’s “deaf, dumb and blind” lyric that was sung during the halftime show. NAD posted a message on Twitter saying they would take action against the offensive lyric, and Deirdre wants to know if the person behind the tweet was authorized or just acting under emotions. What would your association do?

3. What’s the best marketing and communication strategy, Scott Oser discussed this week. Does your association understand how to use market research and incorporate the results into its communications? Direct marketing is tricky, and it’s important to get a complete picture of your members, vendors and volunteers.

4. In the first of a five-part series, Shelly Alcorn tackles the economic uncertainty still facing the country (and world) and how it affects associations. Don’t fall prey to hubris and think that your association isn’t at risk. Success can be your own worst enemy and can lead to neglect of the members and programs that got you to where you are, Shelly writes.

5. Finally, after the first day of UnTech concluded, Peggy Hoffman shared some reflections about the power of volunteers and patience of attendees, as well as praising ASAE for recognizing the force that drove the community together. It’s pretty amazing to see the power of volunteers and social media at work.

I encourage you to participate in the second day of UnTech 10. Check out the schedule here, and be sure to follow the action on Twitter with the #UnTech10 hashtag.

Have a fantastic Presidents Day and Valentine’s Day weekend! Hopefully some of you have Monday off — enjoy it!