I was thumbing through the most recent issue of Associations Now and was incredulous at the article “What a speaker wants.” The publication interviewed some awesome association people, including Joan L. Eisenstodt, Leslie White and Jeffrey Cufaude.

I was blown away that many times, the speakers didn’t know exactly who the audience was going to be! Isn’t that the most important thing when planning a speech or session? Of course, your speaker’s area of expertise doesn’t change, but the people to whom they’re speaking do.

When you’re scheduling speakers for your next conference, meeting or event, here are some things to tell your speakers:

• Audience demographics and professional experience
• Audiovisual and room set-up information
• How flexible is the room set-up?
• Are there opportunities to speak to audience members before the even to learn about their expectations?
• Does the audience have experience with new and social technologies, if applicable?
• If any organizations have difficult names to pronounce, phonetic spellings can be helpful
• Is the audience used to holding Q&A’s at the end of the session, or during it?
• Will there be a Twitter feed for the conference?
• Will there be a Twitter backchannel used during the sessions?
• Give them information on the entire event. Background info is a must.

Some of this information is readily available, and there’s no reason speakers shouldn’t have access to it.

Check one of Jeff Hurt’s archived blog posts: How to help your conference speakers succeed. There are some great links as well as downloadable forms to guide both you and your speaker.

Image credit: Flickr

This is the 11th in a 12-part series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The previous 10 installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

You may have heard about Foursquare in recent weeks or months; it’s been called the “Twitter of 2010” by some. Foursquare combines two important trends in the social web: location and mobile technology. But if you haven’t heard about it, don’t worry! It’s generally more popular in larger cities right now, but it’s expanding quickly.

Essentially, Foursquare is an application that enables “checking in” at various locations. The application uses GPS to identify where you are and will give a list of nearby places from which to choose, but you can always add a place if it’s not available.

According to its Help page, When you tell foursquare where you are, that’s called “checking-in”. You can check-in from parks, bars, museums, restaurants…  really anywhere. Foursquare then will let your friends know where to find you.

The site aims to help you find friends and acquaintances in your city. There are apps available for smartphones such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android, but if you don’t own one of those phones, you can check in using a basic text message – attach your phone number to your account and text your check-ins to 50500.

Besides checking in and updating your location, there are few other parts of Foursquare.

The Mayor

If you check into a certain location more than anyone else, Foursquare will crown you “The Mayor.” Many bars and cafes in bigger cities (such as New York) sometimes give the current mayor some perks, such as a discount or a free coffee. But if someone comes along behind you who has checked in more often, they can “steal” the title.

Badges

According to Foursquare, Badges are little rewards you earn for doing checking-into interesting places. For example, staying out late on a school night or frequenting too many karaoke bars. Foursquare says many badges are tagged to venues. For example, people could tag a bar “karaoke,” “pool table,” etc…

Points

Foursquare awards points for pretty much every check-in. You’ll get points the first time you check in at a certain location and when you add a new venue. Basically, the more you experience, the more points you’ll get. Foursquare says it is still figuring out what to do with the points earned. In December, though, the company donated $0.04 to charity for every point earned.

Since Foursquare updates are tied to locations, when you click on someone’s update, you’re brought to a page that looks like this:

Granted, Foursquare is more popular in bigger cities such as New York, Washington DC and San Francisco, but let’s think about the implications for associations.

What if your organization could use Foursquare for its annual meeting or conference? I know someone else in the association world has blogged about this before, and I’ve searched through archives and found nothing. So if this was your idea, please let me know!

However, thinking back to ASAE and The Center’s Annual Meeting, I think a Foursquare-type application would have been immensely useful. (The fact that the meeting was in Toronto made using our cell phones a little more difficult, but I digress.) The convention center was so huge and after-hours, people were spread out at tons of different restaurants and bars. Using location-based technology might have allowed us to meet even more people!

Foursquare can be integrated with both Facebook and Twitter, so your status updates there can also be read as check-ins. Additionally, check out this blog post (from yesterday!): Five Simple (and Fun) Ways to Promote Nonprofits on Foursquare.

Edit: This post from Mashable just showed up in my Google Reader: How Nonprofits and Activists Can Leverage Location-Based Services. Great stuff here!

Happy Friday! It’s absolutely freezing here in Atlanta. (Our fountains aren’t frozen yet, but sometimes I feel about as cold as one!) I guess winter is finally upon us… I was hoping for a few more autumn days, but I guess I should start gearing up for the holidays. I’m still in denial than 2009 is almost over. I feel like I was just watching that ball drop!

There is so much fun stuff going on in association blogs right now, so let’s get right to my favorite posts!

1. I’d love to link to every “Big Idea” post, but Acronym has taken care of that for me. So go check them out and if you’re a blogger, start brainstorming! If you’re not a blogger, comment! Or better yet, start your own blog! Personally, I think the more voices and opinions out there, the better.

