Peggy Hoffman is president of Mariner Management & Marketing LLC, an association management company.  She twitters at @peggyhoffman and blogs at the Idea Center.

In 2009, I found myself increasingly tapping my virtual network for ideas, solutions and guidance. It made sense then to seek their help in setting my 2010 agenda. The response was amazing and an affirmation that crowdsourcing – whether in the strictest or loosest sense – produces.

An interesting piece of advice – and really a call to action – came from David Nour who I first met at the ASAE & The Center 2009 Annual Meeting:

When it comes to social networking, consistency is a lot more valuable than creativity.

Really? Being consistent – even if boring – trumps being creative? A mental tug-o-war began in my head. Consistency certainly is important for sharing of information (imagine if we all choose our own way to spell words) and for establishing schedules that support communications.  Creativity however is critical for innovation and change.

Consistency assures that a brand is strong. But it began with a creative thought.

Relationships are however forged as trust is built, which happens through consistency. Many relationships do however start from a spark which if often an offshoot of an interaction – that creative connection.

So don’t we need creativity first? And therefore wouldn’t it trump consistency?

The bottom line for me was that when we forging relationship virtually – as we all are in the membership game – creativity only takes us so far. Our members will renew and invest with us (in money and time) when they are assured we will be there for them. Creativity doesn’t assure that.  Creativity may inspire it members to join and to buy, but it won’t seal the deal. Trying new things all the time, being worried about how dazzling we are, delaying critical changes in our membership (from product offerings to governance models) until we have all the creative elements in line, won’t build a members’ commitment to us. Being there when they need us. Being visible daily. Being accessible. That’s why members stay.

So, I would agree consistency trumps creativity … but we still need creativity. What do you think?

By the way, David’s other 9 items in his Top 10 for 2010 advice to me are equally thought-provoking.

Vanessa LaClair, CMP is vice president of communications and marketing for MPI NENY, and the event coordinator for IPPNY, a trade association in Albany, N.Y. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

It’s that planning time of year again!  The holidays are over, the decorations are put away and 2010 has begun.  Although spring may seem far away with the bitter cold still hanging over our heads, in a planner’s world a spring meeting is right around the corner and there is a lot of work to be done — and soon!

This year my association has decided to host an expo and sell exhibit space to those involved in our industry — energy.  I am new to the expo-showcase scene in that I have never hosted one, but have attended plenty.  Does attendance make one an expert?  Probably not, but we have 15 slots to sell for our first event (small time for many expo experts) and I plan on making it happen.

Already, I wake in the middle of the night thinking about how many prospects we might have.  Are there too many on the list?  Are we charging enough to cover our costs? Will I have to turn people away?  And the worst case, will no one show up?  I have a pretty good feeling that we will get a handful of exhibitors who will ultimately spread the word and turn the event into an annual success.  As you well know, a word of mouth recommendation is one of the best marketing campaigns out there.

What am I doing to make this work? Tell one, tell all, and tell them early.  Save the date cards, invites, brochures, e-mails and finally — a personal phone call.  A good location and flexible venue staff (make friends with your director of sales or sales manager) are key.  I’m working with a great rental company (Total Events) and I have found that they are an asset to a meeting planner — the right company can give you lots of insight.

With fingers crossed and promotional materials still in draft on my desk, I’m throwing myself into the fire and giving it my all.  Quite honestly, you can accomplish anything by putting your mind to it, working hard and having the right people by your side.

Jeff De Cagna is chief strategist and founder of Principled Innovation LLC, and editor-at-large of SmartBlog Insights. Widely recognized as an association community thought leader, Jeff is the executive producer of the Principled Innovation Blog and Podcast, and also posts on Twitter as @pinnovation. If you have feedback on SmartBlog Insights, Jeff can be reached at jeff@principledinnovation.com.

Earlier this month, I released my Top Ten 2010 Trends for Associations.  Over the next few weeks, I will be publishing a series of posts on SmartBlog Insights in which I will discuss two related trends, and their implications for associations.  The focus of this first post is mobile technologies.

• Mobile Everything ⎯ The explosive growth in mobile technologies will continue to accelerate in the year ahead, challenging associations to rethink every aspect of how they relate to stakeholders, create and deliver value and perform work.

Through the end of 2009, Apple sold more than 75 million mobile devices (both iPhones and iPod Touches) worldwide.  While many of us have been carrying Blackberries or other mobile phones for quite some time, the iPhone and, more recently, devices running Google’s Android operating system, have shifted irrevocably our expectations for the mobile platform and created exciting and potentially game-changing business model innovation opportunities for associations.

