I found a great presentation I wanted to share with our readers: Are you afraid of the M-Word? We talk a lot about mobile technology and how great and beneficial it is but it can be hard to implement it when you’re caught up in your day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.

Does your organization use mobile technology? More importantly, do your members even care?

Last year, I discussed a few trends that would generate even more interest in the association industry in 2010.  Some of them, such as crowdsourcing, virtual attendance and active young professionals, proved true. Of course, I don’t exactly think those were difficult predictions to make.

Looking back over the past year and reflecting on the other trends I predicted would become big, I wouldn’t say the association industry as a whole totally embraced mobile technology. There is still some apprehension about the barriers to entry and questions about how popular the technology really is among members. I will say, though, that association professionals shouldn’t let mobile fall of their radars – the smartphone industry is booming and it won’t be long before they’re the norm.

Another item discussed in last year’s post was associations will stop adopting social media just for the sake of it. I think there are still a lot of questions out there about online communities and legal ramifications and losing control of your message. But the beauty of the Internet is that you don’t necessarily have to send out formal surveys to your members to find out what they think. Have you had success with social media this year?

This past year has been an extremely interesting one for associations. Conferences and meetings were exciting, drew criticisms and praises and brought people together. We connected over webinars and blogs, phone calls and Facebook.

What has been the biggest change your association has seen during the past year? Did you implement a new association management software, start discussing social media policies and online communities, offer new or exciting programs to your members? What are you looking forward to most about 2011?

(Here at MemberClicks, we have some exciting news up our sleeves – be on the lookout for a fun announcement!)

Image source

I was browsing SlideShare the other day and wanted to share a few presentations I found. I think small staff associations can benefit from them both — there’s some great information here, and they both come from excellent sources (ASAE and Peggy Hoffman, respectively).

What do you think? Has your organization started getting involved with mobile technology or crowdsourcing (or both)?

In March, we gave four brand new Apple iPads away to four lucky winners. As the winners, each association agreed to be featured on the blog and check in with us every so often to let us and our readers know how they’re using the iPad in their operations. Today, we’re checking in with the National Urban League Young Professionals and the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

NULYP just concluded its National Conference celebrating 100 years of empowering communities and changing lives. Barton J. Taylor, the president of NULYP, said the organization used the iPad in multiple ways throughout the conference, including verifying NULYP memberships, during the NULYP business meeting and during a major plenary session to access data about young professionals.

PCPA also just finished its annual conference and now the staff is “taking a deep breath and relaxing again,” Ashley Crist told me. They incorporated the iPad into conference activities for both learning and pleasure! The organization’s technology coordinator held a conference seminar on both the services MemberClicks offers that attendees should take advantage of, as well as a tutorial on how to sign in, send mass e-mails and other tasks. They plugged the iPad into the projector and used it for the tutorial part of the seminar, which worked quite well.

Ashley also told me PCPA kept it plugged in with their website open after the seminar and anyone who wanted to try signing in using the iPad could do so. “I feel it was a big hit!,” she said.

Additionally, PCPA featured live entertainment and a DJ for much of the after-hours activities, but for those without formal entertainment, they loaded music into iTunes on the iPad to pipe music through the banquet hall and reception areas. This provided entertainment while also keeping costs down. They used the iPad for two different nights of activities and “it worked out perfectly.”

Ashley said it was “extremely convenient having the iPad to use during the conference ” and said she thinks it kept attendees more engaged during tutorials (including the one on MemberClicks!) than a regular laptop would have been. The opportunity to play with a “new toy” kept attendees engaged and eager to learn.

Be sure to check back in soon to see how our other winners are using their iPads!

Images via NULYP.

F is for Friday (and Five)! I hope everyone has had a good and productive week! Hooray for the weekend!

1. Seems like many people are writing posts based around the letter C – I keep waiting for someone to make a “Sesame Street” reference and say, This post is sponsored by the letter C! I really enjoyed Jeff Hurt’s post this week: The Four C’s of Conferences and Social Media. Jeff discusses Content, Communication, Collaboration and Cumulative Value. A great read!

2. I linked to these Acronym posts in yesterday’s blog, but they bear repeating. It’s so inspiring to see so many people (and associations!) donate money and time to help the Haitians who were affected by the earthquake on Tuesday. Very timely and relevant posts.

3. I loved the slideshow Elizabeth Engel posted the other day about free (or low-cost) Web tools. The slideshow was created by ASAE and The Center‘s Amy Hissrich, and is packed with useful information. With the subtitle Quick Wins for Your Web Site, this presentation is a win.

4. David M. Patt chimed in on the mobile technology discussion with some reminders for us all – we don’t need to be attached to our phones 24/7. Our smartphones are certainly useful, but just because we have access to all information, all the time, doesn’t mean we should ignore the real world.

5. Rather than making a New Year’s Resolution, Shelly Alcorn picked a word of the year: Authenticity. She writes, Many calls for authenticity are routinely promulgated on blogs and in staff, board and committee meetings. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot more than talk when it comes to actually embracing authenticity. Definitely watch her blog this year, because she plans to discuss look outstanding!

Honorable Mention: I was featured on the SocialFish blog on Thursday discussing social media and MemberClicks. If you haven’t seen the piece yet, check it out! Thanks, Maddie and Lindy!

From all of us at MemberClicks, have a fantastic Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend!