Why Do YOU Work for Associations?

So I was communicating with my brother recently by text message, our new preferred way of communicating now that I have a bigger cell plan, and I was telling him about an exciting interview I had just done with one of our very high ranking and important members who is a high ranking executive for a professional sports team.

He texted me back "why don't you use all of these connections you have to work for a professional sports team?" (shocking considering he is a sports writer and blogger...) I texted him back saying "because I work in associations, and I WANT to work in associations for my career."

I cannot type his expletive-laced response here for fear that it will turn off my earliest readers, but I'll just say that he let me have it about my assertion that I want to work in the association world for my career.

I guess I just don't get it... I have a love for association work. He has a love for writing, designing newspaper pages, and talking about sports. To each his own, right?

Personally, my reasoning for working in associations is that I get tremendous satisfaction out of knowing that I am making a difference for the members, for helping to develop the next batch of leaders through my words that I write on paper and in cyberspace, as well as the work I am doing elsewhere in the association. And I think I'm darn good at what I do... What's wrong with that? Plus, the added bonus is that I have been able to make personal connections with some of our highest ranking members, AND made personal connections between those members, which enhances their positive feelings about the association. These are things I am passionate about - helping people find the value in the organization for which I work, and feeling like I am doing something that is bettering others.

Have you ever had anyone ask you why you're working in the association or non-profit world? What has been your response?

Great Blog post

Very interesting post on one of my favorite blogs. The woman who wrote this is a former leader in the PRSSA Chapter at my alma mater, and her continued success is outstanding to see.

The quote is what I was really interested in - "Entrepreneurship is living  few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't." 

Very interesting to think about, and I think Jamie really encapsulates what the thoughts are about being an entrepreneur.

Bringing this back to associations - what are we doing in our associations, or as individual association professionals, to move beyond the 9-5, watching the clock attitude? Are we taking enough chances? Are we empowering our employees to understand that success means not necessarily working the normal 9-5 hours? Are any of us taking advantage of the potential of being entrepreneurs? 

Amazingly Interesting...

...and very forward thinking. I just saw this video that was posted on PITV that is by Susan Fox talking about Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives (thanks for posting Maddie).

What an interesting topic, and an interesting way of looking at the generational differences that are evident in our memberships. How are we communicating and interacting with our members who are in these different categories and life stages? Is there thought being put into the medium of our messaging to account for these potential issues?

In my own organization, I am seeing the Digital Immigrants really acclimating themselves into the culture of the natives, as they continue to use digital more and more. At the same time, I don't think we can confuse them beginning to use it as a necessity with being as comfortable with it as the natives. So, we have kept our print publication as a bridge between these different groups. We haven't gone all digital, but that's the future and we continue to inch that way.

I certainly think that we in associations should be cognizant of the differences in our Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives in their needs. Digital Immigrants will likely never become as proficient as the Natives, so we shouldn't force them to be with the way we are communicating and with the programming we are offering.

Again, very interesting topic.

Renewed Interest and Excitement

So after attending the ASAE & The Center's Annual Meeting, and attending the BloogerCon session, I have a renewed excitement and interest in getting back into the swing of blogging. I have taken my hiatus from posting to develop some ideas and plans on how I am going to manage this, I am back and raring to go.

It also didn't hurt that Maddie, whose blog is one of the top 5 association blogs out there, mentioned Future Association Executive in a recent post. Thanks a lot for the mention - you're a super cool dudette!

So, after a short hiatus, I am back and will begin posting again over the weekend. I hope to hear what you like/dislike through the comments area!

You'll hear from me soon!

Hiatus

I am planning on taking a hiatus from posting on this blog. The reason - I am going to take the advice of many bloggers that I have come in contact with recently and sit out from writing a bit...

I saw something recently in a Twitter Tweet from Ben Martin that said "Good Social Web Advice: lurk before you leap"... I didn't do nearly enough of that, or even really have a plan for this blog prior to just getting on here and starting to write down my thoughts, and to be honest, I think I have suffered because of that, and haven't really been able to build any type of audience or have a good sense of where I am trying to go with this...

Will be attending the ASAE Conference starting at the end of next week, and will try to pick up as many pieces of knowledge relating to blogging and other social media tools, before trying to get on the bandwagon without a Google Map that tells me where I'm supposed to go!!

Until the next time...