In A View of Social Media from the Inside: The Cat Just Hasn’t Meowed Yet, Terry Starbucker shares his company’s thinking about embracing social media and in doing so hits upon some on-target questions for all of us. But he zeroes in on a key point which relates directly to the value of chapters in our world of associations:

               “… particularly in a service business like ours, nothing beats direct voice to voice, or better still, person to person, contact.”

I wrote about a session on virtual communities in which we talked about the value of creating conversation platforms on the web and underscored though that these virtual communities are not replacements for on-the-ground, face-to-face communities. I will again suggest that the fix for struggling chapters isn’t to go virtual, its to go free.

But read Terry’s posting - what do you think?

PS Also click through a read Terry’s philosophy Half-fullism.

The start of a great conversation going on over at Acronym about Creating Cheap Member Benefits which focuses on ways to help volunteers work effectively within shrinking budgets ... I just found another "cheap" Inspiration on Demand - Create a Swipe File that could help boards and volunteers and you collect and share ideas. 

The question of finding great tools is relevant regardless of the economy ... got any to add?

I just spent several hours with a number of very talented, passionate chapters members talking about the value of the national and local partnership in delivering value to the member. I was struck my a number of comments that you may also find as "food for thought."

• These member volunteers never once indicate they want an "organization". They talk about instead network, community, activities (like education, social events). So why do we respond with showing them how to incorporate, write bylaws etc.?
• Over and over again I heard that they didn't know what to expect when they took their job ... how much time was required, how to know what to do first, when to know they were done. I'm not suggesting that associations don't make this info available but...
• Its too complicated! (association volunteering that is!)
• Its really hard. (so they aren't having as much fun as they should ... need to pick up Cynthia's D'Amour book on the lazy leader as soon as it comes out!)

When you listen to your member volunteers do you hear similar messages?

“People are looking for value in their work in addition to profit from it.”
“While association members still expect career benefits from their professional volunteering, they are also interested in volunteering for reasons bigger than themselves.”

The first quote comes from Douglas LaBier, a business psychologist and psychotherapist and director of the Center for Adult Development in Washington, writing in the Washington Post Tuesday Nov. 11 Health Section “You’ve Gotta Think Like Google”.

The second quote comes from The Decision To Volunteer study findings written by Monica Dignam and Beth Grazley.

From two different corners we’re being told that values matter. Are we in the association world talking about values when we talk about getting involved in our associations?

Douglas’ article is an interesting read on several levels (check out the comparison to Google and definition of a psychologically health adult), but the part that struck me was the statement about values and getting alignment. Our members (26,000+ individuals from 23 co-sponsoring associations) that responded in the Volunteer survey noted that they do seek alignment. Values drive volunteer choices both for charitable and professional organizations.

Imagine a campaign for members or volunteers that began with “be part of something big” rather than “5 ways to save money and build your network”. Or if we connected building a stronger local chapter or SIG to building a stronger profession (or trade). Or what if made a more concerted effort to embrace a social responsibility initiative – could that make the value equation stronger?

We’d like to collect your stories on how you are connecting the value to your association ... so tell us!

Community organizer. That's the top pick of three new jobs Seth Godin suggests you might want to consider adding to your staff. Interesting choice and strikingly similar to the component relations professional position that is frequent in many associations. His definition:

COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. Find and connect and lead a tribe of dedicated users that contribute to and benefit from the work you do.

What other positions in association fit this profile? And are we really valuing and supporting these key positions?

Communication in a Post Media World, by Chris Brogan, is a must-read. Okay he’s talking about communications – but look he’s also talking about associations … chapters – components. How?

He writes: “When Google is the front door, the side door, the hidden key under the mat, the cash register, the finder of everything we ever lost, and everything we wished we’d lost, what comes next?” We already acknowledge that the internet is an association’s toughest competitor. For chapters, this is even more difficult given the travel/time challenges.

He writes: “When everyone is a newspaper, a magazine, a TV station, a radio station, a conference, a curator, an educator, a business owner, a shopkeeper, what do we have?” Our members can start their own association with a couple of keystrokes.

He writes: “When you and I are the creators, the consumers, and the collaborators of this media, what does this mean to us?” Our members have always played this role in associations.

The response. Chris puts it simply: “We cast off the old models, and we assemble new forms.”  

This is a mantra being spoken in several association corners from folks like Jeff De Cagna, Jamie Notter and Ben Martin. It’s a mantra in action over at Oncology Nursing Society, American Society of Interior Designers, Institute of Food Technologists among others. And we’ve written about it before.

Perhaps the reason more associations aren’t joining in is because it’s not easy. If everything is modular, then we have to think hard about how to make them connectable. And in the absence of a single gate-keeper, we need to coordinate “control.” And we may need to figure out how to offer all member services both ala carte and bundled.

Read Chris’s piece … do you see a message for associations?

The past two weeks I've worked with a couple of our chapters we manage to help them explore the web - specifically LinkedIn and Facebook. I'll report in the coming weeks on the experiments but wanted to share some resources I'm using to help them try out the new "world" and put a plug in for a free webinar which is yet another tool that I (and you can use) to help those anxious about the using the web for their chapters.

The Top 10 Social Networks for Creative People (and why) -  quite primer from Brian Clark @copyblogger

Social Media as an Engagement Strategy - cool piece by Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish

SMUG - Social Media Unversity (and its free) offers education for the beginner thru advanced

Common Craft - whether its RSS in Plain English, Blogging in Plain English ... it's there and it's easy!

Finally, here's the free webinar on Google reader, Alerts & More ... compliments of Lindy Dreyer and Kivi Leroux Miller It takes place Thursday, Nov. 13 at 12:00 ET and I bet if you missed it, they'll be offering more so visit the website.