2. OK so this one is Big Idea-related, but before you start crankin’ out ideas, make sure it’s spongeworthy. Jeffrey Cufaude drew parallels to Elaine Benes’ sponge dilemma in a classic episode of “Seinfeld.” Don’t act like resources are scarce when they truly aren’t – part of putting big ideas into action is experiencing setbacks. Don’t be afraid to put something into practice, even if the “experiment” doesn’t quite pan out as planned.

3. Jeff Hurt compiled a great list of tips and guidelines to help speakers succeed at conferences and events. In addition to a contract, Jeff gives speakers a ton of helpful forms (including an AV form with requirements, a travel and lodging form and a Speaker’s Guideline form). The best part? Jeff included each form for download as PDF. Such a great resource!

4. Do you have an excellent member experience to share? Peggy Hoffman shared one from an ASAE listserv this week. As one association professional was leaving the industry, she posted a moving farewell note on the listserv — it’s a reminder of how valuable membership can truly be. Does your association create a welcome and enjoyable atmosphere for members, volunteers and community?

5. Wondering how the economy is going to affect other event and meeting planners? This article from planyourmeetings.com has a bunch of statistics relating to event planning looking forward to 2010. The top two concerns among meeting planners are how to attract higher audiences and how to offer better value for money. What are some concerns you have about your events in 2010?

I can’t wait to read more “Big Ideas” posts from around the community, and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Stay warm!

(Image via moria on Flickr)

This is the fifth in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The first installments on Flickr, Delicious, Tumblr/Posterous and YouTube can be found here. Stay tuned.

So none of the other social networks available work for your organization? But you still want to find a cool place for your members to hang out at online? No problem! Ning is a service that allows your create your own branded social network. As of November of this year, Ning boosts 37 million users – pretty nifty!

In addition to member profiles, Ning features sections for videos, photos, chat, music, groups, events, forums and blogs. The basic service is free, but there is also a paid premium service, which allows for a custom URL, more customer support, ad space and more storage space.

Ning can be a great outlet for niche organizations. Its purpose is to create community – but unlike Facebook and Twitter, it’s completely customizable.

Some of the great features include:

- RSS feeds in and out: Stream information from your outside blog, a news Web site or another source.

- Chat: Much like Facebook’s chat, members can chat in real-time when they’re logged on.

- A variety of other apps, as well as search engine optimization

If your members aren’t active on another social network, consider how Ning could benefit your organization. It’s more inclusive than Facebook and still allows your members to maintain their privacy while interacting with one another. Ning is all about building a targeted community for your members. As it says on the home page, “Ning lets you create and join new social networks for your interests and passions.”

The International Society for Technology in Education has set up a fantastic Ning network for its 2010 conference. The conference isn’t until June, but the network already has 553 members, 23 groups and a good sampling of photos and videos. ISTE is building hype and anticipation for the main event, and there’s even a great countdown in the right column!

Take a look around, get some inspiration and see if Ning is right for your organization or event.

Happy Friday and Happy December! (How is is it December?! Seriously.)  I’ve missed writing the weekly recap of my favorite association management blog posts the past few weeks! There has been some great stuff, but the holiday took precedence. I hope everyone (who celebrates) had a great Thanksgiving — have you started your holiday shopping yet?

1. OK, so this post is technically from last week, but I’m still including it. Over at Nonprofit Conversation, Bunnie Riedel wrote about tactics for increasing membership renewal. My favorite part? She wrote that nonprofits tend to very rigid about their dues structures — organizations could assess their membership demographics, perhaps provide a payment plan or find added-value partnerships.

2. Dear Association Leader has some good reminders for what every “group project” needs. Setting some ground rules and establishing everyone’s roles is definitely necessary, but so is having fun! In my opinion, the more enjoyable a project or task is, the better the end result.

3. After a bunch of blog posts about ASAE’s Social Media Workshop, Lindy Dreyer stepped in and pointed out that speakers have to be prepared for handling “Web 2.0 audiences.” It’s not uncommon for conferences today to feature a Twitter stream in the background with all the tweets featuring the event’s hashtag. Understanding how to deal with real-time criticisms (big or small) is crucial.

4. Over at Insights from a Future Association Executive, Bruce Hammond speaks up for extroverts after reading a story Called Why Introverts Can Make the Best Leaders. Leaders, Hammond writes, should be passionate rather than calm and visible rather than solitary. He makes some great points, and as a bit of an introvert, I found it an interesting read. I think good leaders can be either introverts or extroverts!

5. This one isn’t targeted specifically toward associations, but Five Ways to Multiply Conference ROI has some amazing suggestions and tips for planners and attendees alike. I love that he included socialize as number 5 — after-hours events are fantastic networking opportunities, and can be a lot more casual and relaxing. Lots of good info here.

I hope everyone has a very happy weekend!

(Image via Mooganic on Flickr)