How Two Experts Build Strong Web Communities (7922 Views)
Your association may have plenty of followers and commenters, but you haven't necessarily built a community. The leaders of two large and vibrant destinations for online discussion and debate share what they've learned about keeping visitors engaged and civil. (Titled "A Site That Entices" in print version.)
By: Interview by Ron Hogan

Flip This Tradeshow (627 Views)
What if attendees manned their own booths in the exhibit hall? What if vendors came to you? One tradeshow did just that.

Good Advice About Bad Advice (616 Views)
Advice comes from every direction, and not all of it is sound. Several association professionals share the worst tips and guidance they've ever been offered and the unexpected lessons they learned as a result. (Titled "What's the Worst Advice You Ever Got?" in print version.)
By: Joe Rominiecki

Rethink Motivation (577 Views)
If you think that money and other external rewards are the only way to motivate yourself, your staff, and even your members, it's time for a change. Bestselling author Daniel Pink talks about how associations can make the most of the new elements of motivation: mastery, autonomy, and purpose. (Titled "Time to Dump the Carrots and Sticks" in print version.)
By: Samantha Whitehorne

Leading a Globally Diverse Board (412 Views)
A genuinely international board means more than just where its members are located. The former president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers shares the challenges and benefits of a board abroad and how the culture of the organization is crucial for success.
By: Leo Roodhart

Make Your Meeting Measure Up

As market clout shifts back to hotels, your meeting budget could live or die by how skillfully you negotiate the attrition clause in your next hotel contract—and how well you live up to the deal.
By: Karla Taylor

Cost-Cutting Advice for Thrifty Planners

By: Janeé Pelletier

The Formula for Publication Growth

NAFSA: The Association of International Educators doubled its publication's page count, increased its ad revenue, and upped its frequency—all in a bad economy. Learn how your association can do it too.
By: Whitney Redding

Good Advice About Bad Advice

Advice comes from every direction, and not all of it is sound. Several association professionals share the worst tips and guidance they've ever been offered and the unexpected lessons they learned as a result. (Titled "What's the Worst Advice You Ever Got?" in print version.)
By: Joe Rominiecki

Leading a Globally Diverse Board

A genuinely international board means more than just where its members are located. The former president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers shares the challenges and benefits of a board abroad and how the culture of the organization is crucial for success.
By: Leo Roodhart

What You Need to Know About Citizens United
The Supreme Court's recent ruling could have a big impact on associations and nonprofits. Here's why.
By: Jerald A. Jacobs

Flip This Tradeshow
What if attendees manned their own booths in the exhibit hall? What if vendors came to you? One tradeshow did just that.

Leading a Globally Diverse Board
A genuinely international board means more than just where its members are located. The former president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers shares the challenges and benefits of a board abroad and how the culture of the organization is crucial for success.
By: Leo Roodhart

Easing the Withdrawal Process
A three-stage process for smoother sunsetting of programs and products.
By: Jennifer J. Salopek

Transformative Leadership at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind
When Virginia Jacko lost her sight, it was just the beginning of a new stage in her extraordinary journey. She shares key lessons she's learned about leadership in a career that's taken her from a position as a financial executive at Purdue University to her current role as CEO of the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind.
By: Doug Eadie and Virginia Jacko

Associations Now Video

Tour the New Associations Now Home Page

The online edition of Associations Now has a new look and some new features. Feel free to explore on your own, or enjoy a two-minute guided tour:

Associations Now Photo Shoot, Behind the Scenes

In the August 2009 issue of Associations Now, Jason Della Rocca, executive advisor with Principled Innovation LLC and former executive director of the International Game Developers Association, visited ASAE & The Center's offices for a photo shoot for his feature article "Unconventional Leadership = Remarkable Success." Watch the video below for a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot and to hear Jason's reaction to stepping in front of the flashbulbs.

