Snocial Media, #UnTech10 and Social Media Salaries (Yes, Again)

It's been a long week. TWO blizzards, a 48-hour power outage at my house, kids out of school all week--and my husband's been out of town the whole time. The positives? Shoveling snow is a good workout. Lots of time spent with the kids--AND they did most of the shoveling after the second storm. And LOTS of time spent online. Even during the power outage, thanks to my trusty iPhone. Did I mention I *LOVE* my iPhone? With it--and Twitter and Facebook--I managed to stay connected to the world throughout the storm, monitor Pepco's progress on the power restoration front, figure out what areas of DC/MD/VA were getting plowed and which weren't, and generally not feel like I was cut off from the rest of the universe.

I also got to attend a conference I wasn't originally scheduled to attend. ASAE's Technology Conference was supposed to be this week, and I was sad not to be going. But ASAE had to cancel due to the weather. Within minutes of the cancelation notice, my association buds Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer--together with a host of generous and hard working sponsors and organizers--whipped together an unconference--#UnConf10. They livestreamed most of the day Thursday and hosted a bunch of virtual sessions today. I can't say enough good things about it so I'll just link to what others are saying.

My favorite take-away from the event? The conversation about the importance of community managers, of course! You KNOW my biggest blogging obsession is the role of community/social media managers and the haziness of the whole thing, so the more people start to get on board with the fact that it IS a legitimate, important function, the more likely there will be some standardization of titles and salaries. I think this is particularly important in the association world, where there are no existing benchmarks for this role. I about died when I read Mack Collier's post on what a social media strategy will cost--because I know there are associations out there who are on one hand saying "we can't afford to hire someone to do this full time" then, at the same time, paying consultants $2,000-$5,000 a month to set up and maintain a Twitter account or $5,000-$6,000 a month to set up and maintain a Facebook page. If social and community are as important as we keep proclaiming them to be in terms of organizational strategy, member culture and all the rest of it, isn't it time associations (in particular, ASAE) put their money where their mouth is and come up with a real job description and some concrete salary benchmarks for the role?

How Will SideWiki Affect Your Association?

Still thinking social media is just a fad you're going to ride out? Still thinking you don't have the staff resources to bother with monitoring what's being said about your organization--let alone attempt to facilitate that conversation on your own turf? Guess you better think again now that Google SideWiki is in the picture.

At the barest minimum, I would suggest you familiarize yourself with SideWiki and install it on your computer so you'll at least know when/if people start using it on your website.

Is Your Association "Too Bureaucratic and Less Relevant in the Internet Age"?

A few days ago there was a front page article in the Washington Post about Fairfax County schools dropping out of the PTA. I happened to skim it and realized that it was really relevant to associations on the whole. The article is focused on the PTA, obviously, but the story really reads as a wake-up call for associations, even those with "golden handcuffs."

Facts the article details about the PTA:

• The national PTA has lost a million members in the past decade


• A past president of an independently-formed new Parent-Teacher-Student Organization stated that "the national group is too bureaucratic and less relevant in the Internet age, when parents have access to education-related news...and can get involved politically in other ways."


• The national PTA's mission "Every child/one voice" is at odds with what today's parents want--to focus on their individual school's needs


• Parents are finding new ways to get school-related information and organize online

The article detailed some ways the PTA is struggling to regain its footing--using social networking sites to connect with younger parents, reaching out to dads and immigrant parents instead of the stay-home moms who used to be the mainstay of PTAs. But if parents can connect online and in person for free and focus on their individual school's needs without paying dues, what is the motivation for them to remain connected to the national association?

Now insert your association here and ask yourself--could the same thing happen to us?

Definitely food for thought...

Forrester Says Advertising Is Changing Forever. What Are Associations Doing to Keep Up?

I was in a meeting this morning about how the reason non-dues revenue is down is because members are posting jobs on Linkedin and Facebook. The answer, naturally, is forbidding "free" advertising on Facebook and Linkedin. If they can't post it for free then they will pay us to post it. Right?

Don't we all wish.

The reality is that the world as associations have always known it has changed and is not going to change back. Job boards and print ads in publications used to be a slam-dunk; now they're not. End of story. Instead of spending time spinning wheels talking about what we can forbid people from doing for free, we need to be spending time thinking of the next generation of things companies will pay for.

Forrester Research just published their five-year interactive marketing forecast and their findings echo my sentiments:

"...media is in trouble, or at least in the middle of a transformation."

Highlights of the report include:

• Digital marketing, which will be about 12% of overall advertising spend in 2009, is likely to grow to about 21% in five years


• Social "media," which will account for $716 million this year between social network campaigns and agency fees, will generate $3 billion in five years.


• Of all the parts of digital marketing, social network marketing one is poised for the most explosive growth.

The upshot? In Josh Bernoff's own words:

"If you're in advertising, you'd better learn to speak digital, because that's the way the world is going."

