Grammar Girl‘s 4/16 post, What Is Poetic License? Are songwriters poets?, is a great read. The question is while we often forgive poets for taking liberties with words, should we extend the same to songwriters? In other words, should we be strict grammarians all the time? Or can we give some slack in order to have some fun? There are a lot of opinions on this of course, but the general consensus is that unless it’s really off the wall, go ahead and have fun.
Another post on my LI page was a quote from Rear Admiral Grace Hopper: The most dangerous phrase in the language is, “We’ve always done it this way.” We can’t agree more.
So what do either of these have to do with associations? Plenty. While I don’t necessarily advocate associations and their volunteers take poetic license when it comes to written policies and procedures, it’s important to stretch the norm a bit where you can. Have some fun. Find that twist that will attract attention and create buzz. Make your members and potential members sit up and take notice. And if that means changing the way you do something, go for it. Even if the changes doesn’t work and there’s backlash, it’s okay. You’ve been noticed; you’ve created buzz. And isn’t that what you wanted in the first place?
What have you done lately to create buzz?
Be sure to also check out The
7 Reactions to Language Change. Any look familiar? Which one are you?
Finally, a shout-out to all our volunteers during National Volunteer Month! Without you, none of this would work.