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Archive for March, 2011
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 by Autumn Jones
By now you’ve probably created a facebook page, a twitter handle, and maybe even a LinkedIn profile. But if you’re anything like some I work closely with, you’re sitting there with a “what now?!” look on your face trying to decide exactly what a “Like” or “Retweet” means, how it translates into the powerful interactive marketing tool everyone’s buzzing about.
First things first: identify a goal. Are you looking for an outlet to convey information? Are you hoping to inspire action? Do you want to promote a highly interactive sense of community? There is no definitely-right way to approach social media. Experts may encourage one way or another, but the truth is, social media plans must be tailor-fit for each organization.
The Center for American Progress’s Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D. devised this chart to aid in identifying a social media objective:
| 1-D |
2-D |
3-D |
| Information |
Action |
Community |
| One-way Communication |
Two-way Communication |
All-way Communication |
| Audience Interacts with Information |
Audience Interacts with Campaign, Organization, or Government |
Audience Interacts with Each Other |
| Email Lists & Brochure Websites (Broadcast & Narrowcast) |
Transactional Websites (Information Exchange, Donations, & Action) |
Social Networks & Social Media (Grassroots & Grasstops) |
Tags: digital communication, digital community, facebook, linkedin, sharing information across online platforms, social media, social media plan, twitter
Posted in Digital Delivery, Social Media Matters | 4,472 Comments »
Friday, March 25th, 2011 by user
By Jean Whiddon
Timely, clear & relevant information is what your members want – and being able to provide it to them shows your value as an association. But with websites, e-mail, social networks and all the other channels the web now has, what’s the best way to reach who with what info? Unfortunately, there is no single answer because everyone uses the web differently. But there are some tips you can follow to be as effective as possible. Why just 9? See tip #1.
1) Be aware of information overload. Be sure what you are providing is helpful and necessary, and don’t overwhelm your members.
2) Make your website a timely information resource – not just brochure-ware. Build an RSS, blog roll, or Twitter feed into your homepage, so the relevant industry news of the day is always right there.
3) Regular e-newsletters, with short, relevant topics that link to more in-depth information let you deliver information to those not actively seeking it. Plus, it’s a great way to keep your e-mail list/CRM scrubbed.
4) Make sure your website is designed for mobile screens. Big graphics, wide horizontal navigations and the like don’t allow convenient communication with mobile users. Be sure to have a mobile friendly or mobile site.
5) If you’re going to have a Twitter account, tweet regularly. Twitter users want to know what’s happening, daily. Product trends, governmental regulations and trade show happenings are just a few of the things you can tweet about.
6) If you have a blog , be sure to post at least 3-5 times a week to keep your audience engaged. The posts can and should be more informal and personal than your main website. Entries should encourage discussion through comments.
7) Re-tweet and use hash (#) tags.
8) If you have a Facebook page, the more people who’ve friended you, the better. Host a contest that exchanges trade show sponsorship points for friend acceptances. Whichever company drives the most friends gets a free sponsorship. Post regularly with all sorts of information.
9) Keep Facebook and Twitter separate – do not repost the same info to both as they each serve different audiences. Facebook is to people who have opt-ed in by “liking” you. Twitter is mostly public and can be searched or followed by anyone with hash (#) tags.
Jean Whiddon is President & CEO of Fixation Marketing, the largest full-service agency specializing in creative strategy, design and interactive solutions for association events and trade shows.
Tags: association communications web trade shows events, association twitter, how to use facebook and twitter, membership outreach, social media in associations
Posted in Digital Delivery, E-mail, Member Outreach | 7,120 Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2011 by user
By Nikki G. Bannister, principal, Nik Scott LLC.
It’s a situation too common.
Somebody or something in your organization is perceived or reported to have run amuck, fail to work or be misinterpreted; then everybody does nothing. Now, someone has to respond, and while everyone panics, your organization seeks to keep a cool head and maintain damage control with your audience. But …
Look! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … Crisis communication.
Crisis communication is the true gatekeeper of an organization. It provides the proactive before you have to become reactive. Effective crisis communication changes the left-to-right headshakes to the up-and-down headnods at the end of any crisis. It satisfies all.
A company’s reputation is its pride … and vice versa. Ironically, it’s the pride of a company that can ruin its reputation if crises aren’t handled effectively. Every company, whether large or small, regardless of industry, should have an effective crisis communication plan. Everyone in the communications department and management should ask “what if?” and for every “what if,” there should be a competent response.
Where to go, who to go to, why go here or there? These are questions that should be answered in every crisis communication plan. You know those glass boxes that have the fire extinguishers or axes that are labeled “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass?” That’s how every communications department should utilize its crisis communication plan.