And if that's the way the world is going, it's also the way your corporate partners, recruiters and sponsors are going. What is your association doing to prepare?

Death Knell for Associations?

Back at ASAE's Great Ideas conference in February, there was a lot of talk about social media--and a lot of talk about how social media could eventually spell the death of associations. Since I work for an association and don't relish the idea of being out of a job, I didn't give it much thought at the time.

Fast forward about a month. I get an email telling me that radRounds is following me on Twitter. Never having heard of radRounds, I clicked the link to their website. And there it was--what could well be the future of associations.

I preface this by saying that I could absolutely be wrong about radRounds--it could very well be a product of one or more of the many radiology associations out there. But as far as I can tell, it appears that the radRounds is not affiliated with an association; this is from the "About Us" section of the site:

radRounds was founded on the eve of January 2008 by a group of radiologists who saw the need for a collaborative, open, and easy-to-use web tool for networking, learning, and collaborating. We are completely managed and created by both informatics experts and physicians who specialize in the wonderful field of radiology and medical imaging.

Networking, learning and collaborating? That's pretty much what associations are for, right? Think about it. Compare your association's website to radRounds: Industry news? Check. Forums? Check. Career center? Check. CME course listings? Check. Groups, case reviews, file sharing, podcasts? Check, check, check...you get the point.

RadRounds seems to offer a LOT of what traditional associations offer. Granted, a lot of what they offer--guidelines, for example--may be created by associations--but really, is an association truly a necessary middleman for stuff like guidelines? With social networks like RadRounds, where professionals can connect and collaborate--what's to stop them from eventually creating their own guidelines?

Again, I am NOT an association executive and I know there are MANY aspects of associations that, conceivably, at least, independent groups couldn't easily re-create on their own. That said, exactly how many functions is that? Enough so that associations have nothing to fear? Or few enough that a dedicated bunch of members could pretty much replicate most functions of an association, thereby eliminating the need to pay dues and support staff and overhead?

Bootleg* Volunteerism

(*bootleg in the urban dictionary sense; e.g. lame or lazy)

Maddie Grant tagged me to answer the question posed by Peggy Hoffman's volunteerism meme: "How can we create volunteer jobs that don’t require being on a committee, a long-term commitment or gobs of time? So, share five short-term, ad-hoc volunteer jobs you’d love to have."

The word that stands out to me in this question is "commitment." I am notoriously bad about commitment...strictly in the volunteer sense, that is! ;) I am horrible at PTA and feel pinned down by the mere thought of having my name on a committee roster. However, like Ben Affleck in He's Just Not That Into You, it's the idea of commitment that freaks me out, not the actual reality if it. **Warning: SPOILER!!** As soon as Jennifer Anniston tells him she's ok with never getting married, he proposes.

Ok, sorry for the sidebar...my point is I love to help and be involved, but I need to know it's ok that sometimes I won't be able to participate and I won't be disappointing anyone if I have to disappear for a while.

Therefore "short-term" and "ad-hoc" are the perfect kind of volunteer jobs for me. Five examples?

1. Question-answerer. I can tear through vast amounts of information like nobody's business, and love to learn new things. Do I want to organize an entire event or track RSVPs? No. Would I be willing to spend hours gathering information for the organizers? Yes.


2. WOM information disseminator. I have a big mouth--both online and in real life. Need to spread information about something--plug an event, spread the word about a cause, etc? I will tweet it, blog about it, email my friends about it and ask them to spread the word about it, tell my kids to tell their friends to tell their parents about it, etc. Ask me to pass something on or get the word out about something and I'll glady do it.


3. Brainstormer. Need to think of a tagline or a a theme? I love to be asked my opinion and offer suggestions.


4. Blogger. I love to write and am always flattered when someone wants me to guest blog. I'm really excited to have been picked to blog from/about Great Ideas.


5. Matchmaker. I am a firm believer in it's all about who you know and doing things the easy way. If I can help someone via an inside track of some sort--whether it be hooking a job-hunter up with a potential employer or just helping someone circumvent a ton of red tape to get to a person they need to reach for whatever reason, I'm happy to do it. If I don't personally know someone who can help you, I can at least try to find someone who can facilitate that relationship. An example of this might be volunteering to hook students up with mentors, or steering someone to the right person to find out about an internship, job or scholarship.

Ok, so now I have to tag 5 more bloggers (apologies in advance if you've already been tagged):

1. Lynn Morton of SNAP fame.


2. Chris Condayan (he doesn't have a blog, but Twitter is a micro-blog, right? Maybe this will inspire him to start a blog ;)


3. Kemetia Foley Fellow Mary Washington College student from back in the day, I recently "re-met" her on Facebook and just now discovered her blog.


4. Penelope Trunk Granted, she is not an association person and also doesn't do memes, but I love her and bet she'd have some great ideas about this. She's already written many posts about volunteering so maybe she'll be inspired to write another.


