Happy Friday! It’s finally starting to fee like spring here in Atlanta; now if only those annoying rainstorms would quit. I’m so ready for spring: more daylight, outdoor eating, baseball, the NFL Draft, flowers … it’s pretty perfect. Speaking of more daylight, don’t forget to spring your clocks forward this Saturday night before hitting the sack. Losing an hour is the only downside of the beginning of Daylight Savings Time — I’m really looking forward to longer days.

With many people attending the Great Ideas Conference, there was some great stuff in the association blogosphere this week, but not every post highlighted the conference.

1. Wes Trochlil shared some tips for organizations converting their data to a new database. There are some great reminders here, such as to stop keeping track of data you don’t need or use, keep your legacy database for future reference and only convert the data you need. Wes’ database tips always spot-on.

2. One of the newer-to-me blogs I’ve discovered recently is Ellen Behrens’. She writes the aLearning blog, and her post this week on exit interviews for members was fantastic. Members who don’t renew often have powerful information that would be beneficial to the organization, so definitely take a look at this post.

3. I read a ton of blogs, and they’re not all association-focused. This post, though, from the Six Pixels of Separation blog, discusses mobile technologies: “The Lines Continue to Blur (at Breakneck Speeds).” This one’s a great reminder about how much the use of mobile technology is increasing — and that it’s not just kids who are using it. Are you ready?

4. Lynn Morton wrote some awesome posts about Great Ideas this week, but here’s her takeaway post. From the more casual (use Emergen-C if you’re sick!) to the more serious (the spirit is there, the content is not), Lynn shared her thoughts from ASAE’s conference and encourages others to push the envelope a bit more.

5. Maddie Grant also had a great collection of takeaway and links post-Great Ideas. Her main takeaway was the concept of “autonomy,” which was discussed during Dan Pink’s closing general session. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Don’t forget to set your clocks forward!

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Every once in awhile, I stumble upon some new technology or software and think, “That is so PERFECT for associations!” I’ve got two to highlight today: TextMarks and Phonebooth.

It’s no secret that people’s use of mobile phones is constantly increasing, and important messages can be passed via text messaging (or SMS). Mass donations can even be accepted via text message, as we saw during the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

TextMarks is a service that makes it easy to set up marketing campaigns through text messages. An administrator chooses a word (or even acronym) to be your “textmark.” Members then can subscribe by texting that word to 41411. Once members subscribe to your service, they’ll receive any updates you choose to send out via text message.

TextMarks works with tons of providers in the U.S. (check out the list) and doesn’t charge users any extra for receiving a text message (standard rates do apply). If you want to use the service for free, your messages to subscribers will contain ads. Ad-free plans start out at $9.95 per month, which is a fairly cheap way to get your messages out en masse.

With all the talk about mobile in the association community and the need for associations to embrace different marketing platforms, TextMarks could be a great option if you’re interested in starting a mobile campaign. Your association could send reminders about event registrations or volunteer opportunities, or any short announcements. (I’d definitely recommend not abusing the service though – no one needs spam sent to their cell phone!)

The second service also deals with communication: your phone system. If you’re a smaller organization and are in need of a phone system that won’t break the bank, take a look at PhoneBooth, an alternative to Google Voice.

There is both a free and a paid service, and the free one is pretty comprehensive. You get a local number with up to five extensions, call forwarding to multiple sources, voicemail with transcription and the ability to get users connect with you from the Web – all for free! (Two-hundred in-bound minutes are included, and each additional minute is 6 cents.)

If you need more options, such as the ability to handle conference calls, Phonebooth OnDemand is $20 per month and unlimited local and long-distance calls on the Phonebooth.com nationwide network and support for HP VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and IP phones.

One downside to Phonebooth Free is that masking services aren’t available, so your outbound calls will still appear on Caller IDs as the number you’re actually calling from, rather than your Phonebooth number. But, if you need an easy to route calls and don’t need too many extensions, Phonebooth could be a really great option.

Does your association use text messages in its marketing plan? What kind of phone system do you use? Would you ever consider using an Internet service, such as Google Voice or Phonebooth?

Image credits: One, Two

For part two of my UnTech10 reflections, I want to focus on Jeff De Cagna and Chris Bonney’s “Mobile Matters.” I think the information provided can be extremely valuable to small-staff association professionals.