Be accessible, genuine and more important, be transparent. Nobody wants to give the media bad info and get bitten by the truth bug later. Know the facts and get the numbers right. Nobody wants to overestimate numbers when statistics are key factors. In 2004, the media leaked a registrar at a small Southern U.S. college was involved in a grade-changing scandal. The chancellor announced that hundreds of students were involved or had their grades changed so they could eventually graduate. However in the end, it was found that less than 20 were actually involved. The chancellor got the numbers wrong. It was actually hundreds of students records were being audited – at random – as part of the process.
Get. It. Right.
Ensure every person or outlet that has a need to know indeed gets to know what going on. Whether its managers, the public, stakeholders or every media outlet, let them know ASAP! Waiting makes people wonder and as my grandma used to say, “Wait broke the wagon.”
Remember, when you expect the unexpected, nothing can go wrong. Then you can save your organization’s pride and reputation and come out like Superman.
Nikki G. Bannister, is the principal of Nik Scott, an “editorial consulting” firm, and freelance reporter, based in the bayous of Louisiana.
Nik Scott is an editorial consulting firm created to “set the stage” for associations to they can take flight, set sail or get running. Find out more about Nik Scott.
Posted in PR Media | 2,570 Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2011 by Joanne Harap
Your print sales representative has probably been the bearer of bad news over the past two weeks. Ink and paper price increases have been announced, effective as early as April 1.
The majority of print contracts specify that prices are in place on an annual basis with increases based on a national index such as the Consumer Price Index. These prices do not include any increases for commodity pricing that can change at any time based on market conditions. Ink and paper are considered commodities.
The major ink manufacturers have announced increases that average 8% for sheetfed presses and 10% for web press products starting April 1. The major driver of this increase is the cost of petroleum and gas. Ink usually represents 8% to 12% of your total print invoice. Your print sales representative should have already alerted you to this increase. If not, contact your representative to confirm the exact price increase and timing.
The industry has not seen a paper increase since October 2010. Paper mills passed on a January 1 increase, but all of the major players have announced price increases of $2.00 to $3.00/cwt starting as early as April. This increase was not unexpected, and it shows that paper mills see an improvement in demand for the remainder of the year. The paper mills have succeeded in eliminating paper supply through consolidation and shutting down paper machines that are no longer efficient.
This is an important time to work closely with your print sales or customer service representative. Make sure he or she is keeping you up to date on the timing and implications of these increases. Reach out to your printer if you have not heard anything. You do not want to be surprised when you receive your May or June invoices that include unexpected price increases.
Any price increase is difficult to explain, but framing the discussion in the context of market changes will help to put it in perspective along with an accurate projection showing the impact to the bottom line.
Joanne Harap is the president of Production Matters, a consulting firm that provides evaluation, management and problem-solving services related to publications production and printing. She specializes in producing cost-efficient and cost-effective association publications.
Tags: ink prices, paper prices, printing cost, printing increases, publication printing cost
Posted in Paper Outlook, Print Outlook | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 by user
By Randy Townsend
Though most pundits agree that the recession is over, this does not necessarily mean that every organization is experiencing growth this quarter. During a slower period, there are plenty of things you can do to stay productive.
Assess the software that your staff uses on a regular basis
Pay close attention to the capabilities of the programs and how they are most often being used. For example, if you are using Microsoft Outlook as your primary email system, encourage your employees to utilize the additional features, such as the calendar, to schedule appointments and meetings. Make sure that all of your software is up to date. A lot of time, the Help menu will guide you through the nooks and crannies of the program.
Do some housekeeping
Designate time for your staff to organize their workspace. Delete obsolete and unused files from your network drives. Analyze and update operational procedures to streamline the process.
Team build
If you are not doing so on a regular basis, schedule one-on-one meetings with your staff to make sure you understand the pulse of your office. Challenge them to find ways to improve current processes and propose the implementation of changes.
Research and Develop Yourself
Make sure that you are up to date with the latest trends in your professional environment, from management to operations. Listen to Podcasts, like the Harvard Business Review’s free downloadable “HBR Ideacasts,” or the project management podcasts, http://pm411.org/. Staying engaged will bring out your best.
Rather than succumbing to the pressures of hard times, prepare yourassociation for Life After Recession.
Randy Townsend is a Team Leader in Journals Production at the American Geophysical Union. He is currently securing a Master’s Degree in Publishing at The George Washington University.
Posted in Bottom Line, HR, Next Generation | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011 by Autumn Jones
By Megan Stevens
At many scientific association conferences I have attended on behalf of an STM publisher, I’ve heard the same refrain from many older scientists: “With all this online content, the serendipitous discovery of new techniques or innovations that could be applied to other disciplines is lost!”Apparently, being able to down-select immediately on the journal’s homepage or subscribe to a discipline-specific RSS feed is causing the downfall of the STM world. And the publishers are to blame!
