Gustav: The power of social media LIVE

Watch what's going on around Hurricane Gustav and the power of social media for connecting news sources and "real" people on the ground.

Andy Carvin creates a Ning group for alerts and information. It includes the latest news, traffic cams, a twitter feed, and much more.

Here's the associated Facebook group.

Here's the main Twitter query feed and the GustavFeed set up by EngageJoe.

A Gustav wiki is built based on the Katrina wiki's format, with up to date information. From the site; "It's intended to be centralized site for links to information everywhere else on the web; please publicize it far and wide." It includes lists of aid agencies, helpline numbers, animal rescue info, even an IRC channel. And a list of relevant Twitter resources.

CNN's Rick Sanchez is on Twitter and on the case. He's freely quoting from Twitter, Facebook and Myspace messages during his newscasts on CNN (which I was watching for part of the afternoon) - as well as citizen journalist videos such as this one that I just found off the twitter feed.


Hurricane Gustav In my Back yard from Uway folife on Vimeo.

It goes without saying that all of this has come together in a matter of days (if not hours). Amazing. If I am ever in any kind of disaster, natural or otherwise, Twitter will be the first place I turn.

Crap! Missed my Blog-day!

This blog turned one year old nine days ago, on August 21. And what a year it's been!

So once again, I just wanted to use this blog-day post to say THANK YOU to all who read this blog, everyone who has commented, who has challenged me, who has made me think things through more carefully, who has linked to me, who has supported me (and voted for me!) and helped me build a community.

I can't do any of this stuff without you guys.

You know I like mottos, and have a bunch, so here's an oldie but goodie by Hugh MacLeod that I thought would be a good mantra for the next 12 months.

Enrich, then simplify.



That's what I'm going to try and do. Explore, then analyze. Walk to the edges, then come back a bit. Add layers, then peel them back. Play with all the shiny toys, then put some away for future use. Shoot on straight ahead, then circle back down the winding path. Connect people, then get out of the way. Work damn hard, but remember to stop and pay attention to my family every day. Find the biggest hunk of rock, then chip away until the sculpture appears. Mix all the elements together, then distill. Suck it all in, then filter.

Listen to everyone, then make up my own mind.

Enrich, then simplify. Rinse and repeat.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Open-call competition - field of digital media and learning

The MacArthur Foundation and UC Irvine, Duke, HASTAC are giving away $2million in awards for the following:

* Innovation in Participatory Learning Awards will support projects that demonstrate new modes of participatory learning, in which people take part in virtual communities, share ideas, comment on one another's projects, and advance goals together. Successful projects will promote participatory learning in a variety of environments: through the creation of new digital tools, modification of existing ones, or use of digital media in some other novel way. [...] Winners will receive between $30,000 and $250,000.

* Young Innovator Awards are designed to encourage young people aged 18-25 to think boldly about "what comes next" in participatory learning and to contribute to making it happen. Winners will receive funding to do an internship with a sponsor organization to help bring their most visionary ideas from the "garage" stage to implementation. [...] Winners will receive between $5,000 and $30,000.


Press release is here.

Sound like something your organization is doing? Check it out. These groups are doing really fascinating stuff.

Another reason I love Blogger.com

Blogger is rolling out a new Follower widget which will allow readers to follow my blog, thus building community around it. It will appear in the dashboard, and I will be able to browse my followers, check out what blogs they write, and see who else they follow. I can't tell you how many times I've had a really awesome comment from someone but but could not return the favor because their blog profile was private. Presumably, if those people like my blog and follow it, that would be implicitly giving me permission to know who they are. Obviously, I can then follow them back, and serendipitously follow any other cool blogs I come across in my online travels.

I'll be able to put a widget on the sidebar showing off my community and promoting my blog to new visitors who might want to follow.

Back in my dashboard, there will be an RSS reading list of the latest posts from all the blogs I follow, and yes, it links up with my Google Reader. (Here's what it's all about from the Google Reader point of view.)

And coming soon, an add-on with Google's Friend Connect...

Top of the game, methinks!

LinkedIn and associations

Check out the sweet discussion on yapstar.org about the value of LinkedIn for associations. (You don't need to be a member to read, only to post and join the convo.)

I got a comment recently, here on an earlier post:

"Have you heard of companies requiring employees to have LinkedIn profiles, and to use them to generate leads for the company's sales. It was recently "suggested" to me that I should start posting questions on the Q&A on LinkedIn, connect to the people who responded, and then turn them over to our sales team.

I don't like this practice and I said that I would prefer not to do it. In my mind, my profile is my "brand" and my property... not the company I happen to be working for in the moment.

What do you think?"

Posted my answer on yapstar.org, so it could be part of the ongoing discussion. See what you think.

Social media can get you noticed..

This one is for ASAE. Check out this post from the "next generation event" blog, and I quote:

"The online presence of this event has given me just enough to make me wish I was there--and I don't even work with associations. If you're interested in trying some new communication tools at your next event, I recommend taking a look at what ASAE has pulled off this year."

Awesome. And how did I come across this? I was bored so I did a Twitter search for "ASAE" to amuse myself by adding some new Twitterers.

