Last week’s UnTech10 Un-Conference was an amazing, real-life case study of what can happen when volunteers, vendors and attendees put their minds together and start acting rather than just talking.

I loved the virtual nature of the event and think it opened up a lot of possibilities and gave other organizations new ideas. No matter how small your association, there’s always the possibility that technology can enhance the experience.

The un-conference opened with a fishbowl-style discussion about social media, content curation and how to reach members on any device they may be using.

Some of my key takeaways:

• Social media doesn’t have rules; it has religions. Everyone has different belief systems when it comes to how much to share online and how much to blend his or her personal and professional lives online.
• Organizations need official policies for staff social media involvement.
• Information needs to be device-agnostic. Members need to be able to get to it via whatever they’re using.
• Boards and staff must change their culture to allow for innovation. Embrace change.
• Fail, but fail fast so you can move onto something that works faster.
• Innovation is only valuable if it solves a member’s problem. Ask, what are your members’ problems, and then solve them.
• Stop making members jump through a million hoops to do transactions – use “one click to pay” as a model.
• If you don’t get out and participate, your brand is now being defined for you.

There was also a great discussion about free or low-cost tools associations can use to enhance their membership experience. Google Analytics and Crazy Egg jumped out as the two highlights. Each will give you better insight into the behind-the-scenes of your Web site. (And MemberClicks just happens to offer Google Analytics within our solution!)

I think the most important takeaway from Thursday is that your members are already conversing, so the organization should help facilitate their conversations. Of course, most small-staff association executives already have a lot on their plate, so it can be difficult to devote extra time and resources to this. Start slowly – if you aim small, you’ll miss small, and have the opportunity to move on more quickly.

To keep the UnTech10 conversation going, head over to the community and start talking, or check out the Twitter transcript here.

Photo credit: Flickr (Reggie Henry)