It may be true that young scientists are no longer sitting down in large cushy armchairs and leafing through cross-disciplinary journals (in print). These young whippersnappers just pull out their laptops and do a keyword search when they need an article. Though search features and well-categorized websites have eliminated most of the aimless paper flipping, I would argue that there is a different place that provides the desired chance encounters. Social media.
As of March 3rd :
- the Science Facebook page had 31,773 “likes”
- @Sciencemagazine had 14,701 followers on Twitter
- the Nature Facebook page had 34,546 “likes”
- @NatureNews had 133,271 followers on Twitter
Look at those numbers. That’s a lot of people who are being notified every time these publishers tweet (each averages more than 4 times a day). I can’t provide the number of click-throughs generated, but I can promise that if it wasn’t working ,they wouldn’t be doing it.
What these older scientists don’t realize is that most STM publishers have a very strong social media presence, just like the younger scientists do. They write about interesting articles they publish, links included, so that anyone who views the page can see a list of highlighted articles and click straight to them. People go there to read up on the new stuff, make comments and ask questions. The community built online is probably even better at generating such opportune insights. Young scientists are still as interested in the goings-on in other disciplines—they just prefer to find out about them on their smart phones. And the publishers get that.
Megan Stevens is a graduate student in the Publishing program at The George Washington University.
Tags: facebook, publishing, science and social media, scientific publishing, STM publishing, twitter
Posted in STM Publishing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 by user
By Dawn Glossa, MPA
Scientific, technical and medical communications are consistently a challenge to interest consumer media. My team has been able to implement a successful press program with our scientific journal by:
- Working with our editorial board to identify upcoming abstracts that may interest the general public (No animal studies).
- Writing press release that are attractive to the consumer media—easy to understand and making it real with patient connected stories.
- Actively reaching out the consumer media outlets—getting them used to knowing us.
It has been a long road, but we see pick up each month from our releases. Our members are happy and the public is starting to see anesthesiology in a different light.
Dawn Glossa is the Director of Communications at the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The association’s weekly newsletter, ASAP, has a 25% read rate, and the association won a bronze award in the Association TRENDS All Media Contest for its annual report.
Tags: medical journals, medical publications, scientific journals, scientific publishing, STM publishing
Posted in PR Media, STM Publishing | 11,396 Comments »
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 by Autumn Jones
According to the Fall 2010 Association TRENDS Finance Survey, meetings account for over 30% of revenue for associations — the greatest non-dues revenue source by far, followed by educational programs (19.6%). And while 7% of surveyed CFOs reported an expected decline in meeting attendance in 2011, 25.9% projected an expected increase in revenue from meetings.
Imagine what that projection would be if members could attend conferences, meetings and training sessions remotely! Consider offering “hybrid meetings,” where webcasts and live streams bring members whose schedules or budgets may not enable them to attend in person to the live event. Meetings revenue would dramatically increase.
This can be done efficiently and cost-effectively. You may choose to hire an outside audio-visual company or you may choose instead to invest in a quality video camera and tripod and host the content on your own site. You may even be able to get a company to sponsor the event and offer the services free of charge.
Do not fret; this will not replace in-person attendance. There will always be “butts in seats,” because members value the opportunity to assemble, network and generally catch up. Social Media heavyweight Chris Brogan said “Webcasting your event is just another way to get your audience to wish they were there,” at the MTO Summit recently.
Here are some tips to implementing hybrid meetings:
- Always have an audio feed into the camera; do not rely on the strength of microphones alone. This is relatively easy to achieve.
- Offer keynote addresses and common sessions online live as they are occurring. Select the most interesting breakout sessions, but do not try to stream all of the sessions presented at the conference.
- Engage remote attendees by incorporating social media into the discussion.
- During breaks, offer special online-only features, maybe a Q&A session where the presenters answer Tweeted questions, or a break out interview with a prominent guest or presenter. You can also engage a few members who are attending in person in discussion about the topic and broadcast the discussion for online viewers.
- Integrate slides and other visuals into the video feed, again, do not rely on images presented at the front of the event to suffice.
- Make sure you have a mobile streaming program, or that your webcast or stream is accessible on mobile platforms.
- Password protect broadcasts to avoid free remote access to the event.
ASAE has compiled this list of associations who have hosted commendable hybrid meetings recently.
Tags: hybrid meetings, meetings revenue, remote meetings
Posted in Member Outreach, Membership | 3 Comments »
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