Feed the machine!

What The Fogdirog???

Silly in-joke among association bloggers and Twitterers? Or global viral social media experiment?

Only time will tell. : )

Story here. T-shirt here!

Tagged in the Changeblogging meme

Beautiful Qui Diaz tagged me in her Changeblogging meme on the Buzz Bin.

I'll be honest, I read her post and thought to myself, what can I do? I mean, I care about certain issues, sure. I care about the environment. I care about LBGT rights. I care about supporting the arts, I care about urban renewal. But I don't know that I care enough to expend a lot of energy into raising money for any one cause. I am very lucky to not have had anyone in my family touched by any huge and awful diseases - though most of my friends have. I care in little ways, but not in big ways. I'm not one of those people who give so much of themselves to help others. I'm too selfish, and I worry too much about just getting my next paycheck so I can pay the mortgage. I'm squarely middle class, with a nice standard of living, but, like many, I don't have a dime to spare and my credit card companies love me.

But then I read this in her post:

The unofficial and growing network of Changebloggers is another testament to the trend toward good. Changebloggers, as defined by Britt Bravo, are “people who are using their blog, podcast or vlog to raise awareness, build community, and/or facilitate readers/listeners/viewers’ taking action to make the world a better place.” These actions occur across nonprofits, government, corporations and the general civic sector.

Here’s the great news: Social media platforms give anyone with a little reach and commitment the ability to influence, if not outright persuade. You needn’t be solely focused on societal impact to afford changeblogger tendencies. It’s a question of what are you influencing and to what end?

And I thought to myself, there ARE things I can do, even if they are small.

I can help spread the word for friends who have causes they care about.

I can blog about non-profits doing great things like Idealist.org and change.org; I can post examples of non-profits successfully using social media; I can promote creative sites like Remarkd.

I can link to other resources to help non-profits engage audiences in this space.

I can create spaces where people can talk about issues they care about; I know at least one YAPstar who volunteers relentlessly and whom we'd love to help with her causes.

I can make sure my children understand about taking care of the world they live in.

Qui's meme goes like this:

* What is one change - big or small, local or global - you want to see in your lifetime?

I'll start small and local - I love my city, Washington DC, and I want to see it have a truly great public school system, worthy of the nation's capital, instead of possibly the worst in the country.

* Who is already working this issue that you think others should support?

Our new DCPS Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, is an inspiration. I read a great article about her in Fast Company which tells a story about how her daughter's friends were complaining about the fact that DC didn't get a snow day that year. "Rhee explained that every snow day is a day when many poor kids won't get breakfast and maybe lunch." She puts kids' wellbeing and education first, in the face of plenty of criticism, and she is truly awesome.

* How are you going to use your Web/tech/marcom skills to further this cause? (Or, what are you already doing that works?)

I answered this question above more generally, but now, I plan to find out more about how I can really do more for DCPS. I already set up the community listserve last year for my kids' public school, maybe there's more avenues to explore through that. The DC Government is already exploring social media, wouldn't it be great to get involved somehow!

It's now my turn to tag some folks, and I thought I'd choose a few who either already strive to make life better and who probably also never thought of themselves as changebloggers, and/or people whose opinions I listen to and value, and therefore I am curious about what their pet causes might be.

Chris Bailey
Patti Digh
Elizabeth Weaver Engel
Ira Koretsky
Jeff De Cagna
Matt Baehr
Dennis McDonald

Thank you, Qui, for tagging me, and making me stop for a minute and think about all this stuff, and helping me realize I can do something - we all can.

More Cool Association/Non-profit blogs

Bmart and Acronym recently listed some new association blogs. But I have a few more of my faves!

My fellow Tech Council buddy Rick Johnston writes the CAE Weblog.

Super cool dude Bruce Hammond writes Insights from a Future Association Executive.

Want to know what's in The Mind of a Future Gen Y Association Executive: Whatever That Means...? Read Ryan Tucholski's blog.

And here's the Challenge Management Inc's blog.

Not new, but I really like David Patt's Association Executive Management blog.

These have been mentioned, but I think I really need to watch my back when it comes to any "best of" competition - Elizabeth Weaver Engel's Thanks For Playing is truly awesome, as is Renato Sogueco's sweet tech blog.

Finally, as if that wasn't enough to whet your appetite (or overload your Google reader), here are two GREAT MUST-READ non-profit blogs:

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

NetSquared.

Happy reading... and don't forget to comment on these blogs, question opinions, add to the conversation - that's how we all improve....!

Love free music? Help save Pandora

Details are here (WaPo article).

This plus whatever is going down at Muxtape...? Sort it out, people! Free is the future! Sharing is the new hoarding! Sigh...

Authenticity is the new Cool and other lessons from my Pecha Kucha Session at ASAE 2008

What\'s Your Learning Story? (ASAE & The Center 2008 San Diego)

view presentationtags: discovery insights ideas story

Jeff De Cagna and I conducted a session at ASAE using the Japanese presentation format Pecha Kucha, where the entire presentation is done using 20 slides (images only, minimal or no text) for a maximum of 20 seconds each (totaling 6 minutes and 40 seconds). Our question was, "What's your learning story?" and we hit each of our slides one by one for a few seconds each, going back and forth starting with me and ending with Jeff's last slide. We each said, "I learned that..." and went on to describe a moment, or theme, or statistic or whatever idea of something that we had learned throughout the annual meeting. We then asked the attendees at each table to come up with their own, and finally opened up the floor so everyone could share their learning stories.

