We've Moved....

Blogger has served me well, but I'm moving uptown with a new domain, new blogging platform, and new tricks up my sleeve (well, maybe later). The Association Blog (sorry I couldn't think of a more original name, but I already had the domain) is now located at:

http://www.associationblog.com

Please update your bookmarks and links!

You'll need to update any RSS subscriptions as well to the site's new feeds:

Main feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/associationblog
Comments feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ab_comments

I've moved a few of the more recent posts to the new site, and I may move a few others, but I'm keeping this locale open to store the rest of the archives. If you've followed a link here looking for basic info on blogging for associations, you'll want to look through the archives to the right.

Thanks for tuning in, and hope you'll continue doing so. See you on the other side ...

Feed the Beast

As I glibly said in a comment a couple days ago about RSS feeds, "Talk to me when I don't have to think about it." That day is approaching. A good rundown of Microsoft's embrace of RSS in its next (overdue) version of Windows and the implication for marketers (including associations). Hat tip: Paul Chaney.

Taking It to the Streets

Had a very interesting time this past Monday serving on a panel during the annual conference of the International Association of Business Communicators, organized by Debbie Weil. Got to meet Bill Betts of General Motors, home of the excellent Fastlane blog; and Paul Rosenfeld of Intuit, the evangelist behind the QuickBooks Online blog. We hit it off right away and enjoyed a good back-and-forth in what was, unfortunately, far too short a time to deal with all the questions we had from the audience (and for each other).

One thing I found particularly interesting: while there has always been a lot of talk about using blogs to "bypass" the mainstream media (MSM) and reach an audience directly, blogs can actually play a key role in reaching those very same establishment MSM types.

Bill pointed out that GM has discovered several journalists have quoted long passages directly from blog posts authored by vice chairman Bob Lutz (and yes, he writes them himself, usually on his BlackBerry) -- when those same journalists might include only a brief excerpt from an official press release.

The conversational nature of a blog makes it seem more like a "discovery" than the latest quote pulled from a blowdried and vetted official statement. More "real." And apparently, more likely to get quoted.

Voice & Viewpoint

I have to give another shout-out to Pat Cleary's blog over at the National Association of Manufacturers. One of the biggest questions I still hear from association folks is concern over whether or not an association-sponsored blog can develop the individual "voice" that makes blogs compelling places to visit.

Yes, you can, and Pat's blog is proof. You want voice and viewpoint? Check out his ongoing "Dobbs Watch" posts, where he calls CNN's Lou Dobbs to task over, well, everything. Or the "drip drip drip" posts about troubles at the AFL-CIO. It's obvious that Pat, who is a senior vice president at NAM, enjoys posting to his blog -- and that makes it enjoyable (and worthwhile) to read as well.

Killer App?

Okay, so the new iTunes 4.9 may be the killer app for podcasting. I never really focused much on podcasts because I didn't think it was worth the bother to figure out how to subscribe to and download them. Now that Apple has made it easy to find and subscribe, I might actually listen to a few.

So Information Wants To Be Free. Who Cares?

Yes, as the old technophile saying goes, information does want to be free ... which is exactly why we have copyright law. And the Supreme Court ruling yesterday on file sharing was the right one to make.

As one might expect, there are lots of opinions floating around the blogosphere that take an opposing view. Much gnashing of teeth over the decision, viewed -- rightfully -- as a huge victory for record companies. It's amazing the hoops through which some of these bloggers jump in an attempt to justify the fact that they are too cheap to pay for music that they feel, for some inexplicable reason, entitled to listen to. For example, here's uber-liberal-blogger Matt Yglesias:

"... the first thing to say is that it's worth distinguishing between the music industry and the film industry. A world where you can't make a profit selling albums would radically alter the music business but not, I think, kill it off. Recording music is relatively cheap, being a rock star is cool, the vast majority of artists make very little money off CD sales, and musicians have alternative sources of revenue. Movies aren't like that. They're inherently expensive to make, many of the contributors have totally ungalamorous jobs, and broad categories of movies don't have real merchandising opportunities. Without copyright, you'd have less new music recorded, but by no means none. What's more, music would be free -- which is a real advantage. A film industry without copyright, by contrast, is hard to imagine. So I think there's a solid case for treating these things differently."

Uh, no, there isn't. I'm quite thankful that we haven't decided to carve out different versions of copyright law for different industries based on whether or not we think individual participants couldn't figure out a different way to make money. I mean, really.

And, well, I guess music being free would be a "real advantage." So would free HBO, free Internet access, free booze on Friday nights -- hell, free just-about-anything. (I don't see how free cauliflower could be viewed as an advantage for anyone. But you may disagree.)

In the association world -- at least the one I live and work in -- we sell information. That's pretty much what we do. So I'm a fairly passionate supporter of copyright and IP protections, because my livelihood, and the profitability of our organization, depends on our ability to protect against misuse of our intellectual property.

Our members join us to get access to our knowledge and information. And that's how we can afford to produce more knowledge and information. Which members pay for. So we can produce more. Etc.

Since we fully embraced this role as "knowledge broker" our membership has increased significantly (as have our product sales). But at the same time, we also began aggressively policing our intellectual property. The two go hand in hand.

Yes, there's some information and content that we make available for free -- some because we feel it improves our industry and furthers our mission. And some because it's a "hook" that lures future sales. If we gave it all away, though, we wouldn't be in business for very long.

If you have information that wants to be free -- and you want to make it free -- then by all means, do so. But don't take away other people's right to sell theirs. It's what the creator wants that matters.

Corporate Blogging Policies

In the evolving world of "corporate blogging," a number of companies have published blogging policies. Here's a comparison of the ones that have been made publicly available. (Hat tip: Debbie Weil.)

Innovation for Its Own Sake

While I've expressed fascination for the wiki concept and wondered how it may best be applied in associations (and haven't yet figured it out), yesterday's NYT article on Michael Kinsley's editorial shake-ups at the LAT left me scratching my head:

This week, the newspaper, will introduce an online feature called "wikitorials," as a way for readers to engage in an online dialogue with the paper. The model is based on "Wikipedia," the Web's free-content encyclopedia that is edited by online contributors.

"We'll have some editorials where you can go online and edit an editorial to your satisfaction," Mr. Martinez said. "We are going to do that with selected editorials initially. We don't know how this is going to turn out. It's all about finding new ways to allow readers to interact with us in the age of the Web."

Mr. Kinsley said that he was just trying something new with the wikitorials.

"It may be a complete mess but it's going to be interesting to try," he said. "Wikitorials may be one of those things that within six months will be standard. It's the ultimate in reader participation."

I look forward to seeing what they come up with, but I can't for the life of me figure out the point. (Hey, it may be kind of a dumb idea, but not nearly as dumb as NYT's plan to start charging for access to its op-ed page online.)

UPDATE: Well, it was a nice try, anyway.

Sustainable Growth

This happened several years ago.

I was working for the trucking industry. I was new to associations -- in fact, I was new to pretty much everything.

I take a day and spend it visiting a member -- the owner of a mid-sized trucking company. Not one of the largest companies, or well-known. But not one of the smallest, either. And a highly profitable company in an industry otherwise known for its low margins.

We talk about a lot of things: How he started the business with one used truck. How he created career paths to give truck drivers a goal to strive for and reach. His personal passions (cars and golf).

Then he mentions that his company's goal for this year is to achieve 3% growth. In fact, his goal every year is 3 - 5% growth. I ask how he came up with that number. (I think, but don't say, that it seems kind of small.)

He replies:

"There are plenty of ways to grow quicker, faster. Always some way to bump up market share, or bring in some fast money. And I've seen lots of companies do it.

"But it seems like they always live to regret it. Fast money doesn't necessarily mean more profit. It usually means less. A growth in market can stretch your resources to the limit until you wind up snapping back like a rubber band.

"And if you have a sudden growth spurt one year, all too often you find it's not sustainable. The next year you grow a lot less -- or decline.

"We aim for 3% growth -- profitable growth -- because I'm pretty sure we can hit it each year. And it's vital to grow, at least a little, each year. Because it's important for my employees to feel like they are part of a growing company."

It happened several years ago. I've always remembered it.

Strategery

Earlier I mentioned an article on the death of strategic planning from Jeff and Jamie at Association Renewal. Well, it's not really about death. They write:

For decades associations have engaged in what certainly must be tens of thousands of strategic planning sessions, and we doubt they have achieved many genuine breakthroughs. In the 20th century, it might have been sufficient for associations to pursue mission-driven constancy as their main strategic objective. In the 21st century, however, associations, like so many organizations, must confront their own demise and, in so doing, also must address the threefold challenge of sustaining relevance, catalyzing renewal, and increasing resilience. Unfortunately, strategic planning, an approach grounded in the command-and-control management model, fails to produce the requisite creativity and dynamism necessary for associations to succeed strategically in the years ahead.

I couldn't agree more. In his book Selling the Invisible, published a lifetime ago in 1994, Harry Beckwith laid out, in very simple terms, many of the problems with "planning" in general -- eighteen "fallacies" described in twenty-eight very short pages. And these fallacies are still true -- er, false -- today. (While ostensibly aimed at "service professionals" like accountants, attorneys, etc., this is a great little book for association executives. I bought copies for all the staff in my division. In fact, it was the book's title that first caught my eye in an airport bookstore because over the years I've frequently made the half-joking comment that associations are in the business of "selling air.")

Chief among the fallacies of planning as described by Beckwith are the first two: "You Can Know What's Ahead" and "You Can Know What You Want." You can't know either. And here's what he said about "strategy":

Business once encouraged the view of strategy's superiority to tactics by throwing piles of money at it. Fifteen years ago, many with a Wharton MBA and a lust for money and status tried to get into strategic planning. They're still great jobs if you can get them ... But in successful companies, tactics drive strategy as much or more than strategy drives tactics. These companies do something and learn from it. It changes their thinking ... Sometimes, the very first tactic you execute changes your plan.

Amen! If you want to get from A to Z, first you must do A. And once you do, guess what -- B changes. You realize B isn't what you thought B was. Or you realize you can skip ahead to D. Or you realize that A didn't work out and you need to start from scratch. Or you realize you didn't really want to get to Z in the first place.

Old-school association strategic plans lock organizations into mindsets that are outdated before the laserprinter is done spitting them out. They stifle innovation and create a "pass-the-buck" mentality among staff, who are rewarded for following the rules rather than introducing innovation -- and who can easily blame the plan (and by extension, the association's leaders/members) when ideas that sounded good eight months ago in a boardroom fail miserably in the field.

Jeff and Jamie, as association consultants, did a nice job of creating an "alternative consulting concept" in a world where strategic planning doesn't work any more (if it ever did) but consultants still need to eat. For those lucky few, like me, who get to work for associations and CEOs who "get it," there's an easy path to follow:

1) Decide what you want "Z" to be. The vision. And a "vision" is not something wishy-washy like "We will offer first-class training, aggressive advocacy, and will be the partner of first choice among our industry/profession." Bleah -- I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it. "Z" should be bold. It should be inspiring. It should be audacious. It should be something so bold, inspiring and audacious that you would never in a million years put it on your letterhead or in a press release.