To capitalize on these opportunities, associations need to give immediate and serious thought to how they will establish a meaningful presence on their members’ “third screens.”  In addition to serving as a platform for engagement, mobile devices are personal access points to the rapidly growing public and private networks to which association stakeholders belong.  For example, Facebook reported late last year that 65 million of its active users are accessing the service through mobile means.  As an intrinsically social technology, the mobile platform must be fully integrated into the broader set of social experiences so many associations are striving to create for their members in digital space.

• Mobile Professional Culture and Practice ⎯ The introduction of new smartphones, as well as other mobile and highly portable computing devices, will put in the hands of very capable professionals many powerful new tools that will change the way they do their work.

Arguably the most disruptive development in the recent evolution of the mobile platform is the emergence of the “apps economy.”  According to technology consultancy Gartner, cumulative mobile app store revenues totaled more than $4 billion in 2009, and are expected to approach $7 billion in 2010.  But perhaps the greater long-term strategic impact for associations is how mobile apps will innovate the very nature of how work gets done in the industries, professions and fields they serve over the next decade and beyond.

Nowhere is the burgeoning professional impact of apps more evident than in health care.  In November 2009, New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue reported that there were more than 7,000 medical apps in the iPhone App Store, including apps physicians can use to review patient information, make diagnoses and prescribe medication.  Not only do these apps reduce the possibility of medical errors, they make it easier for doctors and other health care professionals to place greater focus on their patients.  And with more than 140,000 iPhone apps overall, and growing app development for Android, Blackberry and other platforms, associations far beyond the health care sector can expect the rapid arrival of powerful new tools that will change both professional culture and practice, with clear implications for certification, professional development and research.

Without question, mobile will be a major topic of, hopefully, generative conversation across the association community throughout 2010.  How will you make sure that conversation occurs inside your organization?

Jeff is leading a three-part webinar series, “The Future of Associating is Mobile: Powerful Strategies from Third Screen Success” beginning on March 5.  For more information or to register, please visit http://bit.ly/thirdscreensuccess.

Next Top Ten 2010 Trends post:  Content conflict and Curate to innovate

Shelly Alcorn, CAE, is a thought-leader, speaker and association management consultant.  Reach her on twitter @shellyalcorn, on LinkedIn or at the Association Subculture blog. She will be a contributing blogger for SmartBlog Insights.

The Ethics Resource Center published the 2009 Ethics in Business Report in November.  Many of its findings are fascinating, and I believe they have ramifications for both trade and professional associations and the industries they represent.

Interestingly enough this recessionary year saw overall reported incidences of ethical misconduct in the workplace decrease by 7% and reports by whistleblowers increase by 5% compared with results obtained in 2007.   At first glance, those numbers may seem a bit counter-intuitive.  Several theories are put forward in the analysis in an attempt to put those results into context.

However, one key finding of particular note has to do with measuring the impact of the current recession on workplace ethics.  In this 2009 report, researchers went beyond the normal scope of the study and included questions specifically designed to quantify such an impact.  Here’s a startling fact: of those companies surveyed who employed even just one of a number of recessionary tactics, (i.e., downsizing, layoffs, benefit reductions, etc.), reports of misconduct and ethical violations increased 26%.

In light of that finding, I strongly urge association executives to download, read and then distribute the report to both staff and volunteer leaders in order to help them better understand their current operating environment.  Then, employ appropriate measures to reinforce ethical behavior in the workplace.  A few sample tactics include modeling correct behavior, adopting and enforcing policy, fostering awareness and positively communicating and reinforcing expectations of ethical behavior within your workplace culture.

The report itself is free and can be obtained here.  Visit the Association Subculture Blog for a more detailed take on this issue from an association manager’s perspective.

Our newest offering — Animal Health SmartBrief, produced with our partner the American Veterinary Medical Association — has already attracted more than 11,000 subscribers. Interested? Check out a recent issue and sign up for daily news on animal health — as always, it’s free!

From SmartBlog on Social Media: Being social –- and quirky -– is in California Tortilla’s DNA. SmartBrief editor Rebecca Pollack chatted with Marketing Director Stacey Kane to find out what goes on behind the scenes and how the restaurant makes sure its social media activities are anything but conventional.

California Tortilla is on Facebook and Twitter, and sends out “Taco Talk” e-newsletters. What advice do you have for complementing your actions across social networks?

Pam Felix, one of the founders of California Tortilla, has written Taco Talk since the beginning. She has given the newsletter a very distinct voice. Luckily, my natural writing style is very similar (quirky and self-deprecating). She can write Taco Talk and I can execute Twitter, Facebook, and it all sounds very “California Tortillaesque.” In fact, customers often think that Pam is writing everything.

I am in charge of planning all of our marketing initiatives and the Operations guys are responsible for making sure our awesome franchisees understand the promotion, so it is executed well. We try to make sure that the entire executive team proofs Taco Talk before it goes out, so there is no confusion when a customer walks in the door.

My advice would be to keep the number of authors limited to a few brand-passionate folks but make sure all departments have signed off on what you are disseminating.