I can only comment here on my slides, so perhaps Jeff will do the same for some of his in the comments or on his blog, but I thought I would expand on a few just for the benefit of those who were not in the session.

[UPDATE - Jeff's slide commentary is here.]

Slide 3 - self explanatory. San Diego - wow. 'Nuff said!

Slides 5 (and 6) - breaking the code - these were about diversity, building on comments from Patti Digh in the opening general session. How you have to see the code before you can break it, you have to change the structure of the land.

Slide 7 - the rise of Twitter and mobile technology as vehicles for engaging the groundswell.

Slide 9 - the proof is in the pictures... YAP is off the charts. And I'm not just saying that 'cause it was my party... : )

Slide 11 and 17 - these were mindblowing statistics I heard, about China and India. The differences in scale just puts everything into perspective (or it should!)

Slide 13 - this was about the fact that there are still people who don't know the difference between a blog and a wiki (hopefully no-one reading this...!), as we discovered at the bloggercon. As someone who is claiming to help people understand these things, I have to remember that and make sure I can speak to people at every level from "toe-dipping" to full dive.

Slide 15 - the power of social media is not only that it can create a session of 200+ attendees out of thin air, but that it can move its location... twice!

Slide 19 - one of my favorites - a reference to YAP again, this is about how you can be open to everyone but still make people feel that they are part of something special.

Slide 21 - it's all about trust, but it is NOT the association itself that is trusted - members trust other members. Associations have to enable that trust, have to create a space where trust can grow.

We got really fantastic audience participation, and I promised to type the learning stories up and share them, so here they are:

I learned that…

- Segways make you think differently.

- You can create user-generated sessions (example from Podcamp, a conference on social media)

- It’s all about member engagement.

- Control is an illusion.

- Volunteers are not being treated well enough!

- Trust your volunteers!

- You have to repeat, repeat, repeat…

- You can get to know someone 140 characters at a time.

- Twitter can build community.

- Diversity is tough. What can I do to make a difference?

- Authenticity is the new Cool.

- We can meet people online before we do in real life.

- There are too many tactics in this conference, not enough real strategy.

- Social media breaks down artificial barriers between people, like age differences – levels the playing field.

- “Social media is my dancefloor”!

- Don’t be afraid to get to know people – everyone is unique.

- Associations must stop defining for others what we think is important.

- Networking works!

- Think ahead, act now.

- Entertainment value is underrated for learning.

- Ideas are free, it’s only the scale that differs – you can modify for small staff associations

- Gen Y’s lack of fear about privacy issues could be our salvation with regards to diversity.

- Listening is powerful.

- Green is good but takes time and diligence.

- There is always more to learn.

And finally…

- Ticketing sessions does not work.

How's that for some awesome learning stories!!! You could write a novel for each of those!

I heard from several people afterwards that they really loved this format. Here's a good post from Sue Pelletier, not from this conference but another one where she attended a Pecha Kucha session, which sums up very nicely how this can be used in many different ways. Personally, despite the self-induced stress of having to come up with the whole slideshow about 2 hours before the actual presentation and then just do it unrehearsed (hello diving into the deep end for me, as a newbie presenter!), I thought this was a perfect way to get more visual. (Of course, had we actually had the two lavaliere mikes we asked for, I would have been dancing around the room as well, instead of being tethered to Jeff... but you can't win 'em all!) I HATE traditional powerpoint presentations, almost as much as I hate handouts that are just a printout of those crappy slides, so it was truly enlightening to be able to experiment with pictures and to find that people actually got a lot out of it. And, being able to sit down and take discussion after only 6 minutes was an added bonus!

Thanks to everyone who attended - I definitely plan to use this format again.

How perfect is this!

From the genius mind that is Jessica Hagy. Thank you to Jamie for showing me a book of hers - totally rockin' awesome.

Sneak Peek at the new CollectiveX UI

My buddy Clarence Wooten, CEO of CollectiveX, talks to Robert Scoble about the new user interface, due to roll out on a couple of weeks. This is one of the free social networking sites Lindy and I are exploring as possibly viable for associations to use. Our yapstar.org beta site is a CollectiveX groupsite, so believe me if the functionality isn't there that we need, we'll bang on about it until it is.

We're excited about the improvements they have made so far, and will report back in more detail once we've had a chance to really put it through its paces. Watch this space!

Exec Briefing on Social Networking for Businesses and Associations

I'm off to the beach soon, but here's some light reading, courtesy Chris Carfi, to keep your appetite whetted (is that a word?) while I am away.

Executive Briefing: Social Networking for Businesses and Associations

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social network social networking)

Here's the printable version. Enjoy!

As you know, I can't stay away from my computer/blackberry/laptop for long, so I suspect I will do some blogging from the beach, but just in case I don't, I will be back after Labor Day.