2) What's the first thing that should change/be done if "Z" is to ever be a reality. That's "A."

3) Do it. See how it flies. Now you know what "B" is.

4) Do it. Repeat.

BW Loves a Trend

Fresh from its recent cover story on blogging, Business Week now offers a special report on podcasting, complete with one of the best descriptions I've seen on how to actually subscribe to the darned things should you want to (my iPod's still for music only). One note they point out:

First thing you're likely to notice: Listening to podcasting can take a lot of time. You can skim 15 blogs in five minutes. In those same minutes you can hear the preliminary musings of one podcaster. Most of them lack the technical expertise of radio vets, and they have no pressure to race along.

I've seen that some podcasters, like Jeff De Cagna, make a point to describe in exact detail what they're talking about in each podcast. This is helpful for when you know you might be interested in listening to a piece describing the Long Tail concept, but not so much in what happened at a Google shareholders meeting.

Speaking of Jeff, I'll have more to say later on about my take on an article he co-authored on "the death of strategic planning." Alas, I don't find the pronouncement as shocking as he might like (I thought it died a long time ago). But he and Jamie Notter do raise some salient points.

People Are Talking About You

Debbie Weil has good advice for companies (and associations). Doesn't matter if you're blogging; doesn't matter if you like to read blogs; but you damn well better monitor what blogs are saying about you, your products, your industry, your members, your chairman, etc. Debbie says:

Guys, guys. It's so easy to monitor the blogosphere and find out what's being
said about your company. Go to www.Blogpulse.com right now. Type in
"kensington laptop lock." These are today's results. Numerous links from blog posts detailing what can only be described for Kensington as a PR disaster.

Speaking of Debbie, she talked me into participating in a panel she's moderating at the annual meeting of the International Association of Business Communicators later in June. I'm looking forward to learning from the other two panelists -- Gary Grates, General Motors VP of corporate communications and a regular contributor to GM's Fastlane blog; and Paul Rosenfeld, general manager of Intuit's QuickBooks Online Edition.

Considering the recent hype over blogs in the business world (and the fact that the "Blog Backlash" has already begun), it should be a lively and interesting session. (The IABC chairman, in his blog, even went so far as to announce this workshop topic in the same breath that he announced that the conference's keynote speaker is the new CEO of HP. Kinda cool.)

An iModest iProposal

Okay, this is way off-topic ...

... but just like a lot of other people, I've recently fallen in love with my iPod, and I love Apple's iTunes store. It's reintroduced me to the world of music. I'm finding artists and songs I never would have found otherwise. Now, if I read an article about an artist or band that sounds interesting, or overhear part of a song I like (usually in a bar or on television, since I don't listen to the radio), it's easy to stop by iTunes and download it. At 99 cents a pop, the worst that can happen is I don't like the song as much as I thought I would and I'm out a buck.

Right now, iTunes gives you the option of buying individual songs, or in most cases, the entire album for $9.99. So, if you buy one song, and decide you'd like to purchase the whole album, you either have to then go download each individual song, or buy the album and get a duplicate copy of the original song. In many cases, it's cheaper to deal with the duplicate than to download all of the songs individually.

Based entirely on an article I read a couple days ago, I just downloaded Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On" and decided I liked it enough to want the entire album. So, I was just wondering, why don't they give you the option of upgrading to the album after you purchase one or two songs? I would have been even more motivated to purchase the whole album if I'd gotten a notice from Apple saying, "Do you like that song? You'll like the other songs, too....click here to upgrade and download the rest of the album." Or something like that.

Artists, Apple, and the record labels would all benefit. I'm sure the sales resulting from campaigns like that would more than offset the small gains they might make from people choosing to download twelve individual songs.

iTunes is a beautiful, simple, masterful tool, but they might want to take a few lessons from Amazon in e-marketing ... although, now that I think about it, Apple has always been better at design than marketing.

Now, back to the topic at hand....

Make It Easy

Following up on my earlier post about the trouble with RSS, the Washington Post's Robert MacMillan is right on the money today in a column on the difficulty of moving the concept to the masses. He says, "It's almost ready to surface in the mainstream, but it's still not convenient enough to use."

Those Wacky Wikis

Via Steve Rubel I see that Wikipedia is now the second-most-visited reference site on the Internet. I have no doubt it will be number one within the next month or two. Which brings up the issue of wikis, which I haven't talked about on this blog yet. In the past week I received three emails from people who read the Association Management article asking if I knew anything about wikis.

Wikis fascinate me. In a nutshell, wikis allow multiple people to write and edit webpages. (Sounds really simple, but companies and organizations have spent thousands of dollars developing collaboration systems to do what wikis can do, pretty much for free.) Changes can be tracked and different versions compared. "Discussion" pages attached to a document can show the various authors talking back and forth about changes being made.

Wikipedia is the best example -- it's the "open source encyclopedia" and anyone can edit articles, or add them. I use it as a reference all the time (and have gotten in the habit of fixing typos). You can also use wiki software to limit edit access only to those with permission, and wikis don't have to produce "encyclopedias" -- they can be used to produce almost any kind of document.

Imagine the possibilities. Much of the work done by many associations -- standards, "bodies of knowledge," best practices, etc. -- can be improved/enhanced/made easier through the use of wikis.

In fact, one can easily imagine communities developing around wikis used for such purposes ... without the need for an association.

While "blogs" are great tools, they're not going to fundamentally change associations. Wikis will. I'm going to grapple with this issue a little more down the road, and I'd love to hear what other people think.

The Long and Short of It

A very enlightening conversation going on over at copywriting guru Bob Bly's blog on the merits of "long-form" direct mail letters vs. "short-form." Personally, when it comes to direct mail (especially for association membership), I almost always prefer longer letters and have historically found that they pull better -- but like everything else, it depends.

The Trouble with RSS

Had lunch last week with my friend Doug Kurkul of the National Association of Manufacturers, and enjoyed a freewheeling conversation on a number of technology trends affecting association communications. One thing we talked about was RSS and its potential impact on associations and how it will play with email marketing, communications, etc.

There's a lot to like about the RSS concept. (I won't explain the details of how it works -- here's a really good in-depth primer, and I did speak more about it in an earlier post.) Lots of people are excited about RSS because it allows content providers (associations) to bypass email spam filters and give you a direct connection into a member's desktop.

The idea is that a member/reader can subscribe to your RSS newsfeed, and then through the use of "news reader" software, receive automatic updates whenever you add content. As the technology is more and more accepted (driven primarily by blogs, which make it easy to produce an RSS feed), we'll probably see browsers and email clients add newsreader functionality directly so that separate software is no longer needed. (Firefox already provides this through its "live bookmark" feature.)

So, by incorporating RSS into your web strategy, you'll be able to distribute content immediately to the desktop of those who are interested in what you have to say.

Sounds great, especially as email gets harder and harder to distribute due to spam filters.

But is it a panacea? I don't think so. I think, as RSS is adopted by a wider audience, it will become another (important) communications tool. But I don't think it will replace email.

In my heart, I'm really a direct marketer (or direct communicator, as the case may be). Newsfeeds will make it easy for members/readers to access your content directly -- but they will still need to go to the trouble of actually looking at your newsfeed. To use the cliche, it's a "pull" technology, just like your website. It's not a "push" technology.

The reason email marketing became so popular so quickly is because everybody needed a way to get people to visit their websites. In most cases, even if you update your site every day, your members probably aren't visiting your website everyday. By communicating with them regularly by email, you give them a reason to come.

This doesn't mean email is perfect -- you're going to get blocked more and more, you're going to get people unsubscribing, you're going to run into all sorts of difficulties. By incorporating RSS (as it makes sense for your audience), you get a way to get around that. But that doesn't mean you eliminate email as a communications tool. While email marketing is becoming more difficult, email marketers are also getting savvier about providing the service. (I suggest you use a third-party service to send emails rather than sending them yourself. The big third-parties have relationships with the major ISPs that most associations can't have. Many associations brought their email list maintenance in-house, and I've heard from several that are finding it takes huge time and energy to try to keep themselves whitelisted.)

I can just go by my own experience. I've tried using various newsreaders, subscribed to many blogs and sites, and am even using Firefox's live bookmark feature with a bunch of sites I would like to keep up with. The problem: I find I don't use the feeds. While it's relatively easy for me to check the feeds (I'm on the Internet all day long), I don't do it. I'm usually able to keep up with blogs I like once a week or so, when I get a chance. There are a few I check everyday as a matter of routine, but not that many.

And when I do check them, I don't look at the feeds -- I just go to their site through a regular old bookmark.

Will my habits (and those of my audience) change as RSS reaches critical mass, new technologies are created, younger generation members come in who are more familiar with this kind of browsing, etc? Possibly, maybe even probably. But at the end of the day I think we're still going to have to deal with the same issue associations have been dealing with since the dawn of time: getting information to our members (as opposed to expecting them to come get it).

RSS is great. But when your organization's survival depends on getting your message directly to a wide audience, it won't work by itself.

I'm So Embarrassed

No, the tattoo isn't real.

New ACCA Blog

This week, we're launching a new blog at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. It's a little different than the usual blog.

Here was the situation: we compiled a list of links to state agency websites with information on state HVAC licensing, as well as general information on doing business in the state. We wanted an easy way to make these links available as a service to our industry, recognizing that the data will change frequently and require additional posts for each state as well.

So we came up with HVAC StateWatch, using the blog platform to make this information available in a simple format for use by both contractors and the general public (feeding back to our regular site for membership and consumer services). I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

Basics of Podcasting

While Jeff De Cagna has jumped in the podcasting realm with both feet over at Associations Unorthodox, a lot of people who are still just learning the concept of "blog" are confused over this even newer term and what it means. Via Debbie Weil, I came across this article that does a nice job of providing a basic primer on the term and its potential use in marketing. While a long-time skeptic of the power of web audio (and a firm believer in the power of text and design), I am reconsidering.

Blogs vs. PR

It's a delicate balancing act. See this piece in today's Washington Post (registration required).

The CAE "Controversy"

There's a very interesting (and, for the blogosphere, very cordial) conversation going on in comments over at Ben Martin's blog on the CAE designation, its value, whether or not its too "basic", etc. Lots of interesting thoughts from CAE holders and non-holders alike.

I'm not a CAE and don't plan on becoming one -- by saying that, I mean no disrespect to those who have received the credential, I think they are to be commended, but I also don't think the CAE as it currently stands is a "necessary" requirement and the choice to get it or not is a personal one. Ben has done a good job throughout his blog, on preparing for and passing the CAE exam, in laying out what he sees as the personal benefits.