Features

• Cover Story:

  Rethink Motivation
  By: Samantha Whitehorne
  If you think that money and other external rewards are the only way to motivate yourself, your staff, and even your members, it's time for a change. Bestselling author Daniel Pink talks about how associations can make the most of the new elements of motivation: mastery, autonomy, and purpose. (Titled "Time to Dump the Carrots and Sticks" in print version.)
• Online Video: Not as Scary as You Think
  By: Cindy Loffler Stevens
  As online video continues to grow as a medium, it means videographer, director, and video editor are all new hats for an association professional to wear. One association communicator has found great early success with video and shares her tips for doing video right. Plus, a visual guide to an effective video. (Titled "Simple Steps for Better Video" in print version.)
• Good Advice About Bad Advice
  By: Joe Rominiecki
  Advice comes from every direction, and not all of it is sound. Several association professionals share the worst tips and guidance they've ever been offered and the unexpected lessons they learned as a result. (Titled "What's the Worst Advice You Ever Got?" in print version.)
• Leading a Globally Diverse Board
  By: Leo Roodhart
  A genuinely international board means more than just where its members are located. The former president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers shares the challenges and benefits of a board abroad and how the culture of the organization is crucial for success.
• How Two Experts Build Strong Web Communities
  By: Interview by Ron Hogan
  Your association may have plenty of followers and commenters, but you haven't necessarily built a community. The leaders of two large and vibrant destinations for online discussion and debate share what they've learned about keeping visitors engaged and civil. (Titled "A Site That Entices" in print version.)
• Advertising 2.0
  By: Douglas R. Kelly
  In the new and changing arena of interactive advertising, it's easy to get caught up in the hype around the tools and forget about your goals. Learn how developing a precise and concrete business plan can keep you from digging yourself a hole of lost revenue that you can't get out of. (Titled "The Medium and the Message" in print version.)
• What's Next in Association Finance
  By: Facilitated by Andrew S. Lang
  The rough economy has forced many associations to make tough decisions. But how will those decisions, and others, play out over the long term? A group of association finance experts weigh in on what changes may be in store.
• Risk Management Know-How
  By: Susan Gurevitz
  Associations large and small can benefit from the elements of enterprise risk management. Learn how your organization can make it work. (Titled "Why It's Risky Not to Manage Risk" in print version.)
• Global Strategies for Association Success
  By: Beth Ziesenis
  The global economy has seen rapid change in the last decade, and the recent recession has only complicated international opportunities for U.S.-based associations. But organizations with a solid international development plan are likely to encounter the latest ups and downs as speed bumps and not road blocks. (Titled "Global Strategies That Rise Above the Rest" in print version.)
• Small Meeting Spaces in the West
  By: Linda Hagen-Miller
  From the Colorado Rockies to the Aloha State, the Western United States is big, bold, and spacious. And despite its grandeur, it's perfect for your next small meeting. (Titled "Wide-Open Spaces for Small Meeting Places" in print version.)

Departments

• Radically Relational: The Social Conference
  By: Jeff Hurt
  The traditions of meetings and conferences are losing their value. Today's conferences must be social, connecting attendees in ways they can do nowhere else.
  

• What You Need to Know About Citizens United
  By: Jerald A. Jacobs
  The Supreme Court's recent ruling could have a big impact on associations and nonprofits. Here's why.
  


• Postcard From a Volunteer Leader
  By: Patsy Phillips
  Three months into her tenure, a volunteer president faces big challenges.
  


• Simple Ways to Save the Sale
  By: Kim Fernandez
  Sales experts from Lands End and Zappos.com on what works to close a sale.
  


• PR Campaign Draws Strength From the Grassroots
  By: Nancy Mann Jackson
  How the power of member participation powered up one association's image campaign.
  


• Get Your Tagline Right
  Powerful, expressive, meaningful—is your association's tagline everything it should be?
  


• International Meetings Measure Their Green Footprint
  By: Kristin Clarke, CAE
  Five tips to help you meet global expectations for conference sustainability.
  


• Authority, Agents, and Your Association
  By: Bryan K. Prosek
  The surprising truth about who can bind your association to a legal agreement.
  


• IRS Pursuing Association Audits More Aggressively
  By: James P. Sweeney and Robert H. Billig
  Be prepared for questions on compensation, governance, and unrelated business income at your next audit.
  