I'm a SocialFish too!

You heard it here first, then here, and now it's my turn!! This is it, it's official, Lindy Dreyer and I launched our new social media strategy consulting firm, SocialFish, LLC at ASAE's annual meeting in San Diego.

We are here to help associations (and small business, and anyone who needs it) to:

1) enter the social media space in the right way, based on where your audience is and what your objectives are;

2) nurture and grow your existing social vehicles, or help you figure out why they might be underperforming;

3) expand your existing communities so that they interact appropriately with public outposts such as Facebook or LinkedIn;

4) figure out the right metrics to show you what you need to measure to benchmark your progress and make data-driven decisions...and much, much more!

This venture is really exciting for us because based on the conversations we have had (and the number of business cards exchanged) EVERYONE seems to need help getting their feet wet in this space. If you are here and reading this, you are presumably aware of our body of writing on these topics and you know that we know our stuff. So please don't hesitate to get in touch, we're here to help YOU.

And here's an added bonus!! We are on the lookout for the PERFECT TAGLINE. So far we've come up with a bunch of variations on:

- "we help you navigate the deep waters of social media"
- "we help you hook the right audience using social media"
- "dive into social media with us; the water's fine"

Etc.... but none of these are exactly right. How about something involving "hook, line and sinker"? "catch and release?", "swimming with the sharks"... uh - no. Help us come up with something cool and fish-related! Author of the winning tagline gets some free social media strategy advice over a cocktail or coffee!

And thank you so much to everyone who has been helping us spread the word. We really appreciate it - YOU ROCK.

p.s. Crank up the sound on this video... if you know us you will find this quite funny...

(No NTEN chat 8/19/08)

Last week, we were lucky enough to have Paul Chaney, President of IBNMA stop by the NTEN Office, to tell us all about the relaunch of the IBNMA (International Blogging and New Media Association). It's only $25 to join, and it's open to all bloggers, whether corporate or personal. Paul told us all about how it was conceived as a trade association, and its mission is "to provide research, information, education and advocacy to bloggers, podcasters, social media consultants and others". I think Paul got some good advice and suggestions from us, for example: building strategic partnerships with other blogging-related groups like Alltop, BlogHer, or Social Media Club; eventually having virtual meetings between bloggers; having mentors or sponsors who would encourage people who have personal blogs. He also said they are thinking about ways they might have corporate or sponsor memberships as well as individual memberships. It was a really interesting chat and we were all enthused about joining and finding out more as time goes on.

Anyway, I am unfortunately not going to be in the NTEN office this week as I am currently in San Diego at ASAE, nor next week as I will be at the beach, but if the Office Hours is still ongoing in September I will be back then. Just in case, I want to say a really big thank you to Lindy Dreyer for hanging out with me in the chat room every week this summer so I wouldn't be lonely in case no-one else showed up - Lindy, you are the best!! : )

See you all on the other side.

Thoughts from the Bloggercon

What a nice turnout for the Bloggercon! I was excited to be there, despite the heat, because (believe it or not) I was not a blogger this time last year! We had lots of bloggers, and also several people interested in how to start blogs for their associations, some total newbies to the craft.

Here's just some random takeaways for you:

The Associapedia has a good web 2.0 glossary of terms for newbies - it's a great tool you can use when explaining anything about social media to people who don't know the basic definitions of things like wikis, blogs, socnets, microblogs, twitter etc.

Q: What’s the validity of the content of blogs? How do you know if the content is legitimate? If anyone can blog, how do you know who's writing "correct" information? A: As you would imagine, there's a whole range of quality. But that can be a role for an association, to be the editor, to be the entry point through which its members know whose blogs to read and what are the valid sources of content.

Q: What about your association blog competing with your “for profit” products like publications, articles and books? A: Blogs can be complementary, can expand that content. Blogs can be the source for the most current related info.

Rohit Bhargava – 25 basic styles of blogging and when to use each one

Every association has the same major goal of engaging their members - so it's a strategic imperative to consider social media vehicles like blogging to achieve that.

The value lies in the socializing of content - the ability to link is key to what makes a blog different from a static publication.

Q: Who really cares if you have a blog? A: Google cares! Google is the "weather of the internet" and if you are not connected into that conversation, then it’s going on without you.

Another value of an association blog is that it can make stronger connections between your members, who get to know each other through blogs or online before they meet in real life - many, many examples of this at this ASAE conference.

Suggestion: Moderate comments at first for a new member, then give them “approved” status so their comments no longer need to be moderated. Use the “flag as inappropriate” tool - blogs can be self-policing.

Cross pollinate! Let members build a conference program via the blog by asking for their input. Use the blog to point to articles in association magazine.

Give up control, you'll get so much more out of it.

Look up what’s already out there! Maybe you already have members blogging on your industry issues, and you can aggregate feeds instead of creating an association blog from scratch - et voila!