You announce coupon secret passwords through the different platforms. Have redemptions from one platform been stronger than another?

Taco Talk is always going to deliver the most total traffic in the door with over 100,000 passionate subscribers. As the folksy newsletter is 15 years old, this makes sense. However, Facebook and Twitter will bring in a higher percentage of customers. This is probably due to the fact that Facebook and Twitter users are typically on multiple platforms and getting several daily messages as opposed to the twice monthly Taco Talk.

California Tortilla’s promotions (involving Pop Tarts, gobbling like a turkey, moving and shaking on Inauguration Day) are just plain goofy. Where do these ideas come from and are you ever concerned that customers won’t respond?

Ahhh, you had to bring up Inauguration Day. Think of that as my “I thought turkeys could fly” promotion (a free burrito to the first person who gets the reference). Who knew everyone who was off of work would be watching the Inauguration, not out dancing for tacos?

Our promotions come from various sources. Sometimes it is an idea that wakes me up in the middle of the night. It can be spawned in a staff meeting or often it comes out of sidesplitting brainstorming sessions with our Public Relations firm — Brotman, Winter, Fried. The ideas always start off as ridiculous (such as Whack a Mole Day) and then we refine them until we can turn them into a promotion that can be pulled off. At this point, we know our customer base pretty well, so we know what will garner word of mouth and spur traffic.

California Tortilla came in second place last year in the Shorty Awards, the Oscars of Twitter. Congrats! How do you keep the fresh content flowing with such a small marketing department?

We focus our attention on platforms where we know our customers will be. Twitter is the easiest medium to push out there. As the Official Tweeter, I am able to tweet straight from my phone 24 hours a day. I try not to overtweet, as people dislike their feeds getting clogged up. Facebook just takes about 10 to 15 minutes a day, and I try really hard not to get sucked into the social-networking vortex.

What is the most satisfying part of your job?

Making my terrific, engaged franchisees happy.

Image credit, belknap via iStock

Terrance Barkan, CAE, is chief strategist and business architect with GlobalStrat, providing professional advisory services for the not-for-profit community. Connect with him on LinkedIn or on Twitter at @TBarkan.

It is common wisdom that every organization is expected to have some form of social media presence – a facebook Fan Page, a Linkedin Group, a Twitter account and any combination of additional sites and profiles to make sure we are omni-present.

However, in this new online, open access environment, does your organization have a grasp on what legal exposures and risks are involved? How can you identify the risks in the first place? How can you assess the level and likelihood of triggering a legal problem? How can you effectively manage the risks once they have been identified and assessed?

Glenn Manishin, Partner at Duane Morris LLP, an attorney and a social media expert, states that much of the legal standard around social media use is “being made up as we go”. Because this area of law is so new, most organizations are not aware that they have any potential legal expsoure: copyright, intellectual property management, anti-trust, defamation, mis-use by staff or volunteers, etc. These issues are complicated by the fact that social media is being driven at breakneck speed by the marketing and communications teams, for the obvious marketing and communication benefits to the organization, but the risk management professionals (in-house legal counsel, CFO or CEO) are being left behind.

The consequences of not managing your social media risks can be severe, from a loss of control over valuable intellectual property, to catastrophic damage to brand and reputation when policies, safeguards and processes are not put into place ahead of time.

What is needed is an approach to identify, then assess and finally to manage the many different grades and types of social media related legal risks. One attempt to move towards this goal will be on 2 March 2010 at the SociaLex – social meda legal conference. An impressive group of legal and cyber risk management professionals has been gathered to discuss the risks attached to social media activities and to share insights into how best to manage and minimize those risks. The event will use social media tools to connect experts and delegates prior, during and after the conference to enable networking and sharing of information, applying the social media approach to discuss the legal issues associated with it.

As social media matures into a standard management practice for our organizations, it will require the same sort of management oversight and serious risk management assessment that is applied to other parts of our businesses. As with all issues of risk management, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Now is the time to evaluate your social media related risks, before they become pound-sized problems.

Over on SmartBlog on Social Media we had a guest post from Doug Naegele, founder of mobile media firm Infield Communications. An avid SmartBrief on Social Media reader and inveterate entrepreneur, Doug helps organizations use mobile media to reach important audiences.

Last Friday, Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, which boasts 1.7 million listeners a week, posted a unique fundraising idea on Facebook for its 125,000 fans to read. Listeners could “Turn in a Friend” who doesn’t donate, and show host Ira Glass would call the offender personally and ask for a donation.

The resulting Facebook comment stream was a fascinating mix of support (“Have a sense of humor, people!”) disappointment, (“Ira, I’ve lost my job and medical insurance. Putting people on the spot is *not * cool”) and public radio financial debate (“I want to see your financials before I give”).