Share your trials and tribulations bringing chapters to the web and your tried and true tools!

CTAM To Honor Local Chapters With Chairman's Award – this seemingly mild twitter from Shelly Good-Cook, Sr. Dir. Membership Marketing & Chapter Relations for CTAM: Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing is anything but.

With my interest piqued, I clicked through to the article  (naturally) and discovered that CTAM Chairman Joe Rooney says “chapter resources are ‘hidden jewel’” and therefore has for the very first time selected not an individual for its Chairman’s Award but rather all the volunteers who run the 12 US chapters and 3 others in Canada, Europe and the Caribbean.

Rooney said “I know it’s a bit unorthodox choosing the Chapters over an individual but the volunteers who lead the CTAM chapters really extend the impact of our organization beyond what we would otherwise reach.”

Aside from the wonderful departure from the traditional recognition of chapters and local volunteers, this story underscores that prevailing feeling that chapters are important. In 2006 ASAE and The Center conducted a survey of members on this subject. Its findings concluded that while associations are almost unanimous in their belief that components contribute to an association and nearly a quarter report revenue contributions, less than 50% specifically track these contributions and a slight 8.5% calculate an ROI. Yet, they attributed value to chapters without hard data.

In a few short months, ASAE & The Center will embark on a much larger survey asking the question a little differently. Instead of asking associations, they will be asking association members. The goal will be to uncover the value from the members’ point of view and then surmise how associations can track, measure and encourage this. If your interest is piqued, you can get more information from ASAE’s Monica Dignam and even join the study as a co-sponsor which will allow you to gain insight from your members.

In the absence of hard data, though, it’s still a delight to see an association recognize its chapters and very importantly its chapter’s volunteers. (As a side note, the Local Leader category of volunteer makes up some 22.9% of association volunteers according to The Decision To Volunteer study. In this group, 17.5% contribute 50 or more hours per year! Since nearly 2/3 are in entry-level or mid-career level, it also includes your up-and-coming volunteers.

How are you recognizing your volunteers?

“On 15 March 2007, Scalzi announced himself as a write-in candidate for president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, citing disagreement with the only ballot-listed candidate's vision for the future of the organization. He was not elected.”

Those two sentences on Wikipedia mask a great story of an association election that played out on a one member’s blog starting with a long posting “SFWA President: I'm a Write-In Candidate.” John Scalzi spurred a great debate about uncontested elections, nomination process, and very critically member value and engagement. He began ...

"I got a ballot from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America about a week ago ... As I read the ballot, I noticed two things. First, there was only one candidate on the ballot for each category, and no way to register a "none of the above" vote; two, the SFWA members standing for president and vice president are people who, for philosophical reasons only (having nothing to do with their respective personal characters)..."

Among the many comments was this one: “I may have already tossed my ballot -- having determined that there were no contested races, I saw no particular reason to waste a stamp.”

With the expected unprecedented turnout in our national elections today all of which followed the equally unprecedented volunteerism surrounding the campaigns, I ask myself how can we create a similar energy and commitment in our associations. How can we find four individuals who want so much to be in the leadership role? How can we energize members to engage in the discussion about the issues of the day for the association and profession (or trade)? How can we fuel a dialog about who should be running the association?

Scalzi opened the door for the SFWA to begin the dialog – where it went I’m not sure. But imagine if they had announced an initiative to explore the election process or efforts to engage members who appear disengaged?

I am not suggesting in this posting that we must have contested elections (read the Association Management November 2004 CEO to CEO: Pros and Cons of Contested Elections for an interesting debate).  Rather I am asking how we change the process so that we get the best leaders and that we get a energetic dialog about the issues and about the processes. Mark Ginsberg, PhD executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, wrote in the Spring 2007 Journal of Association Leadership that “many associations conduct their board nominations and elections process the way it always has been done rather than in a way that makes the most sense for the association. When Jim Collins talks about “getting the right people on the bus” as an important function of organizational leadership, his principle also must relate to the selection of members of the organization’s governance.”

He draws from a report by the Kaleel Jamison Group which posited that the highest performing organizations are those organizations that are most inclusive … that providing a seat at the leadership table and welcoming a diverse community to the association is essential for organizational success.” Maybe we need – at least at the local level where I see the greatest challenges in “electing” the right people – is to focus not on the top but on the grassroots. Take a page from the Obama campaign – and many successful Get Out The Vote campaigns – and begin with exciting the voters. Ask them what’s important and then draw them into the dialog and the process.

Well, I’m headed out to vote in the national election and to take notes on how to energize our chapter members. What about you?

Now here's an interesting thought on the question of determining value of chapters ... I reread an interesting posting about social media technologies which quoted a presentation by Janet Hall, CMO of TMNG Global. Janet said research indicates "that the companies actively exploring social media technologies in the B2B marketplace are evaluating the success of their efforts based on a Return on Engagement (ROE) instead of an Return on Investment (ROI)."

Dana Theus summarized the metrics on her blog Member-to-Member.com :
•    levels of participation;
•    quality of interaction;
•    sentiment analysis (including brand awareness/impression); and
•    degree of market influence.

She noted that this is based on an assumption that "where people are interacting with each other about a company and/or it's products and services they are acting in relationship with the company itself. And where customers and market stakeholders are in relationship with a company, the potential for higher customer satisfaction and lower cost-of-sales and support result."

She also noted that efforts on the social media front become successful "when the customers/participants themselves become more involved, providing content and helping to moderate."

So perhaps we should consider ROE in terms of evaluating chapter effectiveness and the level of engagement particularly in content development as a metric for social media engagement.

Are you measuring engagement? How?