In talking about association credentialing and advanced learning, I think there's an interesting question that should be considered: Is association management a profession, or are associations an industry?

Since the dawn of time (so to speak) the field of association management has been treated as the former; but if we take some time and view what we do through the prism of the latter, some very interesting distinctions emerge. What do you think?

Blogging Roundup

David Gammel has an excellent roundup of association-related blogs over at High Context (and thanks for the nice words and link, David). He also was kind enough to link to our organization's conference weblog.

Success ... What's Next?

Our conference last week was a true success -- with high attendance, happy attendees, and huge accolades all around. I'm privileged to work with many colleagues that really know how to pull out all the stops in providing customer service and put on a first-class show. We really have tremendous talent and capability at the ACCA national office.

Like many association folks, I'm left drained, but exhilarated, by our annual meeting. It's our signature event and we're one of the lucky groups who have seen our conference and expo grow exponentially over the last few years, partly because we never rest on our laurels. We're already figuring out ways to change for the 2006 show and try new things. We don't want our attendees to get bored (and we don't want to get bored, either). There's an old line that says that success is merely proof that you're pretty good at what worked yesterday.

Now, of course, it's back to the many projects piling up that get put on hiatus each year during the show after taking a few days off to recharge batteries. Hopefully, I'll also have time to post some more thoughts here, as well.

Quick Bloggy Note

At our conference this week we're using our special conference blog to keep attendees (and more importantly, non-attendees) up to date on what's happening here in Austin.

Job Opening

Our communications coordinator is leaving us to follow her dream to New York City. Sad to see her go but at the same time excited for her new adventure. This leaves us with an opening at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America for a talented writer to fill. Here's the link to the job listing at ASAE Career Headquarters; please forward along if you know of someone who might be a good fit.

Payoff

I arrived in Austin today to prepare for our organization's annual conference and expo, which starts Wednesday. Hard to believe how much time goes into this sort of thing (all year long, but especially those hectic couple of months beforehand).

Walking into the hotel I was immediately approached by several members who are here for some pre-meetings going on -- the sorts of terrific people and couples who I've gotten to know over the years but, unfortunately, only see once or twice a year. Handshakes, backslaps, hugs and even the occasional kiss all around.

Considering how my mind was off in la-la land as I walked in the door (running down to-do lists; remembering two emails I forgot to send yesterday; wondering if I'd reminded a staffer to do something when, if I were to stop and think about it, I'd realize that she doesn't need me to remind her to do anything), it was almost a shock to the system to look up and see a past chairman and his wife -- two of my favorite people in the world whom I haven't seen since last year's meeting -- and then get a bear hug of greeting from both.

"Oh yeah," I thought. "That's why we do this."

The GMAIL Concept

Okay, I don't have a gmail account. I was offered an invitation a while back but I turned it down (how many email addresses can I keep track of?). But I'm fascinated at the way Google has handled the roll-out of this product.

In case you don't know offhand how this works, Gmail is Google's email service. They offer a huge storage amount, and offer it for free. (There was some controversy when the service was first announced based on the fact that Google serves up text ads based on words within the mail received at your gmail account.)

Since the product is officially in "beta," you can't just go up to the Google site and sign up. The only way to sign up for an account is to be "invited" by someone who already has an account.

This is viral marketing at its best. By artificially limiting the number of account holders (I say artificial because nobody believes that this system is actually a "beta" program), and requiring you to finagle an invitation from an account-holder, Google has created a sense of exclusivity around its email offering that far exceeds the actual value. (Okay, maybe it's a really really good email account ... but it's still just an email account. To say that email is a commodity is to understate by a wide margin ... it's a commodity that's free.)

Now it's not uncommon to see bloggers announcing that they have X number of Gmail invites to give away. (It's becoming more common now as you can tell that Google is releasing more and more invites.) At the end of the day, Google will have far more Gmail account holders than they might otherwise have had -- because, after all, it's just another email service, right? (In fact, he said facetiously, it's an email service that reads your email and offers contextual ads based on what people are writing you about).

Brilliant, just brilliant.

Makes me wonder: what lesson is there for an association in this type of marketing campaign? Could you imagine limiting membership (if not membership in your actual association, then membership in a sub-group of some sort, or a subscription) just to people who are able to get an invitation from someone who's already a member/subscriber? Giving member/subscribers a limited number of invitations they can offer to others?

Hmm ... yes, it does make me wonder ...

Long Time Coming

Wow, been a while since I posted here. We've got our annual conference coming up in a few weeks so I've been in that mode I slide into every year where I'm thinking of little else from dawn to ... well, dawn.

Did want to share a few things:

First, Debbie Weil, one of the best thinkers and trainers in business blogging out there, is hosting a seminar on February 17, a "blogging & RSS" jumpstart, in Tysons Corner. If you're wondering if and how a blog can work in your association's strategy, this is a good place to start. Debbie's got the info you need and a great presentation to bring you up to speed quickly. Learn more here.

Second, Jeff De Cagna has created a new blog called "Associations Unorthodox." This is an audio-only blog with a "podcasting" feed. Check it out.

I'll try to check back in more regularly with some more thoughts. Now back to watching the rest of the Grammys ...

The Association Impulse

When you live and breathe "the association world" -- when you spend most of your waking minutes trying to figure out new ways to evolve member services and adopt emerging business models -- it's easy to forget how natural and instinctive the impulse toward association is. Those of us who chose this field as a career -- or were chosen by it -- can forget how exciting (and really, how easy) it is for two people with a common interest to talk to one another and impulsively say, "Hey, we should start an association."

Case in point: the Professional Bloggers Association, in its embryonic stages as we speak. A group of 20 or so bloggers, led ably by marketing expert Paul Chaney, came together and rapidly began developing the framework for an association of bloggers and blog consultants who work with businesses and organizations to develop and write blogs. (Though I don't consider myself a professional blogger, you'll find my name on the list of founding members -- Paul asked me if I'd participate given my background in associations, and the whole "association blogging" thing, and I said sure, for what little it's worth!)

It's fun watching the group come together. They moved to quickly elect officers when they realized that twenty people talking back and forth isn't the easiest way to make decisions. They're moving ahead to build the organizational framework and decide the all-important questions around, "What will the association do?"

The association impulse is messy, indescribable, and undeniable. Even in a world where individual entrepreneurism is more celebrated than ever -- where we spend our time "bowling alone," as the book said -- associations are formed every day.

Of course, many of them fail every day, or don't get out of the formative stages. I think they fall prey usually to either a) internal bickering, b) lack of business savvy (yeah, associations need to be entrepreneurial, too), or c) market problems (either trying to focus on too small of a membership market, or opening up too wide and trying to be all things to all people).

But there will always be more starting up the next day. While assocation professionals debate the future of our organizations, and evaluate new competitors and practices, I think the association impulse will continue. The question is whether or not "associations" as we know them will continue to be the answer to that impulse in the future, or if new, unforeseen communities will emerge to take their place.

Membership Survey

A message on the ASAE membership listserve yesterday asking about membership growth/loss and retention percentages prompted me to create a quick little online survey on the topic. I've always thought it would be useful to get some real-time benchmarking information on membership trends (and once suggested to an ASAE staffer that they create some sort of scientific ongoing "Membership Index" that would allow organizations to compare their performance with similar organizations).

People who complete the online survey will also get the results. If you aren't a member of the membership listserve and didn't get my message with the survey link, send me an email and I'll send it to you.

Another Association Blog

Shawn Lea over at the Mississippi Hospital Association told me that their organization has launched another blog -- it's third (I discussed the first two in a previous post).

Shawn says:

I just wanted to let you know that we launched a new blog yesterday, Mississippi Hospitals Today. It can be found at http://mshospitals.blogspot.com. It will complement a Web site under construction, www.mshospitals.com. The Web site and the blog are going to be Web sites geared towards the public, rather than our hospital personnel.

In addition, Shawn has launched a blog for her local chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi, at pramcentral.blogspot.com. Shawn is really a good walking example of the ways in which different kinds of associations can use blogs!

Just a Question

Why would an association publish e-newsletters for its members, but none for non-members? I've come across several that operate this way.

I can see how some e-newsletters would have content that should be restricted to paying members. But if an association has the capability to create e-newsletters in the first place, why wouldn't they also have at least one that is available to whoever wants it?

Our flagship newsletter is available for free. Many of the external links are for members only (requires log-in), but most of the newsletter content itself is open. The result? Non-member subscribers join online.

You can't give everything away for free (and definitely shouldn't), but restricting everything is even worse. E-newsletters are a tremendous tool. That's why pretty much every company on the web offers them -- but you don't see them restricting all their subscriptions to paying customers.

Association Management Systems

I'm putting together a small, informal group of association execs who are in the process of evaluating new database/AMS solutions for their organizations, or who are frustrated with their exisiting system and are looking to begin the process. Talking with others in the same boat might help all of us focus a little better on the right things to consider and come up with better ideas of our own.

Several folks responded to a message I sent to the ASAE membership listserv last month, and we're planning a lunch get-together in the DC area later in January. If you're interested in an invite, send me an email and tell me a little bit about your organization and where you stand with your system(s).

Please, no responses from vendors or consultants.

What Makes an "Association"?

First of all, take a look at this website:

Subscription Website Publishers Association (SWEPA)

Now, ask yourself: Is this an "association" as most association executives might define the term?

At first blush, the answer is no, right? This doesn't appear to really be an "organization." As far as I can tell, it's just a for-profit website owned by an individual.

Take a closer look. They charge dues. Members get access to information and knowledge resources that are otherwise closed. There's a very active discussion forum where members interact with each other, ask questions, get answers. SWEPA sponsors training, which members get discounts on. There are products members can buy at a discount.

How is this any different from associations as we know them?

Well, they don't do "advocacy" -- but there's no reason why they couldn't if they felt there was a reason to get involved. (And lots of old-school associations don't really do advocacy, either.)There's no "governance" structure -- no board, no committees. (For this site's purposes of efficiently providing information its members want to pay for, do you think that's a hindrance?)

Of course, what really caught my eye about this site is its whole reason for being -- and the people who join. People who run "subscription websites" (including self-styled "associations") for niche industries and professions.

SWEPA even offers a couple sample business plans for "membership association websites."

Set aside SWEPA and its resources. The fact is it's incredibly easy for just about anyone to form a dues-based website that costs next to nothing -- and if that individual happens to know a lot about whatever industry or profession niche he/she's targeting, it's just as easy to create useful and interesting content.

(Just out of curiosity, I spent about half-a-day researching this, and realized that if I wanted to I could create a fully-integrated paid membership website, using some low-cost software and my own basic html design skills, for less than $500 and some sweat equity.)

While many of these subscription sites remain "pie-in-the-sky" ideas for their owners, there are many successful ones -- dues-based for-profit sites that have figured out how to provide engaging content, interactive communities, and useful resources that members want to pay for.