The debate seemed to pit This American Life super fans, many of which wanted to turn themselves in just to get a call from Ira Glass, against the more casual listeners who said they found the whole exercise “distasteful, cringe-indicing, and horrible” By the end of the campaign, many longtime listeners were urging the show to stop giving away its podcasts for free and just charge everyone — which, of course, falls in opposition to the mission of public radio.

So, what do you think? What constitutes going too far when soliciting donations using social media? How can organizations use social media effectively to raise funds in challenging economic times?

Alex George serves as account director and chief social media strategist for Fixation Marketing, providing strategy, design and interactive services to associations nationally. Connect with him on Twitter at @Alex_Fixation. He will be a contributing blogger for SmartBlog Insights in 2010.

In this climate of budget-cutting that has forced us to find innovative ways to attract new members with less money, social media can feel like both a blessing and a curse. By now, we’ve all heard at least one or two successful case studies where a major brand has “harnessed” the power of social media, attracting thousands of new customers and increasing profits tenfold. If you’re like me, as you read these stories, you feel a sudden rush of hope, your imagination sparks an “a-ha!” moment, and a dream bubble appears above your head, filled with visions of you leading your marketing team into the green pastures of social media bliss. Unfortunately, this moment usually fades…fast. Who are you, anyway, to dare to dream for that fleeting moment that you could tweet with the likes of the big brand honchos, right? Wrong. It’s possible. And it’s not as hard to accomplish as you think.

Let’s look at the social media success story of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. They achieved record-breaking attendance at their 2009 North American Tradeshow, IAAPA Attractions Expo with a 10% jump in international attendance alone, and overall attendance numbers that exceeded their projections. Much of this success can be attributed to their adoption of Facebook, Twitter and online interactive strategies that began to reach their constituents in new ways and further position their show as cutting-edge and fresh. However, the IAAPA marketing team didn’t gallop toward the social media horizon without hesitation or pause. Instead, they took small, focused steps toward integrating these tools into their already innovative marketing plan. They invested in hands-on training workshops to learn to use Facebook and Twitter optimally to provide useful information to members, communicate special promotions and, ultimately, draw attendees and exhibitors to their show. They devised a plan to integrate social media efforts into their team’s existing workflow. They weren’t afraid to test promotions and try multiple methods to acquire Twitter followers and Facebook fans. In less than one year, they went from zero followers and fans to almost 2,000, collectively.

Regardless of what trade your association represents, it’s ultimately made up of members who are people that are increasingly using social media portals to share and receive their information. I can say with confidence that your marketing efforts would benefit from adoption of these tools and tactics. Who knows? Before you know it, your association could be mad dashing ahead of the big brands.

One important note: Social media is not the magic tool that deems all of your other marketing strategies obsolete. On the contrary, it’s the incorporation of social media into your existing marketing toolbox that will enhance your brand and broaden your reach.

Sterling Raphael is an entrepreneur, speaker and the founder & CEO of @NFiStudios, focusing on delivering innovative technology to associations and events around the world.

There are new realities encountered by businesses in today’s fiercely competitive, warp-speed environment. Because of easy access to information on most companies through prospects, candidates, partners, etc., and the inevitable social technologies; company culture has become one of those realisms and is indeed an observable, powerful force.

Companies have much to gain by employing systems that support long-term relationship building.  For example, no longer are the days when one can construct slick marketing that fakes the real culture or personality of your company. It has been this writer’s experience that ‘people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.’  Project by project, this care must meander throughout the whole company, creating a truly proactive customer-driven company culture in the process.

Leadership will need to pay more attention to their company’s cultural makeup up if they are to manage employee change/recruitment effectively. ‘Company culture dictates acceptable and unacceptable behavior within a company. Understanding how this impacts recruitment is vital to hiring the candidates that fit.’    Potential employees will assimilate smoothly into the business’s unique culture when they realize that inherent within your company culture ‘doing the right thing is the right thing to do’.  Read more.

Undoubtedly, a steady and sustainable work ethic cultivates creativity.  It would do well to ponder the connection between fulfilled employees and satisfied customers.  Employees who are appreciated can transform into a wealth of creative energy and become your strongest resource.

‘The important thing isn’t which adjectives you choose to describe your culture; it’s taking the steps to cultivate it. Your employees are your greatest assets, and when your business experiences a growth surge, you need a united front of employees that supports your company’s efforts in mind, body and spirit.”

As transparency, social, and open, in the workplace continues to expand, companies with a positive company culture will have a competitive advantage in a crowded market place. When consumers share information through social technologies, it can have a real impact on your company. Seeping into the river of social technology is your company culture; it will be prominent and make a defining mark about your services, your products and your customer relationships in the market place.  Remember: your company culture will continue to thrive in an environment where learning from mistakes is considered an attribute and accountability and motivation are strengths consistently evaluated.