Today, June 30, is “Social Media Day,” as declared by social media blog Mashable. Technically, it’s supposed to celebrate and acknowledge the fact that media has become (or is becoming) social.

You don’t have to attend a special “Social Media Day” event to celebrate. It could be a good time for your organization to evaluate where it is regarding social media. Maybe you barely use it. Maybe you’re an active user and evangelist. Maybe you don’t get what all the fuss is about. Whatever your feelings about social media, and whether or not you personally use it, I think it’s important to acknowledge that social media is changing the way people communicate.

Social media is all about connecting people. Associations are all about connecting people. It seems like the two would go hand in hand. Unfortunately, because social media allows people to connect for free (assuming they have an Internet connection), it’s often difficult for the two to coexist peacefully.

Whatever your organization’s take on social media, it’s hard to deny its growth. Sure, maybe the tools we use won’t last forever, but social media helps connect people, and so do associations. And creating meaningful relationships will never go out of style.

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I had a chance Tuesday to speak with Debra Helwig (you may know her on Twitter as @dhelwig) to find out more about her organization’s operations. Debra is the marketing and communications manager at IGAF Worldwide, an accounting association with more than 130 member firms across the world.

What makes IGAF Worldwide unique — and why I was so interested in speaking with Debra — is that the organization’s staff works virtually all the time. The staff of six work across North America, and three members serve jointly as members and regional coordinators in Asia, Latin America and Europe.

None of the staffers live in the same town, and only two are within 45 minutes of the remote office location. IGAF Worldwide has been fully virtual since October 2005.

All data is Web-driven and can be accessed through a Web interface. IGAF Worldwide uses a Virtual PBX, so when you call a phone number and input an extension, a cell phone or landline can ring wherever it needs to. Debra said the IGAF Worldwide staffers communicate primarily through e-mail and Instant Messenger, and they haven’t had a face-to-face staff meeting in more than a year.

Debra said the IGAF Worldwide staff doesn’t use Skype, but they have used Second Life to collaborate.

One of the main benefits to working virtually, Debra says, is that a number of their member firms are international. It’s not uncommon for Debra to be on conference calls at 9 or 10 p.m., or have to answer an e-mail to a European member at 5 a.m.

The light at the end of the silo

Debra worked for a large-staff association for 10 years prior to joining IGAF Worldwide, and she says the biggest difference is the lack of silos in a small-staff. At a larger association, everyone has their own specialty and role, and that’s not the case at IGAF Worldwide and other small-staff organizations.

“Having your hand in the entire process helps you see where efficiencies are,” Debra said. “There’s little to no communication gap at a smaller association.”

Every day is different for Debra, and it’s not uncommon for her to have to spend a few hours occasionally stuffing envelopes!

The self-proclaimed “relationship and service queen” lives by the philosophy of Seth Godin’s “Tribes” – everyone who works for an association leads a tribe.

“It’s vital to have an intense interest in what your members do and what they need. At a small-staff, you have that ability,” Debra said.

Although Debra has limited knowledge of the accounting industry (we’re actually both proud UGA journalism school alumni!), she’s greatly invested in her member firms and says she has a good sense of who the people are, what they need and how to connect them with each other.

“We’re here to help. That’s it,” Debra said. “If we as a staff communicate better, we can help more people.”

Working virtually hasn’t hindered IGAF Worldwide’s ability to serve its members. Debra says all the staffers have a fantastic relationship with their “visionary” president, and that trust is the most important aspect of working virtually. She visits member firms often and attends business development sessions, and because IGAF Worldwide is a small-staff, they’re able to build great relationships with their members.

“We don’t have to have all the answers. We just have to have the ability to hook our members up with people who do have the answers.”

Read Debra’s blog or connect with her on Twitter. If you work for a small-staff association and would like to be profiled, please e-mail me at socialmedia@memberclicks.com.

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The Membership Marketing Benchmark Survey results were released this past weekend at ASAE and The Center’s Annual Meeting. The white paper, which is available as a 40-page PDF here (registering to get access to the PDF is easy), is the result of a nearly month-long survey conducted this spring. My first post concerning the results deals with the best marketing tool for associations.

“What do you believe is the TOP REASON members join your organization?”

Page 17 of the white paper deals with this question, and I found the results intriguing. The top response was Access to Specialized Information (23%), which makes sense. Coming in at numbers two and three were Network with others in the field (22%) and Connect with others in the field (12%).

The fifth most popular response seemed significant to me. Learn best practices in their profession received 8% of the vote. I understand that an association’s main purpose should be to connect people (hence the popular responses given above), but shouldn’t an association provide valuable resources as well? It’s interesting that the top response was Access to specialized information — and maybe it’s so closely tied to Learn best practices in their profession that this doesn’t matter.

However, coming in with 10% of the vote was the response, Other. Other? What does this mean? The fact that Other received more votes than Learn best practices in their field completely mystifies me. There are many reasons to join an organization, but their foremost purpose should be to connect people with similar interests, goals and professions. Not just to network with others (anyone can do that on LinkedIn), but to create lasting relationships. Offering great professional resources will only get your association so far — if members aren’t engaged with each other, then what’s the point?