After a few days of percolating on what I experienced at GSAE’s Annual Meeting and Tradeshow, I’ve finally got a recap! Because I’m extremely interested in how association professionals use social media, I attended Deirdre Reid’s session, “Using Social Media Effectively,” and Sterling Raphael’s “Social Media and Your Membership: Engagement Strategies.” (MemberClicks sponsored the latter session.)

Everyone has different levels of understanding when it comes to social media, so I think it can be very difficult to present a session on that topic. It’s so broad, and encompasses so much, and there’s no way to hit all of the fine points during a 60- or 90-minute presentation.

However, I think both Sterling and Deirdre did a fantastic job of hitting the high points during their sessions – the key for any organization is to listen before jumping in.

Some of the key points I got from the sessions:

- You can’t just throw up a Facebook page for your organization without nurturing it.
- Be authentic
- There’s a complete paradigm shift between different generations regarding the way they communicate
- There are three building blocks to an organization’s Web presence: database, website and social media
- The average user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events on Facebook – brands, organizations and companies are all competing for attention
- Aim small and miss small. Get out there and learn what does and doesn’t work
- Your members are your best tools online
- Leverage your database to create a community and engage with your members – marry new and old media

Some great tools recommended:

- To collect and distribute conversations: Tweetdoc or Wthashtag
- To recap and evolve conversations, and drive people back to your website: Slideshare, YouTube, Flickr
- To improve operational efficiency: Skype, GoTo Meeting, BaseCamp, Remember the Milk, HootSuite

I think all organizations, no matter how big or small, can take advantage of these tools. In a way, some small-staff organizations could almost have an easier time engaging their members online because if the organization has fewer members, they likely know each other better to begin with.

If your organization has a social media strategy, how did you get started? What is your best tip for associations that are just getting started? Do you have any cool tools to recommend to others?

For more photos from GSAE’s Annual Meeting, check out our Facebook page!

This is the first in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which will highlight 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. Stay tuned.

Who doesn’t love taking photos, or at least looking through them, to relive memories? I remember when Facebook introduced the Photo feature (way back in 2005!). However, one great social networking site I haven’t discussed much here is Flickr.

Flickr allows you or your association’s staff upload photos to share with others. There are two types of accounts – free accounts can store 100 megabytes of images and two videos per month, while pro accounts (which cost about $25 per year) can upload unlimited photos and videos each month. Your complete collection of photos is referred to as your “photostream,” and Flickr also allows users to organize their photos into smaller “sets.” One photo can belong to multiple sets, or no sets at all. Sets can be grouped into “collections,” and those collections can also be organized into even higher-level collections.

One of the best features of Flickr is its “tagging” ability. When users add different identifying tags to their photos, others users can find them if they search for those specific terms.

Of course, you can choose if you want your photos to be viewable by the public or if they’re private, only able to be seen by you and your selected contacts. But if your association’s goal is to engage its members, create awareness and perhaps recruit new members, I would definitely recommend keeping at least a majority of your photos public.

Flickr allows for some amazing collaboration and sharing. Your association could create a “Group” for its annual meeting or event and allow members to join and upload their own photos. ASAE and The Center did this for the 2009 annual meeting and expo in August, and there are currently 573 items from its 26 members. After all, no two people will have the same experiences at your event, so allowing everyone to upload to a shared space will let others (even non-attendees!) participate.

Flickr can be a powerful storytelling mechanism. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and your organization can tell its story using Flickr. I love this collection, titled “Disaster Relief,” from the American Red Cross’ Flickr stream. Regardless of how big your organization is, photos can help tell its story and show how it accomplishes its mission.

Is your organization already on Flickr? How are you using it? And don’t forget to add MemberClicks to your contacts!