Still Here

Just wanted to update to let people know I am still here. I am one week out from my bi-annual conference and I am feeling like the proverbial headless chicken.

While I am on the topic of conferences...I would like to get every one's feedback on how to entice members to NOT wait until the last second to register for associations conferences. It seems like I have dozens of members say they are coming two months before registration closes and never register until the last possible day. Obviously, this makes it difficult for planning purposes since I cannot count them as 'attendees' until they actually register.

Any helpful advice?

Chris

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day to all.

I recently subscribed to Time Magazine as part of a fundraiser that one of my friend's children were participating in. I have enjoyed reading it and found myself looking forward to getting it in the mail every week.

This week was a bit of a surprise. The issue that came in the mail was green. I thought it a bit odd but went about with my normal routine. When I started to read this specific edition, I realized it was odder than I thought. In fact, this was the first issue that Time Magazine had published without it's trademark red border.

Time magazine has been known for covering many historical stories. Look in any history book, and you will find a Time Magazine cover somewhere within the pages. Cover stories have included major medical and technological discoveries, the rises and falls of nations, deaths of presidents, dignitaries and religious leader as well as the births of future kings. Of all the things that that Time Magazine has covered, the one that spurs them to make an unprecedented change is something that even the less apt of people can have a direct part in...the environment.

So my question is this. If this is a big enough issue to make one of the world's most renown publications change their images to stand out, what can we do. I think that we can take a hint from Time Magazine and take a chance to change our environment and make it better for those who will follow. Get out in your community and do something to help the environment. Use your imagination. People will notice that you are taking a stance on an issue that is spreading world wide.

Even the smallest effort can make a big difference

So, Happy Earth Day to all. All this talk makes me want to go for a drive with the windows down!

Stepping Up to the Challenge

When cleaning out my inbox last night, I came across this commentary from Arkansas Business which I thought was very insightful. There are probably many of you who have learned this lesson and to you I say, "Congratulations"! Being new to the 'professional world', it has given me new purpose in my position. Enjoy!

It is Up to You to Step up to the Challenge (Commentary)
By Jeffrey Wood
pub. 11/5/2007

There's a difference between spending time and investing time.

Surfing You-Tube for office funnies, chatting up colleagues in the hall or piddling with low-priority projects are ways to spend the business day. Rolling up your sleeves and tackling initiatives that bring real value to your company and customers are investments.

One thing is for certain: young professionals and middle managers who want a seat at the board table must do the latter. Think of it this way. It's not your boss' job to groom you to be the next leader.

It's yours.

Not to be a hard case. Every office needs a little camaraderie, a little laughter to make the medicine go down. Work shouldn't be arduous. It should be fun. Moreover, success is fun.

It's amazing then how often local executives relate their frustrations in getting underlings to reach their full potential. It could be personality issues, attitude or performance. The chorus is basically that the next generation of leaders would actually get there quicker if they'd focus a little more on the company's goals than their own. More

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

It is amazing to think that many of the issues that arise in marketing can be solved with basic principles learned in elementary school. Recently, I commented on fellow blogger, Lindy Dreyer post, 'Rediscovering the Art of Listening' In this post, Lindy Dreyer talked about how we often get so swept up in what we’re trying to communicate that we forget to listen.

Listening is an 'art form' that takes time and effort to master.

It is an ability that seems to have been lost as generations evolve into a mindset that quantity outranks quality, and this is not the case.

Older generations had the ability to 'connect' with members/customers because they listened to them and had conversations that went further than just business and into personal lives. They built relationships on trust because they listened and members/customers never thought twice about where they would turn if they needed something.

With the broad reach we are give through new technological advances in social networking, it is much more easier to trust the technology than the person using the technology. Time is not spent on listening to the problems, concerns, what's working, what's not, etc from the members/customers. It is seen as a waste of time - time that could have been spent talking to three other people. We need to use the Listen-talk-listen-assess-contribute relationship that the previous generations knew so well of and, in turn, saw greater results.

I have noticed this within my association which provides products to our members in addition to traditional associational services such as networking opportunities, industry news/updates, etc. There was a point in time where our members would call and say they needed a certain quantity of product A to be delivered by a certain date. They did not ask for endless information, request documentation stating authentication, etc - they knew that this association they were a part of was working for them to get the best pricing and products available. These were people they dealt with on a regular basis, people who had taken time from their busy schedule to step out and visit their company site 2000 miles away, people who listened to them and knew when their neighbors dog was sick.

Today, unfortunately, that simply is not the case. This is not because we have forgotten why our association exist, the members. It is because there is so many other things that we think we need to accomplish in the day that listening just becomes a thing we do in our spare time. And this not only exist on the association level, but on the member level as well.