• Get Out of a Career Rut
  By: Vinay Kumar
  If you’re feeling stuck in your current job, these seven steps will help you move forward and find success.
  

• The Right Communication Tool
  By: Sylvia Dresser
  Communication takes on even greater importance in a small-staff association. Here's how one organization found a process that works for them.
  

• CEO to CEO: Staff Turnover and Industry-Versus-Association Experience
  Your colleagues discuss how they handle sudden staff departures and whether they prefer to hire association-management experts or industry experts.
  


• Inside: The Great Snow-Out
  Associations Now editors share behind-the-scenes perspectives on the work that went into bringing you this month's issue.
  


• Lessons From the 2009 Annual Meeting
  Former attendees share how they've utilized what they learned at the conference.
  


• Associations in Action: Help for Haiti
  An earthquake in Haiti brings out the best in associations.
  


• Knowledge Center FAQs: Explaining Dues Increases
  Resources to help you effectively communicate dues increases to your members.
  


• Partner Corner: Social Media's Effect on Online Career Centers
  By: Christine Smith
  Social media can be a good thing for your online career center. Find out why.
  


• Smart Moves
  A roundup of new hires and personnel announcements in the association industry.
  


• Career FAQs: Tips for Your Job Search
  By: John Shlaes
  How to network, research, and evaluate the current market in your job search.
  


• Comments: Readers React Online
  Readers share their views on recent Associations Now articles.
  


• Now Online
  

• Ad Index
  

• Flip This Tradeshow
  What if attendees manned their own booths in the exhibit hall? What if vendors came to you? One tradeshow did just that.
  

Now Online

March 2010

From the Acronym Blog

"The learning curve for the insider who needs to develop their management expertise is likely steeper than the learning curve for the outsider who needs to develop their industry knowledge."— Eric Lanke, in a comment to an Acronym blog post, "Insiders vs. outsiders," on February 2.

Meet Anywhere

In "Leading a Globally Diverse Board," Leo Roodhart talks about the unique challenges that an associations with a global board faces, including hosting meetings in cities around the world. Here are three more resources on international meetings available online:

• "Don't let currency changes break the bank," by Jeff Waddle, Associations Now, June 2008
• "Meeting Risks Abroad," by Carole Schweitzer, Associations Now, November 2005
• "CEO to CEO: Lessons Learned From Overseas Conventions," Association Management, May 2005

Recommended by Readers

"Five Ways Associations Can Use Online Games," by Jon Aleckson, Associations Now, February 2010

An excerpt: "A game that involves tackling a problem common to your industry could both generate buzz and give members an opportunity to create real solutions as a community. For example, the game Foldit challenges users to identify the optimal shape of a protein by 'folding' and manipulating the structure."

Rated "four stars" by online visitors, with three comments. Be sure to add your ratings and comments to articles and resources throughout www.asaecenter.org.

Links Highlighted in This Month's Issue

Did you just visit this web page after you saw the URL www.asaecenter.org/associationsnow in an article in the magazine? Here are the related resources mentioned throughout this month's issue:

Page 11: Online extra: Shonzia Thompson, CMP, shares her planning tips for a flipped tradeshow.

Page 15: Link: Full list of winners and a report on strengthening nonprofit taglines, from the Getting Attention blog.

Page 18: Link: IRS checksheet of governance concerns for charitable organizations.

Page 24: Link: Example videos from the Consumer Electronics Association's Multimedia Library.

Page 28: Online extra: Dan Pink shares his tips on how to go from being extrinsically motivated to intrinsically motivated.

Page 32: Link: Have you ever been steered in the wrong direction? Share your stories of bad advice in the comments on "Good Advice About Bad Advice."

Page 34: Online extra: Two bonus tales about bad advice—one about jobs, one about jokes—on "Good Advice About Bad Advice."

Page 42: Online extra: More insight from Teresa Nielsen Hayden and John Scalzi about apologizing to your online community and using Twitter.

Page 58: Link: Find direct links to the highlighted resources on the online version of "Knowledge Center FAQs: Explaining Dues Increases."

 

"Now Online" in previous issues:
2010: January | February
2009: January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
2008: March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December