Anybody can do it.

Including your association.

Or people who want to compete with you.

Are you providing the same kinds of resources on your organization's website? Making it easy for members to join and get the information they want? Providing the "virtual" experience that more and more of your customers/members want today? (Is "networking" as it used to be defined by associations dying or dead? I think it is.)

I'm really curious about other people's thoughts on this topic.

Fortune Telling

I'm actually out of town on a little extended holiday break, which explains the paucity of postings here, though the poor people who work back in our office get no such break as I've been pelting them with emails ever since I left.

But had to stop in here to point out the new Fortune cover story on "Top 10 Tech Trends" for 2005 -- and of course, one of them is blogging. Money quote:

"Of course, it's difficult to take the phenomenon seriously when most blogs involve kids talking about their dates, people posting pictures of their cats, or lefties raging about the right (and vice versa). But whatever the topic, the discussion of business isn't usually too far behind: from bad experiences with a product to good customer service somewhere else. Suddenly everyone's a publisher and everyone's a critic. Says Jeff Jarvis, author of the blog BuzzMachine, and president and creative director of newspaper publisher Advance Publications' Internet division: 'There should be someone at every company whose job is to put into Google and blog search engines the name of the company or the brand, followed by the word 'sucks,' just to see what customers are saying.'

"It all used to be so easy; the adage went 'never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel.' But now everyone can get ink for free, launch a diatribe, and—if what they have to say is interesting to enough people—expect web-enabled word of mouth to carry it around the world. Unlike earlier promises of self-publishing revolutions, the blog movement seems to be the real thing. A big reason for that is a tiny innovation called the permalink: a unique web address for each posting on every blog. Instead of linking to web pages, which can change, bloggers link to one another's posts, which typically remain accessible indefinitely. This style of linking also gives blogs a viral quality, so a pertinent post can gain broad attention amazingly fast—and reputations can get taken down just as quickly."

A Corporate Example

Rick Bruner interviews the blogger employed by organic yogurt company Stonyfield Farm, which actually maintains four blogs. A good example of how to use blogs to reach diverse audiences with your message. Quote:

"With growth, we fear losing touch with what is a very loyal and committed customer base, and so our CEO, Gary Hirshberg, saw the blogs as a way to continue to personalize our relationship with our customers. He wants to 'be real' and saw the blogs as a way to do that ..."

Blog Your Way Into Print

Followed my usual morning ritual today of reading through the NYTimes on my way into work via the Metro (on a Red Line that moves in fits and starts, if at all, which has unfortunately become another ritual). Read through an article about how publishers are moving quickly to sign book contracts with prominent bloggers -- the latest in the Gray Lady's ongoing discovery of the blogosphere, further proof of how mainstream the concept has become.

As I said in a comment to an earlier post, 2005 is definitely shaping up as "The Year of the Blog," so look for 2006 to be "The Year of the Inevitable Blog Backlash!"

In the interim, though, where's my book contract? You'll find my contact info to the right ...

Gift of Blog

Jeff De Cagna is giving away a free year's subscription to the TypePad blogging service to an individual who wants to write a blog related to the work of associations. A great idea!

There are so many creative individuals working in the association world -- who have definite opinions -- that I'm surprised there aren't more association-related personal blogs already. Share your ideas, your expertise, your thoughts -- it doesn't have to be hard work, and the more association-related blogs exist, the more interesting and innovative conversations we can have about challenges and changes. So go take Jeff up on his offer!

I'll slowly be transitioning this blog from a temporary "event" blog tied to our presentation the other week, to a permanent personal blog, and besides blogging will talk about other areas such as overall association management, communications, membership and technology.

I just need to decide what to call it -- right now the url is just "associationblog." I'm stumped trying to devise a new moniker -- "association" is such a clunky word, and it lends itself to such an unfortunate abbreviation. (I don't think I want to become known as the proprietor of the "AssBlog.") Any suggestions?

Outsourcing Blogs

One question that came up in conversations during the Great Ideas Conference was, "Can a blog be outsourced?" Sure, much like any other communications vehicle. If you were to do that, I would suggest that you work with someone who is familiar with blogging, and make a definite plan for the type of content to be used and how often it's going to be updated.

But remember, blogging lends itself to immediacy and a conversational tone that will require your attention as well. It's important that the blogger you hire understand your organization, industry/profession, and culture.

Blogger Jeremy Wright, who made news a few weeks ago by auctioning his services on eBay, wrote a good piece on "why companies should hire bloggers" that is worth a read.

Pushy Salespeople

Listened to a voicemail message this morning from a gentleman who sounds quite irate. He is very put-out that I have not returned any of his previous voicemails, having left messages for me in June, July, and August. Here it is December, and he has yet to receive the courtesy of a return call. He'd been told that I was the appropriate person to talk to about the market research services he provides to associations, and if I'm not the right person, he would certainly appreciate getting a phone call indicating which staff person he should be annoying with stupid, ignorant voicemail messages that never get returned.

Note to Stupid: Um, I'm not interested. Pretty obvious, don'tcha think? And I don't owe cold-calling salespeople anything, least of all a return call.

Really, do you think this sort of bizarre behavior has ever resulted in a sale? Or in anything but a determination on the part of the "customer" to never do business with this company under any circumstances?

Blogging vs. Forums

I was asked the question, "How is a blog different from a discussion forum or message board?" My thoughts:

Very different -- and I think it's pretty plain to anyone who's actually read both blogs and message boards. (This individual admitted to having never read a blog before.) Message boards (even if they are limited access or members-only) allow anyone to post a new thread or ask a question in a subject area. Other people can then add to the threads. A forum lacks an individual personality (though individual posters may become well-known in a board for their own personalities) and encourages specificity of topics (as opposed to conversation).

A blog takes on a specific personality over time -- the personality of the author(s) (real or assumed). There's more of a sense of a conversation (including the quirky subject changes and mind-leaps that take place in conversation), whether there are comments on or not. And yes, there's more control in a blog than in a message forum -- the blog author(s) steers the discussion by choosing his topics and writing his posts.

There's a place for forums (though I've personally never cared for them and have so far opted not to make one available on our organization's website). There's a place for blogs. Two different animals.

Overheard ...

... at the ASAE Great Ideas Conference:

Reviewing a case study of an association struggling with change, the group that had been assigned to roleplay the organization's Board of Directors began its report by saying, "First, fire the CEO!"

The group that had been assigned the task of roleplaying the CEO began its report by saying, "Extensive research is needed ...."

At which someone in the room called out: "That's why you're fired!"

Need a Mindless Diversion?

Then click here. The next best thing to working in the mailroom!

Blind, Deaf & Dumb

According to CorporateBloggingBlog, a Swedish association, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, issued an ultimatum to an employee to quit writing a personal blog because "they believe his personal views could be mistaken for the organization's." Instead, he quit, and has now been recruited by a free-market think tank.

There's a reason successful companies like Google and Microsoft encourage their employees to blog.

Good Question!

Just got back to my room -- the session went well, and there were lots of great questions throughout. I'm going to go back through my notes and see how many of them I can cover here in some future posts. (And feel free to post any other questions you might have in comments.)

Now, off to the reception and dinner at Epcot...

Talking to the Folks in Orlando

I'm talking to the folks who were hardy enough to gather here at 4pm to talk about blogs in Orlando. Personally, I'd rather be outside enjoying the weather. But I wanted to take a minute to show them how easy this is.

Getting Ready

We're setting the room up for the session, and hopefully, all of these external systems we'll be demonstrating will actually work the way they're supposed to. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works! (I actually sent a post via email earlier today about a session I attended this morning, but it doesn't seem to have arrived yet --- we'll see if it ever does.)

So far, the conference is going well, and seems well organized. At an earlier session I sat at a discussion table with a group of other association executives -- and thought, isn't this nice, they're all association executives. No vendors! Not that there's anything wrong with vendors but it's nice to have a conversation with people who aren't trying to sell you something.

At the same time, I hope they consider adding a small exhibit hall when they do this again -- I always liked the old M&T tradeshow ASAE had in December because there seemed like a greater focus on vendors providing association services (as opposed to the CVBs and destinations that seem to dominate the annual meeting's floor).

Lucia just arrived so now we're going to try to re-work this room into something a little more cozy....

Planning to Plan

Just sat through an interesting session on "Redefining Association Value" and am now enjoying some incredible weather at lunch.

During the session, we conducted some roleplaying around a case study of an organization facing some slight changes in its membership base. The responses were interesting. How quickly some people jump ahead to drastic measures! And how quickly others assume you can't do anything without three years of research and planning!

There has to be an in-between there somewhere.

(Bonus points to anyone who can tell me where this post's title is from.)

Your Member's Desktop

Imagine a world where you could deliver your messages to your members -- indeed, where your members could talk to each other -- without worrying about spam filters, firewalls, and "junk email" syndrome (you know, where you come into a full emailbox and wind up missing an important email because it was buried between the latest Viagra promotion and another Nigerian with a sob story to tell and $40 million to park in your bank account).

It was only a few years ago that that was the norm with email, before spam exploded off the charts and made it all so much more difficult. While I remain committed to email marketing and communications, because I still think it provides tremendous value as direct marketing, there is another tool that is growing in effectiveness, and it ties in very nicely with blogging -- in fact, blogging has led the way in promoting its use.

It's called syndication, and while I'm going to avoid getting all technical (I would only confuse myself), it's basically a way to deliver content directly to someone's desktop through a "feed" that's based on a standard language (XML) and is interpreted by "reader" software.

Here's how it works in a nutshell: You download reader software. Through the software you subscribe to whatever feeds you want. (There's one on this blog -- look for the orange XML button on the righthand side of the page and you'll get the feed link.) Then, whenever you update the feeds, you get the latest content posted to that webpage.

It doesn't just work for blogs -- there are newsfeeds available for most major news organizations, scholarly journals, and just about everything else. Anything that goes in a webpage can be reformatted into an XML template and published as a feed.

If you've never used a reader before, the concept can be hard to explain without showing it to you. Well, thanks to the gracious hard work of Paul Ward, along with design work contributed by Rock Creek Creative, now you can. Paul's created a demo system that you can download here for free and get a look at how it works.

You can download the zipfile for Windows here.

When you download the file, unzip it, and then in the newsforum folder, open the "ACCANewsForum" executable. You'll see some sample newsfeeds already there, and to look at a different one, click NewsManager and you'll see several more samples. Go all the way down to the bottom of the NewsManager and you'll see the space where you can add additional feeds. (For questions on the reader demo, contact Paul directly at paul@pkward.com.)

Syndication is a rapidly-growing content distribution method that is going to grow more popular as email becomes more and more difficult. (As Paul's reader shows, you can even set up email discussion groups for the newsreader format. In the main screen, the first entry, "Blog on Blogging," is actually a Yahoo group created for the purposes of the demo.)

