Happy Friday! Who can believe we’re already just about through February? I know it’s a short month, but it really seemed to fly by this year. It was definitely an exciting month in the association community, and to round it out, here are my five favorite posts from this week.

1. Peggy Hoffman wrote a great piece stemming from an association exec’s confession on an ASAE listserv. The association wasn’t sure what to do with a standing PR committee. Peggy focused on three lessons from this confession, and the ensuing discussion. There’s no clear conclusion, but many of the committee’s tasks could become ad hoc tasks for volunteers.

2. At Association Subculture, Shelly Alcorn has started a new series focusing on Jim Collins’ “How the Mighty Fall” and applying it to associations. In part two, she writes about the pursuit of more — more mergers, more chapters, more members, more more more. It’s not always better, and can lead to an organization’s downfall.

3. I’ve been loving Jeffrey Cufaude’s “Wednesday What-If” series. This week, he drew some inspiration from the men’s figure skating in the Winter Olympics and wondered what would happen if associations focused more on consistent, high-quality work rather than tricky, big breakthroughs. One single effort or initiative can use up a lot of resources, so perhaps we should consider how to make every single element of your efforts richer and more valuable.

4. It’s no secret the association community is enthralled with “best practices,” but, as Jamie Notter wrote this week, those practices can be inherently flawed if they don’t change with time. There’s a great discussion in the comments here about how best practices have to be allowed to evolve to stay up-to-date. Does your organization blindly rely on “best practices?”

5. Thinking of incorporating video into your nonprofit’s communication plan? Be sure to check out this awesome post. One organization tried out video, and shared its successes and mistakes so others can learn from them. Some takeaways: keep it short, have a mission and keep your resources in mind.

If you’re getting hit with snow again, stay warm this weekend! Wherever you are, have a great one!

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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.)

Happy Friday to one and all! I feel like I say this every Friday, but it is so gross and drizzly here in Atlanta! I hope everyone else’s weather is brighter. Who’s psyched for the weekend?

And now, my top five favorite association management blog posts of the week!

1. At Association Executive Management, David M. Patt wrote about his two different perspectives when it comes to creating bylaw amendments — his role as an executive director of one association, and his role as member in another. There’s a great dichotomy between each role, and I think there are some great lessons to be found here. Association execs should think about their decisions from members’ points of view more often.

2. I love the comments on this Acronym post; December is “what if?” month! The comments are seriously fantastic! The sky is truly the limit here, and don’t let your fears keep you from imagining what could be in your organization. “What if associations got rid of membership fees?” “What if associations got rid of their boards?”

3. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve always felt a tremendous amount of pressure to be perfect — when I was a kid, I wouldn’t give an answer in class unless I was 100 percent sure I knew the correct answer, just because I didn’t want to be wrong! This is just one of the reasons I loved Lindy Dreyer’s “rant” about associations and social media not always having to be perfect.

4. Don’t miss this interview with Greg Hill from the the Kansas Dental Association. It’s chock full of info about how the association uses video and social media, which Greg manages. The organization produces an in-house news report called “KDA Video Minute” and hosts its own social network through the Ning platform. Kudos!

5. Here’s a different perspective about social media — Association Voices’ Michael LoBue is deleting his Twitter account, and here’s why. It’s distracting (sometimes true) and is the “train wreck of thought.” Some good points here; Twitter definitely isn’t for everyone, and people shouldn’t jump on the bandwagon just for the sake of it.

From the halls of MemberClicks (including our office pup Huck!), have a great weekend!