With all the various ways that our members have to get information, the messages we convey often get lost in the everyday shuffle. We find that our emails find their way into the morning delete pile, that our magazines are place in a stack labeled 'things to read when I have time' and our mail gets filtered over while our members are looking for that payment that is three weeks late. If anything, this trend should teach us as marketers that we should listen to our constituents more effectively and focus our marketing efforts to something that benefits them, something that won't get overlooked. In today's society, we are given such a small window of time to get our point across, and often times it is not well utilized.

Most of us were told as a child in elementary school, 'hearing and listening are two different things.' I think that this is something that many people have forgotten and could use a refresher course in. As Lindy mentioned, people need to rediscover the art of listening if they want to see results. And, it the association world where members are not only another customer, but owners/partners/stakeholders, what have you, listening suddenly becomes all the more important of a task to master.

Is there a reason you chose that name?

Wow. Things have been busy in the life of Chris Davis over the past few weeks.

Our biannual conference that I put together is fast approaching (3 weeks), and I feel that no matter how much of an early start I am getting on this, I never seem to have enough time to do everything I want to try to increase the experience for our Members while still keeping the cost down. Our conference sure has come a long way in the past several years though - from meeting in the Association distribution center having a fish fry while listening to Association staff speak in 1999 to 3/4 star hotels with fully catered meals, leading industry speakers and national renown keynotes in 2008.

It is all for the better though - I would rather be busy than bored. But being busy is not easy when Mother Nature seems to have some sort of grudge with Arkansas (for those of you who don't know, I live outside of Little Rock). Last week, a dozen tornados came through central Arkansas, one of which landed two blocks from my house, destroying over 250 houses and businesses and causing millions of dollars in damage. It is not easy getting to work, or working from home, when roads are flooded and power is out. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Over half of the states rivers and lakes are above flood stage and it has been raining for over a month. This thought brings me to my blog title.

I often wonder if people think about what marketing message they put out prior to actually launching an advertisement. Yesterday, I was driving to work with my windshield wipers on high taking an alternative route that was not flooded, when I heard a commercial for a local ATV/RV dealership than named their big sales event "Sunny Day's at " Did they really think about the fact that they have their big yearly sale in April, the month with probably the least sunshine? Was this something that they had planned for a long time, before knowing that the weather was the worse that Arkansas has seen in many years? And if it was a long time in coming, did they not have some sort of contingency plan?

Just a thought that I had. I often hear advertisements where I wonder if the advertising company thought about who their target audience was, who was viewing the advertisement and if those viewers really are the intended audience. One example I can think of a good ad in a bad place is a radio ad which had rap songs going in the background with the announcer talking about "rollin' on dubs". Now, I thoroughly enjoyed the ad - I laughed in fact. However, once the commercial ended, I realized that in my radio surfing, I was listening to a country music station! My first reaction was "wow, that ad was on the wrong station. Only a minority of those listening to this ad really know what it means." A little more time and effort put into pre-planning and media placement could have really paid off on this ad and increased the return the company would receive.

Chris

p.s. Thanks to Tony for the extra push to post this blogs.

Be Careful What You Blog...

Here is a link to a recent story in 'Arkansas Business.' Makes a good case at why people should watch what they blog, no matter if it is a personal blog or a company blog. In this case, it was a personal blog that the company became involved in.

I tried to access this guys blog to see what all the fuss was about, but it seemes that he has made it private and readable by invited users only. Smart choice!

Quit Fishing and Look for the Dancing Bear

My goal here is not to continue an endless cycle of linking to blogs which link to blogs, I wanted to post my thoughts on something that Jamie Notter said in his blog which references this video.

This video is amazing proof that, as Jamie puts it, "our brains have limited bandwidth when it comes to paying attention". However, I wanted to take this a bit further.

I often times remind my sales team to go and look on our 200+ Members (corporate members) websites and blogs to find out what they are doing in their service area. I ask them to keep up on the technologies that they are using, the employees that are retiring, the community events they are involved in, etc. It seems that many times, in our marketing plans, we have specific products and services that we choose to promote throughout the year. Many times, in determining what to promote, we must "fish" for ideas and think of what our Members would like to see the Association do within the industry. As many of you can attest, this is not always successful and the ROI is minimal.

This video is a perfect example of why we should turn the tables. Instead of "fishing" for ideas, let our Members tell us what they would like to see promoted, discussed, and accomplished within their association. All the time in the world can be spent on promoting the ideas originally planned, but that can cause us to loose track of what our Members want and need. We must be flexible in our marketing pushes, looking consistently at what our Members are doing in the industry and forming our plans around them.

This is, in fact, the benefit of being a part of any association. Members pay to join an association that conforms to their needs, that listens to problems and successes, that pays attention to the wants and needs, and as a result, an association that benefits them in more than one aspect.

And for those of you who are wondering what happens to all the time placed into creating a marketing plan for specific product and service pushes, I think that it will be will justified with the increase in Member retention and increased ROI on your marketing efforts.