And it's a much more efficient way to surf the web if you have a number of sites you visit regularly that provide newsfeeds. I use my reader to keep up with dozens of blogs and news sites so I don't have to worry about spending time in a browser checking to see if they've been updated.

A direct channel into your member's desktop, providing content when you want to provide it, to be read when they want to read it ... it's the best of "push" and "pull". Think of the possibilities.

(Hey, a free newsreader to download -- that's better than any paper handout, isn't it?)

Welcome to Orlando

Arrived in Orlando this afternoon after having one of those travel days where things seem to go wrong. Then, it took some wrestling and several phone calls to get the in-room high speed Internet access to work properly.

But, no matter -- it's all working fine now and it's a beautiful day here in Disney World.

Not much time to enjoy it right now, as I need to spend the next couple of hours finalizing my points for tomorrow's presentation (it's going to be pretty casual, but I'm very dependent on outlines because I have a brain like a sieve), plus lots of deadlines crashing around on other things.

One bloggy note: this weekend, we were able to finally launch a new blog at ACCA devoted to our 2005 annual conference. You can see it here.

Blog Networks

Earlier, I suggested that some associations might find value in gathering together a network of bloggers within their industry or profession. Along those lines, I just found this through the Blog Herald -- Law.com, owned by American Lawyer Media, has formed an affiliate network of independent blogs written by legal professionals, and pulls together highlights from their posts on "Legal Blog Watch."

Blogging on Blogging

This post offers another concise summary of the different kinds of blogging, pinning them into five genres: the introvert blog, the extrovert blog, the job blog, the specialist blog, and the advocacy blog.

Easy to see how these genres -- in particular the latter three -- can fit into an association mindset.

15,000 Blogs a Day

That's right, there are 15,000 new blogs created every day, or one every 5.8 seconds. Blog analysts Technorati are tracking over 4 million blogs.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of these are personal blogs, and the overwhelming majority are abandoned as soon as they are created. There's a lot of detritus in the blogosphere.

Given all the junk out there -- the notion of blogs as a way for young people to share their rants and let you know what MP3s they're listening to -- you might wonder how this could possibly be a tool for an association. How will your blog stand out in that crowd?

Well, there are millions of junky websites out there, too (not to mention all the porn). This didn't stop your association from developing a web presence (or at least I hope it didn't). You don't have to worry about the 4 million personal diaries. You only need to worry about using a simple tool to reach your core audience.

Free Webinar

Via Rick Bruner, I see that a free webinar on business blogging has been scheduled for December 16, hosted by Six Apart (the company behind the TypePad system and Movable Type blogging software) and marketing consultant Jim Coudal. Many of the topics and concerns presented in the agenda are also applicable to associations.

In Praise of Controversy

I'd drafted a long (and somewhat rambling) post on the value of controversy for blogging and association communications in general, and somehow, inexpicably, I've lost it -- it's not in the system anymore. Sigh. And here I'm running out of time, leaving tomorrow morning for Orlando with the session scheduled for Monday afternoon.

There are lots of other things I want to post about, too. I'm going to keep blogging until the session as much as I can, and then will probably keep it going. Frankly, the experience of creating this blog has been personally valuable, because it helps me think things through -- not just for the purposes for this particular presentation but about blogging and association issues in general.

Back to the topic at hand, I'll just try to get to the gist:

Earlier I'd asked what happens if commenters (or even bloggers) raise controversial issues within a post. You might even have to deal with an unhappy member complaining about the organization or some of its services.

In my opinion, situations like that are more of an opportunity than a challenge. An organization that's secure about its role and its capabilities welcomes controversies because it gives you a chance to respond -- a chance to either make things right, if you really were in the wrong, or to refute the assertions, if they are unfounded.

The key here is to respond, to do so directly and immediately, and to do it in a way that shows you embrace the dialogue. Doing all this in a public forum demonstrates an organization's strength. Shying away from such a discussion shows weakness.

At the same time, there's nothing wrong with generating controversy about topics within an industry in your blog itself. You can do so simply by asking questions and generating discussion. I can see two valuable reasons:

1) From a program perspective, there's always the real possibility that new solutions to old challenges facing an organization's membership can be generated through an open dialogue.

2) From a practical perspective, people are more likely to read and return if you talk about important issues, which are almost always controversial. No one wants to be fed a steady diet stream of "rah-rah" cheerleading.

Pings & Trackbacks

In case you're new to blogs in general, and are wondering what that little "trackback" line is under each post: "Trackbacks" are a standard embraced by most blog platforms (not, oddly enough, the Blogger service -- I had to set up a third-party system to use the feature). Basically, a trackback is a more direct way of linking, and a way to follow a discussion or train of thought across many different sites.

While everyone is familiar with the basic "link" -- just putting a link to another site on a webpage -- a trackback enables a specific blog post to be linked to another specific blog post. For example, if one author makes a comment you disagree with, you can write about it on your own blog -- and then set a trackback to the original post. Or if another blog points you toward an interesting article that you want to comment on, it's standard to use a trackback to give "credit" to that blog.

A trackback sends a "ping" to a special URL address established for each post. It's a little message sent across the Internet that leaves, on the original post, a link to your post, and usually a little excerpt of what you wrote.

That's as technical as I'll get (hey, all I know is that it works).

Listen Up!

UPDATE: Hmm, only one person owns up to listening to the whole thing so far! (Thanks, Shawn.) I'm still on the fence as to the efficacy of audioblogging, but remain open-minded. I wonder ... hey, wait, I just realized that I haven't even listened to it yet! One sec.

......

Do I really sound like that?

I'd guess that this particular concept either works or doesn't work depending not only on your audience, but really on the individual blogger. Are you more comfortable writing something down or talking extemporaneously? Personally I like writing because I like to go back and edit. Even if I were to post a real audio blog (the way Jeff De Cagna does here -- and yes, I listened to this one) I would probably feel the need to write out notes first, so I don't think I'd be saving any time. Still and all, it's another tool you can consider if you decide to do a blog.

Content for Your Blog

As mentioned previously, ACCABuzz is primarily a news gathering blog (although it has and will continue to be used in other ways -- ala special topic commentary, etc.). You may ask, how does the heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and refrigeration have THAT much news to keep up with? Well, I seem to find a decent amount. Plus, there's small business issues, legislation, chapter events, and all kinds of other stuff that our members want to know about.

Here are some ideas on how to develop solid sources for everyday blog content:

• Have staff members e-mail blog-worth info directly to you from their various departments
• Establish a way for local and/or state chapters to send you timely news or information about upcoming events
• Invite members and associates to submit releases regarding company news, product releases, etc.
• Book mark the news page of key partners or sponsors
• Sign up for Google news alerts or set up a Lexis/Nexis account to track specific topics

These are just a few suggestions. If you sit back and think about it, there are probably even more sources that are specific to your association and relevent to your member composition.

The Bloggers Routine

Kevin told me he'd been blogging up a storm over the holiday weekend and I just now had the opportunity to read through all of the new posts and comments. Boy, he wasn't kidding! There certainly is a lot to share on the topic.

While Kevin is our in-house expert on blogs at ACCA, you'll most often see my name in the "posted-by" lines on ACCABuzz. This is because I maintain our blog on a day-to-day basis.

So, during our presentation at the Great Ideas Conference, I'll share how I go about keeping our blog up-to-date and useful for our members. I'll tell you where I get all of that information and I'll show you exactly how I go about posting it to ACCABuzz. The concept is supposed to be, "A Day in the Life of a Blogger," but the thing is -- there really isn't a typical day. Exciting, huh?

Word of the Year

"Blog" has been chosen as the "Word of the Year" by Merriam-Webster.

Making a Difference

NAM's blog is demonstrating the role an association blog can play in a public debate. Earlier, Pat Cleary let his opinion be known on a CNN report on manufacturing:

"Did anyone see 'CNN Presents: Company Town' last night? Anchored by Aaron Brown and produced by Emily Probst, it was a fairly one-sided and gloomy account of manufacturing and our purported decline. It was actually a strange hour-long program in that it had no voice over, just an occasional black screen with an ominous text message, with more hand-wringing, more crepe-hanging. Amidst the innuendo in this meandering tale, there was some ersatz expert from Harvard, of uncertain portfolio, who spoke in the tone of an undertaker and foretold the end of the middle class. For some reason, no one thought to contact us in the hopes of finding balance (remember balance?) along the way."

Today, he reports that CNN has responded to his message:

"Got a nice e-mail from CNN today concerning the piece posted below ... It was actually a very cordial and measured note, saying that 'presenting a fair and balanced story is tough', but noting that they strive to do so in all projects they take on ... Our problem with the piece was that it ignored the causes of manufacturing job loss, the 22% (non-wage) cost disadvantage we have with our trading partners which drive companies out of business and out of town quicker than anything else ..."

I talked to my friend Doug Kurkul over at NAM about their blogging experience and will have some of their comments to share a little later.

Behind the Mask

What's the point of having a blog at all if you're not willing to wade into the deeper waters?

Since blogs were first created, they've been used, in some cases, anonymously. Blogs are not only easy to create -- they are easy to create in such a way that the author remains completely anonymous. With anonymity, the thinking goes, someone can express opinions without fear of retribution or backlash in their personal life or in their career.

On the political side of the spectrum, one of the most heavily-trafficked blogs is run by Atrios, a Democratic activist with a huge following among supporters of that party. Not only do the blog's comments draw literally hundreds and hundreds of active debaters, but it demonstrated some real fundraising prowess for candidates during the election.

For a very long time, Atrios was completely anonymous. It became a subject of real debate among bloggers, many of whom claimed that by refusing to reveal himself, Atrios was actually avoiding responsibility for the things that he says. Finally, last fall, Atrios revealed himself to be an economist named Duncan Black.

One of the options to consider in sponsoring or developing blogs is the option of anonymity. For example, you could have a member write an anonymous blog that allows him or her to post controversial opinions to provoke debate without fear of retribution.

The bigger question is: Should you?

I can't really address this topic without pointing to the anonymous blog within our own midst, that sponsored by the Association Forum of Chicagoland and written by an anonymous association CEO, titled "View from a Corner Office."

I'm of two minds on this issue. First, I can see the value of gaining "real-world insight" from an association CEO's standpoint, and understand how anonymity would allow that CEO to comment on internal issues with a much greater sense of freedom.

But second -- is there a line to be drawn beyond which such anonymity stops being a shield and becomes an enabler? (I'm mixing metaphors. Sue me.)

Case in point: the Mystery CEO's latest post offers some rather significant criticism of the CAE program, from both herself and a colleague who also remains anonymous. I'm not suggesting that this is not a debate worth having -- I think it probably is a debate worth having. But I'm drawn to the same question political bloggers asked about Atrios: "Is the author using anonymity to escape responsibility for her comments?"

