Happy Friday! Who can believe we’re already just about through February? I know it’s a short month, but it really seemed to fly by this year. It was definitely an exciting month in the association community, and to round it out, here are my five favorite posts from this week.

1. Peggy Hoffman wrote a great piece stemming from an association exec’s confession on an ASAE listserv. The association wasn’t sure what to do with a standing PR committee. Peggy focused on three lessons from this confession, and the ensuing discussion. There’s no clear conclusion, but many of the committee’s tasks could become ad hoc tasks for volunteers.

2. At Association Subculture, Shelly Alcorn has started a new series focusing on Jim Collins’ “How the Mighty Fall” and applying it to associations. In part two, she writes about the pursuit of more — more mergers, more chapters, more members, more more more. It’s not always better, and can lead to an organization’s downfall.

3. I’ve been loving Jeffrey Cufaude’s “Wednesday What-If” series. This week, he drew some inspiration from the men’s figure skating in the Winter Olympics and wondered what would happen if associations focused more on consistent, high-quality work rather than tricky, big breakthroughs. One single effort or initiative can use up a lot of resources, so perhaps we should consider how to make every single element of your efforts richer and more valuable.

4. It’s no secret the association community is enthralled with “best practices,” but, as Jamie Notter wrote this week, those practices can be inherently flawed if they don’t change with time. There’s a great discussion in the comments here about how best practices have to be allowed to evolve to stay up-to-date. Does your organization blindly rely on “best practices?”

5. Thinking of incorporating video into your nonprofit’s communication plan? Be sure to check out this awesome post. One organization tried out video, and shared its successes and mistakes so others can learn from them. Some takeaways: keep it short, have a mission and keep your resources in mind.

If you’re getting hit with snow again, stay warm this weekend! Wherever you are, have a great one!

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