How do you maintain momentum? Use drafts. Mix up formats (short/medium/long, links only, video/podcast entries) - if you keep yourself interested, your readers will be interested. Use posting schedule – if you get a spurt of inspiration to pen a few posts, save them up and schedule them to post over several days. There is no "right length" for a blog post - but there are some metrics that show that some types get more comments, others get more unique page views - but take or leave that type of information, it will always depend on the content and context of what you are writing about. No one-size-fits-all rule for everything.

Have a personal voice. Be genuine. Even for an association blog as opposed to a personal blog, do NOT make it about the company line.

Platforms – Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress, Movable Type – all are fine to start. Main question to differentiate them is whether you want it hosted externally or not.

Book recommendation for newbies - The New Influencers by Paul Gillin - Good overview of the value of blogs. "Lurk before you leap." - read blogs, comment on blogs, easy to get a feel for how it all works before you start one yourself.

I'll be presenting a session in the Social Media Lab on "Real Time Communication: Blogging and Twitter" so I may have more takeaways for you after that. And, we're doing the Unbloggercon at 4 pm (in the CAE lounge) which is just another round of the Bloggercon for the benefit of those bloggers who were speaking in sessions at the time of the last one.

So basically, I may be all blogged out. Ha. We'll see...!

On Speaking.

I'm sitting in my hotel room, taking a breather, unpacking and, yes, blog reading for a bit, and I just read this inspiring post from Chris Brogan.

There's a lot more to it than this, but I quote:

"Obligations of a Speaker

If you are here to inspire and equip me, and you’ve built a house to rest beneath the promising North Star you hung in our sky, you must be responsible for a few things.

1. Do not deceive me, unless you tell me early in your speech that you intend to do so. You have my trust. Respect that.
2. Do not make the house for yourself. I admire that you have stature to stand on your stage and speak to me. But I have not come to hear how great you are. Be humble.
3. Equip me. Inspiration is not enough. If you give me only hope, I cannot eat hope.
4. Encourage me. Be willing to see me build my house from your speech and your example. And praise me for the house I build from your instruction.
5. Give the stage to me. In the end, we all want to hang stars before others. Even if they are small stars, on a small stage, or a blog somewhere out in the darkness. When you are done with your speech, your star, your house, invite me to the stage."

I'm presenting for the first time in this setting, totally terrified (but I think I'll do OK) - and Chris' post really hit it. He's talking about blogging, not presenting, but it gave me a lot to think about...

Dee-lightful!!

Elizabeth Engel over on Thanks For Playing has a really nice post about the missing element of delight.

As I said to her in my comment, I really think that is a major theme that sets YAP apart from the rest. I'm sure some people think that the way we refer to our members as "YAPstars", and give them wacky titles, and are always planning the next YAPpy Hour, is silly, maybe even unprofessional. Of course I disagree. And among all the serious stuff we're also doing, such as setting up working groups on a wide range of issues that affect young professionals, and providing a security net for lone travelers, and being a sandbox for social media innovation, etc., I think it's very important to have some fun with it. To create a cozy place to make friends.

Life is too short, let's make it sweet.

I am off to San Diego. Can't wait to see all my YAPsters!

ASAE 2008 Twitterfountain

Bookmark this page! To be filed under "How cool is THIS"!!! And fyi you can click the little arrow bottom left to make it full screen.

Whoo-eee! LOVE a good argument!

Check out the comments over on Acronym to the post about Blog Brushfire, the August Associations Now case study which I was a commenter on. The case study was about how to deal with the spread of negative posts about your association in the blogosphere.

My follow-up post was here.

There seemed to be some issue with my comment that "it is a mistake for Bryan to discount the opinions of the small percentage of people who comment on blogs. They often represent the opinions of a much wider group and can be leveraged to change negative perceptions into positive ones." A couple of people said that's "patently ridiculous".

Now, I agree that my language could have been tighter here. I should have said, instead of "they often represent the opinions of a much wider group", that they POTENTIALLY represent those opinions. I hate to say it, but people tend to be followers. They will tend to agree with whoever makes the first comment, even if it's not based on accurate or complete information. Then as soon as someone offers a counter opinion, people think, oh yeah, right, hmmm.

I have a good quick example. One of our members died, and he had been involved in starting our Clinic, so someone posted on our listserve that it would be a great idea to name the Clinic after him. Immediately we had a whole ton of people agreeing. We in the office were meanwhile wringing our hands, thinking, crap, there goes the opportunity for a major gift! Luckily we were able to bring that to the attention of the Board, and to send out follow-up messages to explain that there were opportunities for attracting donors and that a committee had been formed to look at those, and we welcomed ideas for how to memorialize this member, such as a scholarship in his name. Everyone backed off (and the whole thing languished in committee and was never heard from again, but that's for another post).

So while this example is not specifically about a negative comment, it illustrates that one person's views can spread very quickly. Of course we know that the member is NOT always right, but the member can potentially create a negative perception about something unless it's nipped in the bud. You have to always be prepared to do the nipping - whether you ACTUALLY have to do it or not is for a communications team or person to decide, but you have to be prepared.

The debate sparked another post on Acronym about how we deal with member complaints. Because this is what we do! Like Lisa says, we waste time and effort catering to each squeaky wheel. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but it is what it is. I think a new culture of openness and dialogue could change our desire/need to do that, only time will tell. But ignoring members who complain? fuggedaboutit. Never gonna happen!