As someone who’s attached to her BlackBerry and MacBook, I’ve come to accept that mobile is just a way of life. And I love when a Web site translates easily to my mobile device, and that’s what associations should be focusing on.

By 2016, smartphones will comprise 66 percent of the market share. Traditional flip phones are on their way out as people are communicating nonstop and sharing information they collect on their phones (photos, etc…).

Mobile is inherently social. So are associations. So it only makes sense that associations should start thinking about what their Web sites look like on a mobile device, be it BlackBerry, iPhone or Android. These platforms can help associations nurture social relationships.

I remember when Facebook first introduced the status update. It was around 2006, and I was pretty horrified. “Facebook stalking just reached a whole new level,” my friends and I thought. “Why would anyone care what I’m doing at all times?”

Of course, the beauty in the status update is that we can share photos, links, videos and more. Sure, some people abuse it and update eleventy million times a day. But many people use it for exactly its purpose — sharing information they find interesting, funny and/or relevant.

If members are accessing your organization’s Web site on their smartphone, it’s important to consider how it appears. Should you create an app? Perhaps. The three main platforms are the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android.

If you choose not to create an app, be aware of how your actual site translates to a smaller screen. Not every aspect of your Web site needs to be available on the mobile platform. Create a user-friendly mobile version with larger text, fewer photos and only the most important parts.

Consider this: 25 percent of Facebook users access the site on a mobile device – whether it’s a mobile Web site or the Facebook application. That statistic will only grow as Facebook itself continues to grow. (The site recently announced it hit 400 million active users.)

This has moved past a trend for Gen-Y and Gen-X. Mobile devices are the future of communication.

How will your association get more people involved in mobile activities?

Image credit: Flickr

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)

Rumors had been swirling among tech geeks for months (nay, years!) and Wednesday, their suspicions were confirmed with the announcement of Apple’s iPad, a hybrid iPod Touch/laptop. Although it doesn’t have the iPhone’s ability to make phone calls, it  has a ton of other capabilities, and could rival Amazon’s Kindle with its iBooks application and through contracts with publishers.

There have been mixed reactions about the iPad. Some are enthralled; some don’t quite understand the purpose. “It’s a bigger iPhone that can’t make calls,” I’ve heard.

However, keep in mind this is just the first version of the iPad, and if the product takes off, there will surely be many more versions to come. Apple is setting the stage for a very different type of computing experience.

I think the iPad could truly have some amazing implications for small-staff associations down the road (and so does our Director of Product Experience Kevin Patrick!).

I’ve written before about cloud computing, and this product could take that to a whole new level – especially because it syncs perfectly with Macs, PCs, iPhones, and iPod Touches through Apple’s MobileMe Storage. As technology moves to Web-only, devices such as the iPad will become even more mainstream because, as Jobs said, you’re literally “holding the Internet in your hands.”

The iPad and its subsequent versions could be extremely beneficial for small-staff associations. The amount of hardware needed at events would drastically diminish. For smaller meetings, all check-ins could be done instantly just by passing the device around the room.

I’d be willing to bet than many association management software companies are in the midst of developing iPhone and other smartphone apps for their products, especially amidst the buzz about mobile technology for associations in 2010.

But the iPad will also have access to Apple’s App Store, and will be able to run about 140,000 of them right away. Apps can also be synced with the iPhone or iPod touch, which could greatly streamline communication among staffers.

Although the iPad clearly won’t replace laptops (at least for awhile), the possibilities are still numerous. People who travel constantly and prefer not to carry their laptops could greatly benefit from owning an iPad, and I think the iPad dock, which includes a keyboard, is pretty spiffy.

In all honesty, I think the real “magic” (to quote Steve Jobs) of the iPad will come later, especially once developers begin creating apps for it. Additionally, I’d love to see Apple add a camera and video-chat capabilities (which would be amazing for small associations working remotely), as well as multitasking.

The release of the iPad is just the beginning. Right now, I think the device would be most beneficial at events – no matter how big or small. Exhibitors could easily run demos with iPads. It would make blogging-on-the-go a snap. Multimedia could be used in presentations more easily, and attendees could use iPads for receiving event updates and news.

Samuel J. Smith wrote an excellent post about the iPad for events and I agree with many of his points. Be sure to check it out – I especially love his idea for creating e-versions of meeting newsletters and exhibitor guides. Multimedia could be included in those, as well.

How would your association use an iPad? What are your initial thoughts about the device?

(All iPad images via Engadget.)