It's one thing to post anonymously to talk freely about challenges (and solutions) faced within an organization and draw parallels for other people to learn from. I think that may be a commendable, if risky, goal (and I'm not saying it's necessarily a good idea). But it's another thing to use that same anonymity to provoke debates about serious issues facing the community as a whole without taking responsibility for your own opinions.

Does anonymity cheapen, rather than provoke, the debate? Wouldn't opinions and comments on a topic like this be taken more seriously if readers knew for sure who was offering them?

I sure don't have all the answers, but those are my thoughts -- and I think associations should think carefully before sponsoring an anonymous blog.

Am I wrong?

Eyeballs & Brains

Where blogs were once seen primarily as a world unto themselves (the blogosphere, if you will), major media outlets and businesses have embraced them because, done well, blogs draw eyeballs. Even The New York Times has finally broken down and launched its first blog, penned by technology columnist David Pogue. Most other major newspaper sites have hosted columnist blogs for some time now.

For good reason: these websites are generally ad-based and the more eyeballs they draw on a regular basis, the more money they make. Blogging is a way to draw repeat customers; readers who like a particular blog will return again and again.

While some associations generate significant ad income through their site, many tend to view their online presence as part of their mission, and a way to generate membership, gain member involvement, and provide service to their constituencies.

So drawing eyeballs is still an important goal for these organizations, because eyeballs, of course, lead to brains. Most likely your goal is not to draw large numbers in the aggregate for purposes of moving ad inventory, but rather to reach a quality niche with a qualified interest in your organization's goals. Drawing constituents into your conversation requires a method to find them, catch their interest, and keep them coming back -- the way a good blog can.

Will a blog itself become a money-maker for your association the way a print publication or email newsletter has? Perhaps; you may be able to figure out a way to do this, though not too many have succeeded. This morning, via Radiant Marketing, I found this article from EContentMag which contains a good brief description of the current state of blogging as a business tool:

"The wild and woolly blogosphere itself will not make money for many ... Nevertheless, blogs are already proving to be powerful audience retention devices for known media brands. Some B2B sites report that up to 10% of daily traffic now goes to columnist blogs. Blogging is less a business model than a thoroughly compelling communications model that keeps users coming back two and three times a day more effectively than standard content refreshes. Accept it and get sponsors for it."

Two Great Examples -- One Association

Got an email this morning from Shawn Lea, vice president for strategic communications with the Mississippi Hospital Association. She sent me examples of two great blogs sponsored by MHA:

Operation Healthy Vote. This "temporary blog" was tied to the election, and used as part of the association's grassroots election program. Prior to the November election it pulled together lots of resources and links related to campaigns and policies affecting MHA's members.

Cover Mississippi. MHA also has an ongoing blog affiliated with another of its projects dedicated to providing coverage to uninsured citizens of the state. There's a wealth of information here on health insurance research, policy and news.

I talked to Shawn about the blogs and MHA's implementation of the concept. Here's what she said in an email:

"I would like to tell you it was strategy, strategy, strategy. But, in reality it was laziness, laziness, laziness. ;) Blogs are FREE. They are very search-engine friendly. And they make my job easier. Before blogs, I would have to post all of that information in an irritating 'links' or 'news' section that no one would probably read anyway. With a blog, you can give a snippet of the story and send them to the whole link. I created the sites myself so didn't have the money or time for databases or fancy coding - I used the blogs as a kind of Breaking News section."

One of the best reasons I've heard for using blogs! Shawn makes a point of updating the blogs once a day (or did, for the election blog), and is in the process of developing a career-oriented blog for healthcare professionals. (She also keeps an eye on the overall blogosphere, and sent this link to an article she wrote for the association's members bringing together a list of health-related blogs).

A well-defined blog targeting a specific audience is an easy way to get your message across. What other association blogs are out there? Let me know.

(Way) Off-Topic: Frightening

See your house from space.

Commenting

The ability to comment on posts within a blog is one of the ways that differentiates blogging from other forms of communications. Allowing readers to comment on your posts is a way to build up the "conversation" aspect of a blog. It's a way of saying, "Here's what I think ... what do you think?"

Dialogue between frequent readers can build up interest in the blog within your constituency, drive readership toward your posts, and perhaps more importantly, enable those within your industry or profession to grapple with (and debate) issues of real importance to your community.

That said, not all blogs allow commenting, and not all are conducive to commenting. If you're hosting a news-gathering type of blog, with little in the way of actual commentary, then you may not get very many comments even if you make them available. And you may find comment management becomes such a chore that you need to turn it off if the comments themselves are not adding constructively to your dialogue.

What's comment management? Well, it's one thing to turn comments on (something pretty much all blog software allows). But you'll need to keep an eye on it for a number of reasons:

Comment "spam" is prevalent. Spam is not just for emails anymore. Lots of spammers clog blogs with random messages (and links to their websites, natch) with the help of automated systems. You'll need to watch your comments and learn how to use, and take advantage of, the growing anti-spam tools being built into most blog programs.

You're not offering free advertising space. You don't want companies trying to reach your audience to use comment space to advertise their wares any more than you would want them to use listserves for the same reason. Keep an eye on comments so that you can delete blatant ads (and if necessary, block repeat offenders from commenting).

Remember your antitrust guidelines. Associations have special need to be mindful of antitrust law and watch comments that may violate guidelines. (You don't want a member to post a comment asking about pricing or talking about boycotts, for example.) Set up some brief but friendly guidelines for commenting, and follow them. Try not to scare people away with harsh legal language, though.

The key component of all these thoughts, though, is "watch your comments." You'll need to monitor comments and stay on top of them on a frequent (at least daily) basis. Most systems can be set up to send you an email when you get a new comment with the contents of the comment for easier management.

Some of you might ask, "What if someone posts a comment detrimental to our membership or (god forbid) complaining about our organization?" Well ... regarding that, look for a post to come later tentatively titled "In Praise of Controversy."

And finally, feel free to comment right here! (A few of you already did, but, unfortunately, I lost your thoughts when I changed the commenting system last night. I'm trying to work around some of the limitations of the free Blogger service with some third-party services.) Disagree with me? Have a question? Heck, just click the comments link below and see how easy it is to start a discussion.

(Slightly) Off-Topic: Weird Blogger News

Two technology-related bloggers are auctioning their services on e-Bay. Jeremy Wright and Darren Barefoot have both opened auctions to provide blogging services to companies who want to host their own corporate blogs.

There's nothing wrong with a little self-promotion.

It does lead me to think about a different question you may be asking, which is: "Gee, blogs sound cool and all, but who's going to actually do this stuff?" Can blogs be outsourced? Is it a good idea? I'll talk more about that later this week.

What Do Blogs Replace? (Part 2)

Earlier I asked the question, "What do blogs replace?", and responded with my knee-jerk answer: "Absolutely nothing." So where do blogs fit in an association's communications program?

Generally speaking, blogs do not replace websites. (Though in an earlier post I suggested that some organizations with limited website needs could feasibly use a blog as a website.)

Most associations these days rely on their website as a central part of their strategy and have a lot of different web needs. Websites are used to recruit members, provide information to current members, offer content to external audiences, provide specific online member resources and services, and many other things depending on the organization's mission.

A blog (or blogs) generally works best as a component of an association's website. It's one information resource among many. Blogs are a specialized form of communications, and I think they work best if they are well-defined rather than a generic catch-all for all of an association's online communications.

And in my opinion, blogs don't replace email newsletters. E-newsletters are an entirely different type of distribution method, and one that, despite the ever-increasing complications posed by spam filters which make it hard even for fully-opt-in newsletters to reach 100% delivery, still has an extremely valuable role to play for associations.

It's easy to get caught up in the notion that a new technology will "replace" an old practice. It doesn't seem to often work out that way. Instead, new technologies open new avenues for providing member service and help associations expand their influence over their audience by reaching different target markets in different ways.

I'll use trade associations specifically as an example because that's what I'm most familiar with, and be warned -- sweeping generalizations lie ahead. When I first stumbled into the association world back in 1992, it was pretty much a given that trade associations of all sizes and types produced a print newsletter (usually monthly, sometimes weekly if it was large), and some type of magazine (monthly, quarterly, or annually, again depending on the size), as well as a membership directory.

That was it!

When I started, I was basically hired to write the monthly newsletter for a state association. Today, at the organization I work for now, our communications program consists of:

• A weekly one-page "print" publication of industry and association news for members (almost two-thirds of our members still prefer to get this by fax instead of email, which means its written and designed to be consumed as print)
• A (usually) weekly e-mail newsletter which, since it is designed and written solely for email distribution, has a completely different look-and-feel. It's chatty, personalized, sometimes purposely provocative -- and completely free to whomever subscribes. Since launching 77 issues ago, it's produced significant (and measurable) results in product sales, membership growth, and website traffic.
• A quarterly print magazine which acts as a "business journal" for the small business owners who make up our membership.
• A "news-gathering" blog that brings together links on industry information and news from our state and local chapter blogs, along with occasional commentary and event information
• An annual print membership directory (we'd love to get rid of it, since we maintain daily-updated directories on our website, but our members would revolt -- they love it)
• A website that acts as a complete member resource center, including access to not only everything listed above, but downloadable member resources and business tools, technical and standards information, consumer information, directories, and new specialized content sections we are creating for niches within our target market.

I'm starting to miss the good old days.

I'm sure most associations can point to the same communications "explosion" over the same period of time, and I'm just using our organization as an example because it's the one I'm most familiar with. The point is that blogs are a component, not a replacement, and can be a potentially valuable part of your communications program. They're simply a new distribution method that can play a complementary role to the rest of your program.

Linking & Talking & Linking & Talking & ...

Blogs have been described as a conversation between the blogger and his or her readers, but the discussion is actually broader than that. Most successful blogs are engaged in a conversation with the entire World Wide Web.

It all comes down to links. In the good ol' days of the web (like, a few years ago), links were something you devoted a page of your website to: "Here's a list of websites you might find interesting ..."

Through blogging, linking has become a much more organic way of producing content. Linking to articles, downloads, and other resources is fundamental to the nature of blogging. In fact, read through the most popular blogs and you will see that the majority of their posts are little more than a link to a news article or another blog, followed by the blogger's opinion on what the link points to.

Within the "blogosphere" (a word used to describe, basically, the world of blogs as opposed to mainstream media), some discussions cross multiple blogs for lengthy periods of time, with bloggers commenting on each other's posts ad nauseam. Within certain sectors, where there may be a group of bloggers devoted to the most seemingly arcane of subjects, the continuous back-and-forth between blogs can seem perplexing to outsiders -- even incestuous. (However, a subject that seems arcane to most people may very well be central to your organization's mission -- so you should keep an eye on blogs that are related to it.)

This type of cross-blog discussion is what led to the blog "breakthrough" in the public consciousness. The scandal involving Dan Rather and the Bush National Guard memos, as has been reported extensively, initially arose when a group of bloggers pounced on the fact that the allegedly 70s-era memos were pretty obviously written in Microsoft Word.