And as Lindy points out in the comments to the second post, in the blogosphere everything is now out there on your associations' permanent record. Forever. (She's pretty smart, that one). How would you like it if some negative stuff about your organization came up first in Google searches? It happens.

Anyway. Check out the debate. I'm lovin' it!

Yay!

Excuse me while I take thirty seconds to pat myself on the back...

Bmart points out that I am in the top five association blogs according to Technorati.

This blog will be one year old on August 21. So, I'm thinking that's not bad going :)

Step 2: take over the world. Anything's possible!

ASAE 2008 Here I come!

As I am tearing my hair out trying to get all my [stuff] together and finish all my association work and get everything ready for our YAP party and get my nails done and launch my own business and pack and everything else before I head off to San Diego, I thought I would pause for a moment and, as promised, give you another wee round up of things you need to know as you get ready to head west (or south, if you are already west).

Here's my original schedule post.

Here's a few others' - Jeff, Elizabeth, Jamie. You'll notice there's a wee bit of repetition, as we're all bloggers and therefore all going to blogger-related stuff!!

The most important addition to this is the Blogger Unconference - just a bunch of us hanging out again for the benefit of those bloggers who are actually presenting during the time slot of the main bloggercon.

Here's Lindy's nice post for first timers. My main advice - find me and Lindy (it should be pretty easy, we are joined at the hip, permanently attached to our cellphones, and usually giggling in the back of the room about something). So find us, and we will take you under our collective YAP Hostess wings and introduce you to everyone. And don't worry about imposing on us - that is what we are all about! You're never alone when you're a YAPstar.

Follow the Twitter backchannel, and join the TextMob. Confused about the difference? The Twitter channel will give you the scoop on behind the scenes stuff, but you can't really converse with it or with everyone on it as a group (you can of course talk to any individual from the group that you choose to follow). It's best for reading online (including on your phone browser). The TextMob is for those who want individual messages on their mobile phone and who want to send messages to the whole group also - it will mostly be about meetups or chatter about a session that's great or one that sucks - it can get pretty hectic so choose this option wisely - and definitely make sure you have an unlimited text plan on your phone. Learned that the hard way in Chicago last year!

These are all ideas for making this annual meeting the best ever. There's hundreds more things to do, parties to go to, sessions to participate in, etc. But really, I think the most important part of a conference like this is what happens in the unscheduled times, in random hallway meetings, in conversations with the people you sit next to at lunch that you find some unexpected connection with. I found friends for life in Chicago last year, I hope you will too.

I plan to blog a lot while I am there, but of course you never know, and I may instead be off the radar. If that's the case, I'll be back next week.

Go forth and be social! I'll see you there!

My NTEN Chat 8/12/08

Last week's NTEN Office Hours chat was awesome! We had a great discussion about wikis and how to try and get people to participate more in them - perhaps give artificial deadlines, or specifically purposeful tasks. My favorite takeaway advice was that we should all "leave a trail of wikis" - in other words, if you use them all the time, others will get it and use them too.

Then, we were lucky to have Chris Brogan , uber blogger and the ultimate "hot professor that everyone has a crush on" stop in the office, and with whom we continued the wiki discussion as well as got the scoop on his Project Dogfood.



So what will the topic of the day be this week? Hmmm... you'll just have to drop in and find out. I am "IN" from 2 pm EST today.

*** PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT BE DOING A CHAT NEXT WEEK, 8/19/08, AS I WILL BE AT THE ASAE ANNUAL MEETING. I'll be back the week after.****

[Embedded chat room removed after chat. But check back at Diary of a Reluctant Blogger every Tuesday at 2 pm EST during the summer 2008 to hang out with me and discuss blogging, social media, strategy, and/or whatever might be on your mind!]

Yo fellow Alltoppers

Alltop now has a Facebook group, for us to hang out and be social together. Nice way to meet some other bloggers!

My homework assignment

On Friday, I asked if you would compare and contrast Brian Solis' "Conversation Prism" and Matt McDonald's "Definitive Explanation of Social Media" graphic.

So I did my own homework assignment and thought about these over the weekend, and here's my take. I tend to think simpler is better, so it seems to me that Matt's actually may be more helpful - especially since there are new social sites cropping up all the time and you could tear your hair out trying to place them all in the prism - which actually misses the point.

Because these graphics are only important if you can use them to show how social media is relevant to your organization.

Take this, for example, from the point of view of the individual. Say, me. I am (obviously) heavily into social media of all kinds. So I create content (e.g. this blog, my own photos, my own videos, my other informal blogs); I share content (e.g. this blog, links to other blog posts within my posts, other websites I come across through bookmarking and sharing, photos, videos, etc.); and I share information about myself, what I get up to, what I like and dislike, what events I am going to, where I am traveling to, etc, through social networks and groups. Obviously there is overlap between all of these. Now imagine your associations' "quintessential" members (you likely have different types) - where do they interact? It is very likely that many (more than you think) are already well versed in some social media, even if they don't know it. They are sharing photos with their families, or have a personal profile on Facebook, or have a professional profile on LinkedIn, for example. Some segments are very heavily into this stuff and more and therefore you might want to "fish where the fish are", so to speak.

