Up Close and Personal

My FaceBook page serves as my personal and professional page - so there will be times my professional peers and even managers will see a side of me that I normally wouldn't share. A good example was a recent wall post by my sister. While the post itself is fine, it refers to a rather crude - though humorous - video.

Now for me - I don't care that you see that side of me. However members may not be willing to share their personal life (you yourself may not even be able to share that side with your professional peers). This was brought up at the Tech Conference during the Young Professional Facebook session. One panelist mentioned she had two facebook pages - one personal and one professional. And I totally see the point in having two pages - obviously some things probably shouldn't be shared with professional peers.

This is something to consider though as your organization makes its way on facebook and other recreational social sites. Perhaps your members don't want to become social butterflies, they just want to make some new contacts and participate in informal learning. They may not want to put themself out there for all to see. I personally do not keep a personal twitter page because I don't want to be that connected - for me it blurs personal and professional too much (not to mention my personal life is boring).

Now this may be a trival point for some, but members may like the exclusivity your organization offers. Being "out there" may not be appealing to them - though the experience of social networking would be beneficial. I've recieved some feedback along these lines from members who do not feel that facebook or any of the personal social networking sites are appropriate for business use and would not be interested in joining a professional network through any of them.

Don't fret though - this could be an opportunity to examine a closed group such as ning or collectiveX or percieved professional services such as linkedin. You just need to talk and listen to your members to find out how up close and personal they are comfortable getting.

Thanks for reading,
bob

When it comes to Social Networks - Age Ain't a Thing

Think your members are too old to get online? Think all this web2.0 is just for millenials and generation X?

If you think that - I have just two words for you:

You're Wrong

Remember - Age is just a number! (To be honest I'll probably continue to post under young association professional well into my 70s.)

Thanks for reading,
bob

P.S. If you do feel age is just a number - become a YapStar! (must have facebook profile - though we are on linkedin and twitter)

What I am reading

Jamie tagged me with what I'm reading so here goes.

I tend to alternate between leisure and professional development books - I'm current reading for leisure.

The book is American Gods written by Neil Gaiman.

It's interesting though, and with a bit of stretching, the book relates to associations (bear with me). This is because the book primarily revolves around the battle that is about to errupt between tradition (in this case old gods such as Odin) and innovation (in this case represented by the technologies that are worshipped by people today.)

Before I dive into this in more detail, the tag states I am suppose to type sentences 6 -8 of page 123. Well here it is (sorry Jamie, not sure if this is what you were looking for.)

"Then the church door opened, a priest came out, and the ghosts, haunts, and corpses vanished, and only the priest and drunk were left alone in the graveyard. The priest looked down at the drunk distainfully, and backed through the open door, which closed behind him, leaving the drunk on his own. The clockwork story was deeply unsettling."

Like my book, it appears there could be a war coming - or more appropriatley a revolution - in the association sphere.

I've been thinking of what to post about this, but I'll save us both time - check out Maddie's killer post.

The only thing I'd add is that we assume all associations are equal (and maybe they are), but I would think the membership base would determine whether you roll with fire or cocktails. Some members may demand a trail of fire, others may totally be alienated by it. And the last thing I would imagine you'd want to do is alienate key/founding members who have given days of their time just to be told "...[they're] history. [they're] forgotten. [they're] old. Tell [them] that we are the future and we don't..." care about them.

This was the closing statement from one of the new American Gods (which I assume is some sort of technology - the book hasn't revealed which one yet). We can't abadon tradition, we need to reshape and build off of it. A revolution is coming, I think we all agree with that, but how much ill-will must be spilled?

Thanks for reading,
Bob

P.S. I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way I brought this post full circle.

It's about empowerment baby!

That's the great thing about web2.0 - it's empowering! Anyone can blog, post photos, comment and anyone can and does have an opportunity to participate.

It breaks down any percieved barriers - it's open to all. And as a yap, this presents a great opportunity to me and other professionals. There is no more waiting to get your time in - waiting until you enter the in crowd - or make your way up the social ladder.

If you have an opinion - social media let's you share it - and if it's good - it'll get around.

This also presents an outstanding opportunity for your organization, social media and the impromtu conversations it encourages allow you to get a true sense of what members want. If they are talking about a particular topic, encourage the conversation.

Members are the experts in their industry and as association professionals we're the experts in bringing groups together. Empower participation, don't regulate it.

Not to mention social media can help you find the next generation of leaders. Empower them because leaders of tomorrow aren't going to be passive. There are too many active forms of participation molding us. Enable our growth, enrich our experience, and we'll help you reshape your organization.

I'll develop some of these thought in more detail in future posts.

Thanks for reading.
bob

P.S. Life is back to normal so I hope to post more frequently.
P.S.S - YAP has a twitter feed. Follow at www.twitter.com/yapstar

I'm Back - Youtube Video "do you know 2.0"

Well it's been another crazy two weeks or so. I caught a stomach virus the week before a conference, my conference hotel room had no internet connection (I had to sit outside my room and try to get in on the neighboring hotel's wi-fi.

But alas, I think life has settled a bit. So to get me back on track, a great little vid (well 8 minutes worth) for all you futurists:



It'll be amazing to see what the world looks like when my unborn children run amuck.

Thanks for reading,
Bob

P.S. The video is 10 months old so the myspace stats may be a bit different.

YAP Group on Facebook

I've been sick this week and I'm out next week at a conference so this may be the last post for a week or so.

However, a Young Association Professionals Facebook group launced! Headed by Maddie, the group feels that... age is a state of mind. So anyone is welcome who thinks young, no matter what your real age might be ;) Oh, and I happen to be lucky enough to be an officer (though I don't know that means much - but I appreciate the thought).

I'm hoping to spend a bit of time helping this get off the ground. I've placed the badge to the right on my groups to watch! Feel free to join if you haven't found it yet.

Well, I've still got some things to wrap up before I leave but I'll be back on April 14 (if not sooner) and I hope to run across you on YAP.

Thanks for reading,
Bob