Earlier, on the other side of the political spectrum, Trent Lott's resignation as Senate majority leader came about when comments he made praising former segregationist presidential candidate Strom Thurmond were repeated and passed along by several bloggers. The topic did not make a dent in mainstream news media until it became a controversy in the blogosphere.

Whether providing links as a central part of your blog's purpose as a "news gathering" type of blog, or following a "link and comment" approach as part of a thought leadership blog, you have the best chance of making a dent with your audience if the blog's author is an avid web surfer herself, and is liberal with linking in her posts.

For one thing, it's an instant "added value" as your blog becomes a gateway for important weblinks related to your industry or profession. For another, from a more practical perspective, it makes it easier to produce content, and blogs need content. (More on that later.)

And for a third bonus reason -- Google loves blogs, because Google loves link-rich webpages. A frequently-maintained blog can act as a lure for web traffic to your primary site, because the more links you provide, and the more blogs that link to yours, the higher your page-ranks in the search engine.

Toolkit: What Makes a Blog?

With all these examples and ideas thrown out the table, hopefully you have now thought of at least a few ways in which blogs might play a role in your communications program. Let's turn now to some more nitty-gritty.

First, how do you make a blog? Let me count the ways ...

Hosted blogs. This is the easiest way to do it. Blogs have taken off so rapidly that there are a lot of services out there which offer inexpensive (or free) ways to start blogging. These are online services that enable you to sign up online, use a template, and start posting right away in your browser. A couple examples:

• Blogger.com
  The blog you're reading now was created with the free Blogger tool, which is owned by Google. Go to blogger.com, fill out a couple of fields, pick a template, and start posting.
  
  No doubt, Blogger is waaay easy. But it has its limitations. First, it doesn't allow you to group posts by category for easier archiving. Second, it offers no statistics on visits or pageviews, so you have to use a third-party service or else fly blind. Third, commenting is clumsy. Fourth, you have to deal with that annoying Blogger bar at the top of the page. Fifth, modifying the template (to, for example, add links to the sidebar like those on the right side of this page) involves hard HTML coding. And if you want to modify an entire template to match the look of your website, you'll need someone with good programming skills.
  
  All that said, if you need a quick and free blog (like I did), it works great.
  
• TypePad
  TypePad is a paid-hosted service, with costs ranging from a few bucks a month to $14.95 or so, depending on the features you want. TypePad resolves a lot of the limitations mentioned above, allowing for simpler commenting, a relatively simple way to add items to the sidebar, a drag-and-drop templating interface, statistics (limited), and a design interface to change certain items about the template.
  
  At ACCA, we use the TypePad service for our blog. However, remember, if you want to completely customize a template -- so that it fully integrates with your site's look-and-feel -- the template programming required is extensive.

Host your own blogs. If you want complete control over your blog(s), with total customization in application and design (so that it fully integrates with your primary site), then look into hosting your own blog program. (If you don't care if the blog looks like the rest of your site, but you want a completely free blog and have the resources/expertise to set up blog software on your own web server, this is also an avenue to consider.)

There are tons of free or very inexpensive blogging platforms out there. Some of the best known ones are:

• Movable Type (the individual version of TypePad)
• WordPress
• Nucleus
• Greymatter

Some larger organizations with more specialized needs have also had blogging platforms built into their content management systems. In any event, there's a blogging solution available for organizations of all sizes, staff levels, and expertise. And they all pretty much do the same thing. The only differences lie in the features and/or customizations you might want.

The Human Touch (Member Blogs, Part Two)

Blogs are written by people, not committees. Some of the most successful blogs have the stamp of a human being's personality, and those personalities are engaging, casual, even quirky. (I'll get more into writing guidelines later.)

What better way to "humanize" your association's programs or services than to have someone talk about them in her own voice, and show how a specific program really impacts her?

Here's how most associations talk about a specific program or service:

"The National Widget Association provides the XYZ Program, which offers members A benefit, B benefit, C benefit, etc."

Then there's a testimonial: "The XYZ Program really did provide me with A benefit, B benefit, and C benefit ... I love it!"

Depending on the type of the program or service being offered, what if a member who uses it were to write a blog -- telling his story -- his experiences with using that program -- and how it really impacted his life/business/community?

Here's a more specific example: credentialing/certification. If your association has a credentialing program, consider having a member who undergoes the testing or training write a blog on his or her experience. (On his own, association manager Ben Martin is writing a blog about his experience preparing for the ASAE-sponsored CAE exam.)

Never underestimate the importance of narrative. People like to read about other people, no matter if they're HR directors, small business owners, marketing executives, or CEOs. People are nosy! A story that puts a program in perspective -- not just nuts-and-bolts info on "First I did this, then I did that," but offering real insight into the writer's life -- helps members and potential members not just understand a service, but relate to it.

Another example: through Google I found the University of North Dakota Alumni Association, which presents two blogs written by current students, but aimed at alumni readers. Since the primary goal of an alumni association is to build ongoing support for the host institution, I thought this was a great idea to help alumni reconnect with their alma mater and get a tangible view on how their support (money) is affecting the lives of students today.

This sort of thinking isn't new to blogs, of course. My point is that using a blog in this manner can not only make a narrative easier to implement, but if done well will create an ongoing relationship that pays off in greater use of the program.

Member Blogs

Okay, more potential blogging opportunities:

Membership associations can find a great resource for blogging within their own membership. Do you have individual members who are actively engaged, innovative thinkers within your industry or profession? Then why not invite them to develop a blog that is "sponsored" by your organization?

You may even have members who are already blogging (if you're a national professional society, there's a very good chance of this, in fact). Find out who they are. You may find one or two who would be happy to participate in an association-sponsored blog because the association's brand and audience can provide a larger readership than an individual blog built from the ground up.

Alternatively, if you find several members (or potential members) who are blogging or considering it, consider gathering their links together for a "Community of Blogs" section on your website. Depending on how lively blogs are in your sector, perhaps you can write a "Best of the Blogs" feature for your web or print publications featuring excerpts from the most interesting posts.

Food for thought along those lines: a few weeks ago I stumbled across the website of a company called 21publish.com, which apparently provides "blog portals" for organizations. According to its website, it helps organizations create their own blogging communities for members with the use of a simple online tool a la Blogger.com, etc. It's easy to imagine a professional society finding great community-building value in a resource like this. (But please note, I don't know anything about this company other than what's on its website, so this isn't any kind of an endorsement. I just found the concept intriguing.)

Off-Topic: A Brief Rant

Okay, I'm going off-topic here for a moment ...

If your association's website has a members-only section, make sure that non-members who attempt to log in without the proper credentials are returned an error page that, at the very least, provides a link to your "join" section.

If you are not using a pure database-driven website and are relying on some form of basic httpd authorization (the standard browser "gray box" asking for username and password), remember that the standard "error page" is a very basic webpage announcing "Authorization Failed" in big bold letters. This is a selling opportunity lost.

These error pages are very easy to override and replace with a custom page that points toward membership. Talk to whoever is managing/hosting your website. David Gammel wrote an article on custom error pages for "Page Not Found" (404) errors, and the concept is the same for "Authorization Failed" (401) errors.

If you're using a pure database-driven website, and resolving credentials through server scripting, make sure failed authorizations get a message about membership. (I've seen many such sites simply return the form again with a red "Username or Password Incorrect" line, which is, again, a lost opportunity.)

More non-members are clicking on your members-only links than you think. (I always do.) One more thing: make sure you spell out exactly what's behind your members-only wall so that non-members know what they do not have access to. If you just put certain items behind a members-only wall without calling them out on your site to non-members, you're losing potential membership sales.

This, of course, is all predicated upon your having valuable resources reserved for members online. (I just stumbled across a major national organization's website whose items marked "members-only" are not, in fact, for members only -- no password is requested and the pages are freely available.)

Sorry, but had to get all that off my chest. Now back to our regularly-scheduled blog ...

Temporary Blogs

Not all blogs are permanent. In fact, "event" blogs have become more and more popular. These are blogs devoted to a specific event, usually including posts before, during, and after the event. If your association has an annual meeting, consider developing a meeting blog. There are three reasons to do this:

Promote attendance at the event. By launching a blog devoted to an event several months prior, you can use the blog to promote attendance. It essentially becomes a "newsletter" about the event. However, don't make it one long string of "reserve rooms now" type posts. Instead, post about the "meat" of the meeting. Interview workshop presenters, or invite them to post, and encourage interactivity by asking blog readers to post their questions about the subject matter before the conference.

Promote discussion during the event. Invite several members and staff members to post about their experiences at the conference during the event, and promote the blog like hell to attendees. Mention it prominently in all literature and at general sessions, and if you offer a "Cyber-Cafe" or other net-access site at the conference, make sure all browsers are set to default to the conference blog. Encourage attendees to not just visit the blog during the meeting, but to post comments.

Promote the next event. The event blog doesn't just serve the attendees. It provides a link to the members who didn't attend. By reading the blog and seeing what they missed, and the types of discussions that took place, non-attendees learn why they should plan to attend the next one. A well-done event blog isn't "hit-you-over-your-head" marketing; it's tangible evidence of the value of attendance.

Some examples:

• This past summer, the American Society of Association Executives ran a blog devoted to its annual meeting in Minneapolis. This was a pure event blog, running solely during the meeting, with posts from several ASAE staffers and members. It includes photos and some summaries of speakers and sessions.
• At the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, our ongoing blog, ACCAbuzz, served a dual purpose as an event blog. For the fifteen days prior to the start of our 2004 Annual Conference, we ran a special "Conference Countdown" series of posts, and during the meeting we blogged from New Orleans, with photos, summaries of sessions, "full text" of speeches, and other news. In addition, staffer Lucia Lodato stuck close to a "first-time attendee" of the conference and ran several posts highlighting his impressions of the event.
• This blog, in fact, is an event blog, as it's being developed primarily in conjunction with a workshop we will be giving at the ASAE Great Ideas Conference in Orlando on December 6. It gets us out of preparing paper handouts, and helps me organize my thoughts as we prepare the presentation.

A "temporary" event blog may also be a way for your association to test the blogging waters.

Another Concept

Continuing from the previous post, here's another concept for a "Tips & Techniques"-type blog: a blog aimed at your member's customers or other external audiences. Suppose, for example, that you are an association representing accountants. How about a blog of accounting tips for small business owners?

Since the information would ostensibly be coming from a non-profit third party, such tips would gain a higher level of credibility with the audience than those coming from a specific business, which may be viewed as more self-serving. At the same time, you're promoting the services provided specifically by your members while expanding your association's brand with the ultimate consumers of your organization's mission -- and making that brand more valuable to your immediate consumer base, i.e., members and potential members.