Then look at it from the point of view of the association considering entering this space - do you want to create content? Do you want your members to create content on your behalf? Do you want to share that content? Do you want to find information that other people are sharing about your particular industry? Do you want to create a place where your members can interact with each other? With non-members (e.g. to hopefully bring them into the fold)?

There are tons more questions like these, but I think Brian Solis' prism actually illustrates how complicated you can make it all. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - there are circumstances where those nuances are very important, such as for a startup tech company trying to figure out where they fit and how to market themselves beyond just the functionality of their products. For the association industry, however, you can get too bogged down in the details about all these social sites and technologies, and basically end up not seeing the forest for the trees. Matt's illustration brings us back to the forest, the big picture.

What did you think?

And more... Check this one out.

Matt McDonald's explanation is here.

Here's your weekend homework assignment - compare and contrast this one with Brian Solis' Conversation Prism and let me know what you think. Is simpler better? Or are there nuances you really should capture and understand with all this social media business?

I'll let you know which side I fall on after I have had a chance to do my own homework.

Check out the "Conversation Prism".

Here's Brian Solis' post all about it. He says, "The Conversation Prism helps chart online conversations between the people that populate communities as well as the networks that connect the Social Web."

I want to think about it properly and will post more about it later but just couldn't wait to share it.

It's not often a site makes me say "wow!" out loud.

...Actually that's not really true - I am like a kid let loose in a candy store, as you know. I have to try everything, until I'm all sticky, and then I feel sick. But I digress.

This search site truly is super cool. Check out Viewzi. Basically, it's not so much about the number of search results you get, but the many different ways you can view the results - in photo cloud view, web screenshot view, videos view... it's nearly impossible to explain, just go have a look, plug in a search term and see for yourself.

I thought to myself, though, what a great and fun way to "listen" for chatter about your organization. Maybe there are videos and photos out there that you didn't know about. Maybe you set up some "placeholder" profiles in random places that you forgot about. Maybe there are discussions going on in places that you would not have thought to look!

Not only that, but this way of thinking visually could be a source of serendipitous inspiration. Sometimes it's just really refreshing to look at things from a different angle! Sometimes it's fun to get all sticky! It doesn't have to last long. I can't see anyone using this for serious tracking - but if you drop in once in a while, you might discover some new flavors and nuances that help you breathe life into your communications. I don't know that this will make any sense, but go and have a look. See what you think.

Traditional Strategic Planning Sucks part 1

Anyone notice that in this month's Journal of Association Leadership, there's a long article about traditional strategic planning - so traditional that, no offense to the authors, but I literally had to look at the cover to check I wasn't reading an old copy. I thought to myself, WTF is this?? Who still does this?

And then, I read the August issue of Associations Now, and sure enough, there's an article about how strategic planning stinks. Clearly I agree with that, only I think we haven't come up with a clear, usable, "sticky" method that EVERYONE can use, to replace the traditional ways of SWOT and the like. (I know there are a few methodologies out there, but I am sorry, I find any planning method with an associated acronym just impossible to remember, despite popular belief...)

There's an interesting comment I just noticed at the bottom of the link to the Associations Now article. The commenter says, "SP can work well if managed properly. It seems that no one understands that."

Of course traditional strategic planning CAN work, and has to some extent in the past, but the whole point is that things move much faster these days and associations are finding it hard to do all the "management" necessary to monitor The Plan. Surely there should be some strategic capacity within the organization as a whole that does not need top-down management, (and board retreats, and all that time-consuming stuff that is EXTERNAL to one's daily job). Some inherently flexible, open, transparent structure that involves everyone in an organization and is AN INTEGRAL PART OF THEIR EVERY DAY WORK.

This is absolutely possible!

I went to ASAE a couple of weeks ago to hear the author Stephen Ruffa talk about his book Going Lean: How the Best Companies Apply Lean Manufacturing Principles to Shatter Uncertainty, Drive Innovation, and Maximize Profits, in which he describes Lean dynamics, a way of working conceived by Toyota in the 70s and since taken up by a new breed of companies that thrive under crisis circumstances (Southwest Airlines, anyone?).

I want to finish reading the book before I write about this properly, but suffice to say that one theme this strategic way of working has at its core is the throwing out of compartmentalized tasks and silos, so that everyone in a company can see why their specific job is important to the big picture. They can see the cause-and-effect of their actions (or inactions) across everything. This one element alone can help an organization have the capacity to embrace change, because the whole system is dynamic and flexible.

I want to write about this more, but the principles are similar to those of agile planning for software that I have mentioned a couple of times! It's all out there, with companies and organizations leading the way. We just need to come up with a simple way to adapt it for the association and non-profit industry specifically, and show each other how it can work.

My NTEN Chat 8/5/08

Last week, we had a truly awesome turn out for my NTEN Office Hours chat. We discussed some really interesting things about how associations might manage "unofficial" groups of their members (YAP, anyone?) - the key is to be open, to encourage linking and communication, but ultimately to relinquish control.