5. Cassie Soofi Again, not an association staffer, but she is an ASHA member--and also my sister. Not to mention her blog is called Cute and Evil--best blog name possibly ever.

The Power of Social Media: Are Companies Overreacting?

Yesterday the world seemed to be a-buzz—and a-twitter—with reactions to Facebook’s announcement that they were changing their Terms of Service (TOS). I’m not just talking cyber world either; I’m talking the Washington Post, WTOP radio, NBC TV news—“real” news outlets.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read about the TOS changes was “so what?” I’m not a risk-averse person and as far as I’m concerned, if Facebook wants to find a way to use one of my status updates or Lil’ Green Patch requests at any point in the future they can have at it. The second thought I had was wow, Facebook has really gone mainstream if WTOP is featuring the story every 10 minutes.

Then, just as my coworker and I were talking about it this morning, he read online that Facebook has recanted the changes to the TOS. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, announced this decision early today on Facebook’s blog, and told users that they will play an integral role in developing new terms that “reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.”

This reversal brought to mind a handful of recent similar situations in which a company puts something out there then takes it back after the public slams it. It happened when a Motrin campaign ignited the wrath of millions of parents who were offended by an ad that basically poked fun at moms who carry their babies in body slings. After a public outcry on blogs, Twitter and Facebook, Johnson & Johnson pulled the ad both online and in print and published an apology on their website. It happened when Molson Coors Brewing Company pulled a photo contest on Facebook after a flurry of negative comments that the contest encouraged irresponsible and underage drinking. And it happened when Site Meter, a service that provides website tracking tools, launched a new version and within a day rolled back to the previous version after users (including me) went ballistic about the new version. (note: even though the post from the Site Meter blog is dated 2006, it actually was written in September 2008; I'm not sure why the date is wrong.)

Being in the association frame of mind I’m in right now since I’m leaving for ASAE’s Great Ideas conference in a few days and will be live blogging the event, I couldn’t help but think back to a post on Acronym that posed the question Do associations overreact to criticism? At that time, I commented that associations shouldn’t put too much stock into negative blog comments and shouldn’t rush to action as a result of member feedback. However, after this Facebook reversal and the others I just cited, should I be rethinking my stance about associations reacting to criticism? If the ways of the word are evolving towards a “power to the people” dynamic, does that mean that the same will be true for associations?

How Much Time Does It Take To Do Social Media? More Than You Think.

Beth Kanter had a great post today about how much time it takes to do social media. I started to post a comment but ended up typing WAY too much, so I figured I'd just blog about it.

Beth suggests five modules for implementing a social media plan: listening, participating, generating buzz, sharing your story and community building/social networking.

I'd like to throw out a few more time-consuming activities/categories:

1. Learning. In addition to the time it takes to do the activities she lists, there is the time it takes to have acquired the knowledge to be able to do them in the first place. You have to know what tools are out there and not only how to use them, but how to use them for business--what you can and can't do, and how to do it most effectively. This alone takes a huge amount of time—finding the blogs or books or webinars that will give you the information you need, then taking the time each and every day to stay on top of them. Every little thing needs to be researched before it can be implemented, and the whole thing keeps evolving so the learning curve never stops.


2. Selling. Once you’ve acquired the knowledge—an ongoing and time-consuming activity in itself—you’ll be responsible for teaching others inside and outside your organization not only how they work, but why they’re necessary components of the social media strategy. This is even more time-consuming if you work for an association; not only do you have to convince and educate senior management and staff; you also have to convince members that social media is a benefit and worth investing their time in. It’s one thing if your staff and membership are predominantly young and already engaged in social networking; it’s another if none of them have even heard of Twitter or think Facebook is just for teenagers—that can be an uphill, time-consuming battle. After all, if your members aren’t engaged in a blog or social network, what’s the point? Depending on how large your staff and membership are, this can take a lot of time.


3. Coordinating. You also have to factor in the reality that many associations are all about silos—membership does membership, PR does PR, marketing does marketing, etc. Social media is about all these things, yet if these departments don’t even communicate or work together internally, how are you going to present a united message about your organization’s programs or campaigns? And furthermore, who is heading up the social media efforts—is it one person? A team? Whether it’s either of those, it takes time to coordinate internally about messages, methods, goals, etc., not to mention decide who should and shouldn’t be out there sharing the story and what’s ok and not ok as far as doing it. Already have lots of meetings eating up your time? Prepare to lose even more time to meetings to decide about all this stuff.

The bottom line is that, as much time as you think it will take to integrate social media into your organization’s overall communications efforts, prepare for it to end up taking a lot more time than you thought it would. I equate it to reading blogs—you go to read one thing, then click on a link to another, then another, and so on until you realize you’ve eaten up half your day. And don’t forget—once you build it, they will come—and that will lead to even more time investment managing those relationships, press inquiries, etc.