The FORUM Effect

LinkedIn -- the gift that keeps on giving

One of the primary benefits of joining LinkedIn is the access it provides to a wide-spread network of peer professionals.  They are there, 24/7, to help you with knowledge and experience that can make you more effective as an association management professional.  But, you may not realize that LinkedIn offers an added benefit that will help you expand your network without having to lift a finger. This feature is Network Updates.

When you register with LinkedIn and create your profile you are given several options for managing your personal network. One of those is the category of “Receiving Messages,” which can be found under “Account & Settings.” LinkedIn will send you a notification when you receive messages from other users and let you know if any of your network connections have added new contacts to their own networks or if they have joined new online groups. This notification is sent on a weekly basis as a bundled e-mail message.  With this information you can decide if you want to invite any of these new contacts into your own network or to join the new group(s). 

This week, I received a LinkedIn Network Update that showed four of my contacts had added new connections and one had joined a group called KM Edge. This group is designed to enable further collaboration, networking and knowledge sharing for KM Edge site (www.kmedge.org) visitors, users and owners. The site, which is sponsored by APQC (formerly the American Productivity & Quality Center), explores all aspects of knowledge management and the Web 2.0 tools used in the process.  I probably would not have found KM Edge on my own and this new connection has exposed me to information that I feel will be valuable to my professional development in the future.

How about you -– what feature of LinkedIn have you come to appreciate?

Susan Nowicki can be contacted at: susan@orgsrc.com

E-ssociating: Email Marketing

As was stated earlier in our article, email marketing is not a new technology however it has finally matured to a level that it can be implemented rather easily. Also, email in general has become an accepted form of communication, which means that it is also relatively easy for your members to use and understand. Even though the technology is familiar, getting started with email marketing should not be rushed into. Defining clear solutions based upon the following tips will allow you to plot out an effective email marketing plan:

1. Understand your audience. No one knows your members better than you do, so determine which topics / events / offers will interest them before you begin sending bulk emails. A sure way to get blocked or ignored is to send anything and everything you can think of. Remember that you are acting as an editor, so only send the best content. This will assure that your members see your message as a resource rather than a promotional tactic or advertisement.
2. Map out an internal schedule. By creating a schedule you can plan your messages in the most effective way and ensure you have something to write about every time. Creating a schedule also helps to create messages that may accompany an upcoming event. For example, your annual convention is in November so you may plan to include a story about how a member benefitted from attending the previous year.  Having the plan ahead of time will give you adequate time to source out a story and write the story.
3. Delegate the responsibility. What often goes overlooked and ultimately leads to the demise of a new marketing effort such as email marketing is the lack of a point person. You should know who will be responsible for generating the content and releasing it to your members. It is less important that this person knows how to write, but rather they are well organized and will find a way to work the initiative into your organizations operating practices.
4. Embrace the power of design. Making your email marketing look appealing can go a long way towards its success. Design is what can separate your message from the millions of spam messages sent every day. Utilizing your branding can also ensure that your members know that they are receiving the email from a trusted source.

These four simple tips can help you to develop and maintain an email marketing program that is both effective and well regarded amongst your members. Remember that creating value is the only way that any technology will be effective, and you can’t go wrong.

For more information or questions Anthony may be reached at: azinni [at] associadirect [dot] com or visit http://www.associadirect.com.

More information on Exam Security

Due to limited space on this month's Forum Magazine the information below did not make it into the article "Maintain the Integrity of Certification with an Exam Security Plan".

Exam Security and Modern Technology

Modern technology has been both a blessing and a curse to testing/certification programs. On the one hand, technology has allowed certification programs to move away from the traditional paper and pencil to computer-based testing, thus making analyzing and providing test results faster and easier. But there is a downside, too. David Foster, Ph.D., an exam security expert with CAVEON, wrote in a January 2003 Certification Magazine article: “one of the major advantages of computerized testing to certification candidates is the ability to give the test any time at convenient locations …This convenience brings with it a huge security problem: It lets earlier test-takers share questions with later test-takers. Paper-and-pencil tests do not have this problem, because they are usually given only once a year at set locations.” Such a scenario could conceivably result in the creation of a "brain dump," which Wikipedia defines as “confidential information relating to examinations which is obtained by examinees who memorize, then "dump" (record) the information after the examination. Brain dumps are most commonly found among IT certification exams mainly because the exams are expensive, difficult to pass, and the questions rarely change.” Brain dumps are not only unethical but illegal and pose a substantial security risk to certification/testing programs. Additional information and resources on exam security can be found at: http://www.caveon.com/resources.htm and http://teachvu.vu.msu.edu/public/hybrid/resources.

Links above are being provided as information only and do not constitute endorsement of any particular company or provider by the Association Forum

Welcome June Bloggers

The June issue of FORUM will begin arriving in mailboxes this week. A new month brings new guest bloggers. Please welcome:

Joann Ciatto, MPS of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management

Michael Faye of AssociaDirect, Inc

Sheri Jacobs, CAE of McKinley Marketing

June Keszeg of SmithBucklin

Susan Nowicki, APR, CAE of .orgSource

Armando Ramirez, CAE of the American Osteopathic Association

Anthony Zinni of AssociaDirect, Inc

Thank you as well to our May bloggers!

Marketing Your Association Via Video

The Trend Watch column in the June 2008 issue of the Association Forum's magazine highlights some associations that have used video sharing Web sites to convey the work of their organization.  The article explains how this can be a cost-effective method to market an association, as well as leave a lasting impact on the viewer.  If a video is clever and memorable, current and prospective members, as well as other industry professionals, will likely be drawn to want to know more about the services and programs of the association. 

During this month, I hope to identify some ways that associations might incorporate this technique as a marketing strategy, as well as give additional examples of organizations that have produced successful videos.

Joann Ciatto, MPS

Director of Operations and Development

American Society for Healthcare Risk Management

An Introduction to E-ssociating

In our article E-ssociating: The 21^st Century Art of Electronic Association Marketing, we cover a number of technologies that can be used to strengthen recruitment, retention, and foster an online community amongst your members. The implementation of these technologies can be very cumbersome yet is becoming a necessity amongst associations. In order to remain a valuable resource for your members the successful integration of these technologies into your organization is imperative. If done correctly, these tools can offer completely new value to your membership that you may have never imagined. Getting started is half the battle, so over the next month we will be touching on some tips that can help you get going.

Michael Faye, Principal, AssociaDirect, Inc.
A Chicago based marketing agency, AssociaDirect, exclusively works with associations, professional societies, industry trade groups and nonprofit organizations. Michael and his team provide strategic marketing solutions for member recruitment, retention, branding and conferences for organizations nationwide.

Anthony Zinni, Art Director, AssociaDirect, Inc.
An accomplished and acclaimed art director, Anthony specializes in integrating new media design with traditional marketing initiatives. He has been responsible for the design and development of web based communities that each average over 75,000 readers per month.