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!

Welcome to the end of the workweek! It was an exciting week for tech geeks everywhere, but the iPad wasn’t the only thing going on this week. There have been some awesome discussions going on in the association community, and I’m thrilled to highlight a few of my favorite posts.

1. Wes Trochlil has been a technology consultant for 10 years now, and I really enjoyed his post about changes he’s seen during that time. Technology certainly has come a long way since 1999, and I expect 2019 to hold even more surprises! What tech change do you think has most affected the association community?

2. Since she’s been crowdsourcing an “action list” for 2010, Peggy Hoffman also turned to author David Nour. Nour came up with a great list focused on building relationships. My favorite? When it comes to social networking, consistency is a lot more valuable than creativity.

3. This post at Erik’s Experts in Membership Marketing surprised me a little: Students and Young Professionals are Influenced by Direct Mail. I’m a big believer in using the right channels to contact people (and they can differ from person to person), and Erik Schonher summed up a 2008 study so well in this great post.

4. I really loved Cindy Butts’ post comparing association executives to student athletes. There are a lot of similarities to be had, and participating in sports can teach us all invaluable lessons for later in life. One of my favorite lessons Cindy highlights is to take pride in your school or team, and by extension, your association.

5. Mark Alcorn, an association lawyer and management consultant, has a fantastic new blog and this week’s post was superb: Top Ten Signs of a Dysfunctional Board. From power struggles and lack of respect to micromanagement and overly powerful executives, Mark tackles many board issues with a unique perspective and clear voice. Can’t wait to read his future posts!

From everyone at MemberClicks, have a wonderful weekend!

(Image via Flickr.)

Happy happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week and is looking forward to a fun and relaxing weekend. There were some great posts around the association blogosphere this weekend, so let’s get straight to my favorites!

1. Cindy Butts at AE on the Verge wrote about nine great ways to find association members on Twitter. The biggie here: whenever members sign up or renew, be sure to ask them for their Twitter user name! It’s as simple as asking for an e-mail address. And if they don’t have one, just asking the question will put Twitter on their radar.

2. Has your organization had success in increasing membership? If not (and even if you have!), be sure to check out this post at Erik’s Experts in Membership Marketing. Erik Schonher spoke with John Day, the director of membership development for IEEE, who said his association used a multi-channel approach that took niche markets into account. Definitely worth a read.

3. Cynthia D’Amour wants to know if you’ve read a book lately. She attended an event at a library in Ann Arbor, Mich. and many other attendees asked about audio books and revealed they hadn’t read a book in years. I’m quite a bookworm, so this post broke my heart a little. But Cynthia asks chapter leaders if they “need to shake up how they deliver their chapter experiences to members.” Maybe not everyone has an hour or so to read each day, but listening to a book is another option. Could your association do something similar?

4. Joe Rominiecki is one of the newest bloggers at ASAE and The Center’s Acronym blog, and I’m loving his content so far. If you haven’t seen his latest post comparing marathon running to planning (and participating in) a board meeting, be sure to check it out. I’m no certainly no marathoner (in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve just recently picked up running), but I can picture the scene: prepping for a marathon vs. prepping for a board meeting. Association execs and staffers have to conquer that meeting but continue to be enthusiastic when it’s over. A great metaphor.

5. Jeff Hurt wrote a very thorough post about conference and membership revenue models — more specifically, how they have to adapt for the next generation. Jeff writes, Association leaders, board members and conference organizers, are you producing bland sugary-sweet cola, or crafting and cultivating fine wines? I love this metaphor because I’ll take a great glass of wine over bubbly soda any day. It’s all about the quality of the content … the revenue will soon follow.

From everyone here at MemberClicks, have a wonderful weekend!

The Membership Marketing Benchmarking Survey results were released in late August at ASAE and The Center’s Annual Meeting. The results, which are available as a 40-page PDF here (registering to get access to the PDF is easy), compile data from a nearly month-long survey conducted this spring. Previous posts examining the results can be found here.

I still find myself intrigued by the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Survey. I was scanning its pages this afternoon and noticed something very interesting.

Ninety-one percent of associations incorporate direct mail into their plan for membership renewals.

My first thoughts?

1. That’s not very “green.”
2. That seems like it probably takes a lot of time and resources, depending on the size of the association

I read on, and found the kicker:

“Associations with renewal rates of 80% or higher are significantly more likely to use the more personal methodologies for renewal efforts, such as staff phone calls (66% vs. 46%), board phone calls (34% vs. 17%), and peer member contacts (37% vs. 19%).”

Whoa. So despite the fact that the majority of associations use direct mail (91%) or e-mail marketing (83%), those tactics just don’t work as well. The more personal the contact, the higher the renewal rate.

Lesson? Don’t just send off a bunch of brochures or literature explaining why a member should renew. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Your members should be your biggest advocates.”

It’s all well and good to put some literature together proclaiming how great your association is and why members should renew. But you should never discount the importance of adding a personal touch.

Maybe staff, board or peer phone calls would take more time than sending information via direct mail. But are the resources it would take (time, predominately) be worth it if your association renewed a higher number of members in the end? I’m thinking yes.