So what will the topic of the day be this week? Hmmm... you'll just have to drop in and find out. I am "IN" from 2 pm EST today.

[Embedded chat room removed after chat. But check back at Diary of a Reluctant Blogger every Tuesday at 2 pm EST during the summer 2008 to hang out with me and discuss blogging, social media, strategy, and/or whatever might be on your mind!]

Blog Brushfire

I was invited to post the commentary on Associations Now's August case study about how to deal with a negative post about your association in the blogosphere.

Everyone seems to worry about this situation, despite the relative rarity of it, however it is certainly true that any organization with a blog should have some idea what they would do in such a situation.

I hope my comments on the case study are helpful in this regard.  Some of my favorite comments:

"Transparent" is not the opposite of "measured." It is very possible—and desirable—to craft measured responses which are still very transparent. This could be put more in focus by Lynne in her strategic discussions with Bryan."

"Learning how to recognize the "tipping point" is an important part of transparency that will only come with experience. Certainly, when other bloggers pick up the issue, that would be one marker that says to the communications staff that this warrants an official response."

"It is a mistake for Bryan to discount the opinions of the small percentage of people who comment on blogs. They often represent the opinions of a much wider group and can be leveraged to change negative perceptions into positive ones."

"It is very important to not appear to be simply issuing a corporate statement, if Lynne and Bryan decide to post a response on the association's blog. A better tactic would be to post an acknowledgment of the issues that have arisen and ask for more specific feedback from the group of bloggers, and then to follow up. A well-thought-out response plan can set the scene for a really fantastic continuing relationship with external bloggers—whereas a misstep might sour that relationship and make them think the association is not to be trusted. Always start from a position of honesty, transparency, and "genuineness"; the blogosphere will always see right through anything else."    

Wanna know what I am on about?  You'll just have to read the whole story... : ) 

The one thing I always remind myself, that I heard Jackie Huba say a few times now, is that your most vocal detractor or squeaky wheel is often only one "communication step" away from being your most vocal evangelist.  If someone cares enough to complain about something, and you can show them that you are listening, and show them that you care what they think, and show them that if you are in the wrong you will act on what they said and fix the problem, then you will have a friend for life.  In the blogosphere,  just as (if not more than) in real life, that one person can have a whole ton of influence - so it's worth doing what you can to really hear what they are saying.

Sweet list of Gen-Y Bloggers on Non-Profits

Thanks a million to Beth Kanter for this awesome list of twenty-something and Gen-Y bloggers on non-profits and social change. She was kind enough to include Lindy and me, although I did find it necessary to point out that we are firmly planted in the land of Gen-X and I, in particular, have not been "twenty-something" for a pretty long time... ; )

Having said that, in the interest of full disclosure, this is still a great list of blogs and I'm happy I already knew about most - those I didn't, I will immediately go investigate. I hope you enjoy these too. In particular, there's a good selection of posts about generational issues towards the bottom. Check 'em out.

Help a Reporter Out

Have been meaning to post about this for a while. This site is a free service that matches reporters' queries to information we might have.

This from Duct Tape Marketing sums it up quicker than if I tried to do it myself:

"HARO [Help a Reporter Out]started out as a Facebook group as a way to keep track of journalist’s looking for a particular expert for a story. The free service, that essentially hooks journalists up with credible sources to interview, grew rapidly and needed a home off Facebook to manage the size. As of this writing HARO is approaching 20,000 members. Hey, it’s free and its works, no surprise it grew.

Journalists go online fill out a form and their request gets added to the three time daily email distribution to members. As a member, If you see a story that you could contribute to, your simply reply directly to the query. A word to the wise, replying off topic may get you kicked off the list. Quality over quantity is what works here.

So, If your looking to promote your business sign up here. Get in the habit of scanning the daily emails quickly and see if any stories jump out at you. Keep your replies brief and to the point. Journalists love trends and ideas backed up with data, so add that as well as a pre-written paragraph of what makes you an expert.

If you’re a journalist and want to start putting your story ideas out for comment, experts or even research, sign up here. Keep in mind this includes podcasters looking for guests, bloggers doing research for a post, authors needing experts and case studies for a book, as well as journalists writing a story for a major daily."

Obviously, this will add to your email inbox, but I've compensated for that by unsubscribing from almost all the ASAE listserves. : )

Update on Scrabulous...

...Scrabulous is now Wordscraper. Check it out. Talk about agile!

Another awesome slideshow

Charities & The Social Web

view presentation (tags: groundswell agile communities storytelling)

I just have to repost this awesome slideshow by British "community builder" Steve Bridger. It's about charities, but the lessons are absolutely relevant to all non-profits and associations, I think.

Check out this quote from Steve from his post of the slideshow:

"On my way back to Somerset on the train, I read that E. L. Doctorow once said writing a novel is like “driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

It struck me that this is much like the journey we’re all making with social media. Charities need to learn to be agile enough to get into driver’s seat, and brave enough to take the wheel and move out of second gear. It’s going to be an interesting ride. Baggsy be the co-driver."

Awesome. (Let me help you drive).

Thanks to Beth Kanter for the find.