Dana T
Strategic Marketing Consultant specializing in branding and social media
Looking for examples of innovative use of social media among trade/professional associations
Nowhere does the potential for social media seem as great as in the marketplace for trade and professional associations, yet association executives are generally as conservative, if not more so, than other business execs in their comfort zone around sharing the megaphone. After watching the space for a while it seems to me that Associations are missing a particular opportunity when it comes to their ability to position themselves and their members as experts in their fields using smart blogging strategies. I know of work done by the Risk and Information Management Society (RIMS) and the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) that is fairly innovative, but I'd like to find more good examples. Anyone have any views on Associations and social media? [I've written a longer post on my research and posted it to my blog: http://m-2-m.typepad.com/m2m/2007/11/giving-others-t.html]
Good Answers (2)
Dana,
Like you, I've found only a handful of traditional associations who have even attempted to use social media. I've been in association management for the past 10 years, and the only organization that I've seen use Web 2.0 (which is a little different from your question, I know) is a non-profit in the UK who set up wiki-style knowledge base authored by their members.
(Yes, I know you'd love to have the link. I found them while researching something else and can't seem to find the link. I'll keep looking.)
I think that association managers and leaders have become too accustomed to being marketed too. They seem to expect special products and tools just for associations. Why couldn't an association use some of the free platforms such as Ning and Facebook? Why not go where their members are rather than reinventing the wheel?
You might also look at the case studies on the CiviCRM web site. CiviCRM is an add-on to Drupal and Joomla, two popular open-source content management systems. It features many tools that are ideal for online community building.
Happy day,
Anne
Links:
Dana:
Implementing a real networking system with true social media features (personal profiles, pictures, video, social bookmarking, tagging, interpersonal email, groups, friend of friends etc) takes time, is a big change and since it is relatively new to this market there are not many full systems up and going yet.
We have one great online social network going up as we speak with the American Nurses Association. I think it is the most well rounded; full social network in the association industry at this point. What I mean by that is that it has not only all the collaboration tools (document sharing, calendars, forums) but the social networking tools similar to a facebook-myspace-delicious-digg networks
Most of the promise for good use of true social networking systems seems to be within the professional societies versus trade associations. That seems to be related to the number of potential users in the networks. The social aspects of a system need a critical mass of people to help get things kicked into gear. You can't have much networking when you have a few hundred people like you might have in a trade association but put thousands of professionals into a system and the back and forth of social networking will happen. The trade associations we work with have good uses for collaboration but not social networking.
ANA and I are presenting a case study on the nurses social network at the ASAE Great Ideas conference. If you are coming to that please stop by.
Take care,
Jim Kelly
More Answers (4)
Matt G
Social network builder in Austin, Texas; Hardware verification engineer, software consultant.
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Hi Dana,
Well, not sure if this qualifies as a "trade association" per se, but I started a free online community of high-tech professionals here in Austin, Texas. The goal is to help us to be more well-connected locally by providing a forum for online conversation, a calendar for learning about local tech-related events, and a job board for local companies and recruiters.
We also meet face to face periodically for networking events; our last one numbered ~170 attendees.
Cheers,
Matt
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Links:
Dave E
Founder, GOWEB3D
Best Answers in: Web Development (2), Using LinkedIn (2), Education and Schools (1), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Events Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Organizational Development (1), Software Development (1)
This is a bit off the topic, but I think organizations like these, which share a common interest, but are geographically dispersed, could benefit greatly from virtual worlds technology too. I am working on this approach at VRWorkplace.
Links:
Nick S
Accountant at Henneman Engineering, Inc., Project Manager www.jobulee.com, Vlogger
Hmm.. I think I understand.
I know the University of Illinois is developing a new professional website for all alumni.. Called "always Illinois"
Plus I hear there is a new product called www.jobulee.com that is going to go live sometime soon too
Eric M
Experienced corporate communicator with new media credentials
Best Answers in: Public Relations (3), Internet Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1)
I've been blogging for the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington for almost three years now, and the reaction from our management and membership has been universally positive. Check out our blog and feel free to contact me to find out more.