What do your members "sell"? (Everybody sells something, even if, in the case of some professional societies, what they are selling is their own value to the organization they work for.) Who's the buyer? Maybe a blog could be a tool to help your members reach that buyer.

How to Use Blogs

How can associations use the blog concept for their own purposes? Blogs are such flexible tools that the possibilities are endless. Here are some ideas as food for thought; I'll offer some more specific thoughts on each of these later, some here on the blog and some at the workshop.

Thought leadership. Association CEOs or other senior executives can cement their reputation as "thought leaders" within their industry or profession by blogging. This is probably one of the trickiest blogs to pull off successfully, but can pay dividends in a number of ways for an association.

News gathering. In the "golden days" of associations, many were seen primarily as a source of collective news and information for their members -- a "filter" for important issues. The Internet changed all that. Or did it? Blogs are one tool associations can use to provide a service to their constituency by once again pulling together important information in one place. Whether it's trade news, government affairs issues, or other items of industry interest, an association can use a blog as a "filter" to provide links to news items of real importance to the organization's audience. In many cases, you're already tracking this information anyway.

Internal blogs (staff). Blogs don't have to be focused on reaching an external audience -- in fact, many large organizations are embracing the blog as a way to promote internal discussion and collaboration. For example, you can establish a private blog as your Intranet. In large organizations, different divisions or teams can collaborate on blogs as a way to track projects or engage in frank conversation.

Internal blogs (members). Internal blogs can also be used to promote collaboration between members. For example, active committees can establish blogs to allow ongoing discussion. Since committee members may be far-flung, blogs may become a new method of "meeting" alongside face-to-face, teleconference, and "live" net meetings. The blog becomes an easy way to maintain conversations, documents and ideas in one centralized (and password-protected) place. Or perhaps a board blog -- available solely to members of your board -- might solve communications problems "between meetings."

Tips and techniques. You can use a blog as a source of quick ideas, tips and techniques for your constituency -- sort of a "news gathering" blog with a more practical bent. Consider focusing the blog on very specific types of tips. Two examples off the top of my head: If your association represents an industry composed of interstate companies that have to deal with a wide variety of state laws, develop a blog authored by staff and member experts providing tips on compliance with those laws. If your profession is dealing with a new kind of competition from new entities or business models, develop a blog that tracks developments within the competing sector. The ideas are limitless and unique to each association's mission.

Small organizations. No matter how small your organization, a blog is a viable (in some cases, free) option. In fact, a small organization with limited website needs -- who may only need a method to distribute information to members and other interested parties -- could feasibly just use a blog as their website. For example, for a few bucks a month and a small amount of time, a TypePad blog could be set up with categories (news, events, etc.) and you could use the simple interface to easily post additional items.

That's a start. What other ideas do you have?

Blogs in Action

Had enough to eat?

While my digestion process continues, and before I get into some of the more nuts-and-bolts issues here later, I thought I'd jot down a few more samples of association blogs in action. Here are some I've come across recently:

The National Association of Manufacturers has a new blog penned by NAM Senior Vice President Pat Cleary. The blog already has a pretty well-defined voice of aggressive advocacy on behalf of its audience.

The Association of National Advertisers is hosting two blogs: one from the association's CEO, Bob Lidoce, and one focused on government and legal issues authored by Dan Jaffe, the ANA's Executive Vice President for Government Relations.

A number of members contribute to a blog hosted by the National Association of Scholars, a group of university or college professors, students, and administrators.

Another association blog with a definite viewpoint, BoardBuzz, is presented by the National School Boards Association.

The California Manufacturers & Technology Association pulls together links and news items from a variety of sources for its members.

Good examples, all. I'll add links to them over in the sidebar, too.

A Brief Detour

I'm writing this while en route to Maryland's Eastern Shore to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. The post is being written in the email client on my wireless PDA and will then be sent to a special email address which places it on the blog.

Cool, huh? (Assuming it works.) But "cool" doesn't cut it, as far as I'm concerned. When looking at any new tool or program, I prefer to shy away from the "gee-whiz" factor. The real question to ask is, "Does it get results?"

If it doesn't, then it won't matter how cool it is. (And if it does, it doesn't matter how low-tech it is.)

What Do Blogs Replace?

Absolutely nothing. More on this later.

Specialty Blogs Abound

Within industries and professions, blogs abound -- mostly written by individual experts in their field (or in some cases, avid hobbyists). Are these areas where your association should be weighing in?

Here are just a few examples:

Attorney Kevin Heller writes an active blog on Internet and intellectual property law called "Tech Law Advisor." (There are so many attorneys writing blogs that they have their own name for it -- "blawg.").

Marketing and business guru Seth Godin writes a very lively blog on his website, as well as running the provocative ChangeThis blog.

A real estate website called RealtyBaron offers a blog, "Hot Property," with contributions from several real estate professionals.

Got a problem with your dishwasher? You might find a useful tip from the Home Appliance Repair Blog.

The YP Commando offers tips for companies that advertise in the Yellow Pages with his blog.

And there are even blogs about blogging (besides this one). Check out Debbie Weil's website. Debbie also publishes a lively newsletter, WordBiz, and recently launched a second blog called BlogWrite for CEOs.

Blogs can be about anything that has an audience. (I found most of those above by doing a search on the Internet, except for Seth and Debbie's blogs, which I visit regularly.) Your goal should not be to become an Internet blog celebrity, but to get your message out to a specific constituency. Is that constituency your membership? Your overall industry or profession? Your membership's customers? (Think about that one for a sec.)

Identifying your audience (and recognizing that you really have no control over who that audience becomes once your blog is launched) is the key factor in deciding if/how to do a blog.

We'll touch more on that later and during the workshop at the Great Ideas conference.

A Few Association Blogs

There are blogs for everything. Move beyond the political and news blogs and the angsty teenagers sharing high school hallway gossip and you'll find a world of blogs that focus on specific topics with insight shared by content experts. This is where you may find a real niche for your association.

I'm going to share some examples of these types of specialty blogs and wanted to start right here in the association world. I haven't found too many association-specific blogs but here are a few of the ones I've come across:

Jeff De Cagna is a consultant and speaker who posts occasionally to his blog, "Association Innovation."

David Gammel is an association staff member who posts fairly frequently to his blog, "High Context," with a particular focus on technology.

TechnoProphet is another technology-focused blog run by George Breeden, with lots of tips and templates for associations to use.

The "Mystery CEO" writes the "Corner Office" blog, which is sponsored by the Association Forum of Chicagoland.

These four blogs are representative of two main "types" of blog. (There are lots of sub-types you could come up with.) Jeff and the Mystery CEO write what I would call "thought blogs" -- the posts are less frequent, but usually lengthier and presented as commentary.

David and George's blogs are what I might call "nuts-and-bolts" blogs, because I can't think of a pithier name right now (any suggestions?). These blogs feature posts that are usually a little more frequent, less lengthy, and feature a lot of links and short tips with fewer "commentary" pieces.

I'm not saying that all blogs fit exactly into one of these categories (a lot are mix 'n' match) but from what I've seen, most tend to lean one way or the other.

How Easy Is It, Really?

Well, I created this blog and had my first post up in less than five minutes -- a lot less. I just went to blogger.com and followed the steps to get this free blog up and running using one of the basic templates they offered.

So, yeah, it's easy. But as I'm sure you know, that's both a blessing and a curse. For ACCA's blog we use the paid hosted service TypePad (it's only $14.95 a month) and I spent a couple days tweaking the system to get a custom "look" that matches the look of the primary ACCA website. (I'm a bit of a techno-geek myself and like to get hands-on with these things.) But before we did that, the idea had been knocking around in my brain for sometime, and we had a definite vision of what the blog would be used for, who would be managing it, and how we would promote it.

While it's real simple to slap together a blog and roll it out, associations can run a risk if they haven't thought through how the blog fits in their overall strategy. The "how" is easy. The "why" can be a little trickier.

So What Is This Thing Called Blog?

With blogs attaining some sort of "hip" status in the pop culture world, there's a lot of confusion as to what blogs are. Some communications professionals are wary of blogging because the concept seems so -- well, young and irreverent.

But a blog is nothing more than what I wrote in the last post -- a continuously-updated webpage with the most recent posts first. In other words, blogging is just another content distribution method. (The concept is simple, but not simplistic: Just like any other distribution method, blogs have their own unique challenges, pros and cons, and do's and don'ts.)

At our organization, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, we created our blog, ACCAbuzz, because we had a specific content issue we wanted to address. Our primary website serves mostly as an online resource center of member tools and benefits; we had nowhere to put a large amount of information related to industry, member, and chapter news. We were looking for an easy way to distribute content that we were already getting but didn't have a place to put.

Almost on a whim, we whipped together a blog and began posting the content there. Once we realized how easy it was, and how it filled a real void (while contributing to further online traffic and product/membership sales at our primary site), we made it a permanent part of our communications program.

I'm not holding ACCAbuzz up necessarily as a model for your association. It serves a particular purpose for our organization, and there are many other ways to put blogs to use, which we'll be getting into. But don't "over-mystify" the blog concept beyond what it is -- a viable distribution method for your messages.

Blogging Basics

Here's the 30-second history lesson:

"Blog" is short for "web log" and the concept is as old as the World Wide Web itself. A blog is nothing more than a continually-updated webpage, with most recent "postings" first.

When online "diaries" became popular in the mid-90s, a whole bunch of software was created to make these diaries easy to produce. The end result was that people with no knowledge of HTML or web design were suddenly given the tools to express themselves on the web with the push of a button.

Blogs slowly took off, starting first in the technology world, with "geek" logs proliferating, followed quickly by political pundits, both old-media converts like Andrew Sullivan and Mickey Kaus, and new self-proclaimed pundits like Glenn Reynolds, Atrios, and "Wonkette."

Blogs really entered the cultural zeitgeist during the 2004 election, when the Howard Dean campaign's blog became a hotbed of activity among his enthusiastic supporters. It began to sink in that blogs were not just an easy way to post content to the web, but could also be used to foster a sense of community around a particular viewpoint or agenda.

I'm leaving a lot of stuff out but I said it was thirty seconds. What does all this have to do with associations? More later

"What's Blogging? Sounds Painful!"

That's an actual response I received to a listserve message asking if any associations had experimented with blogging as part of their communications mix. Of course, this was way back in 2003 (why does that seem so long ago?).

I suspect that most association communications professionals are familiar with the concept of blogging by now, even if they are unsure of the specifics or how a blog might be used in their own programs. In December, at ASAE's Great Ideas Conference in Orlando, my colleague Lucia Lodato and I will be presenting a workshop on blogging for associations.

And we're going to be blogging our way through it, right here, putting together some of the thoughts, concepts and links that will be going into our presentation. We'll be blogging here leading up to the workshop, after the workshop, and even, yes, during the workshop. ("Live blogging" probably sounds more exciting than it is -- "watch me type into a keyboard!" We'll try to keep it entertaining.)