Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Breaking the Rules of Engagement

As a special reward (or perhaps punishment) for reading this blog, you now have access to an upcoming article from Stephanie Vance, the Advocacy Guru. Entitled "Breaking the Rules of Engagement," this piece looks at how Associations must reframe their view of how members expect to interact with their organization.

The article outlines four rules for quality engagement, which are:

Cultivate the Powerful 1%: In other words, stop tyring to actively engage all members in every project. Find the few that really care and cultivate their interest. Let them join you in finding new recruits.

Stop Using Carrier Pigeons to Reach a Tech Savvy Audience: Some organizations are still deciding whether to deliver their newsletter electronically. "Nuff said.

Get Members Talking: The new generation of advocates expects to have a conversation with the organizations of which they are members. It's not enough to push information out. You must pull them in through an open and respectful forum.

Give Up Control: Without a doubt, the most difficult, but the most important rule for Associations to follow. To truly engage your members you must release your stranglehold over the conversation -- only then will the ideas (both good and bad) begin to flow.

Click here to access the article

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Politics Imitate TV

Anyone watch the "Sopranos" finale? Hillary Clinton is betting on it! Her new campaign ad spoofs the "Sopranos" ending to introduce her campaign theme song. Who knew campaigns even had theme songs? I sure didn't! (Hint: It's by Celine Dion.)

Friday, June 01, 2007

American Library Association and Second Life

Our clients are so cool! Check out this recent article about the American Library Association and its adventures in Second Life, the online virtual world.

According to the article "ALA will have one half of ALA/Arts Island, which will be utilized as a new method for disseminating ALA news and information. It will also be used for reaching out to new audiences, holding events, interacting with members and the public, and exploring the future of library services."

How cool is that? I know many of us think of our local library as a dusty old place with a bunch of books -- ALA's adventures in Second Life prove that the library is moving to a whole new level (or world!). If your local librarian can have an avatar in SecondLife, don't you feel a little behind the times if you don't?

I'm just hoping that libraries will be inspired to start charging virtual late fees as well :)