September 12, 2008
A Few Random Posts I’ve Been Meaning to Expand Upon, But, Really, Who Has Time?
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
Most of my little posts go in the “asides” here on the blog, and most of them are fairly inconsequential (okay, okay, I know that all my posts are inconsequential, but roll with me here).
Then there are other thoughts that I jot down on occasion in draft form because they’re small but I think they merit some fleshing out. Of course, when I’m totally honest with myself, I have to concede that most of them probably won’t get fleshed out because I just don’t have that much time to spend on this blog.
So, here are a few of them — I may revisit them in longer form at some point, but here they are anyway:
Time shifting. The DVR hasn’t just changed television, it’s changed everything. (Well, really it’s just one aspect of a larger change.) People expect their consumption of media to revolve around their own schedule. But I wonder, should this mean more than just offering recordings of live events? What does “live” mean anymore? (And speaking of DVRs, I need to remember to set mine because It’s Always Sunny is coming back next Thursday.)
There are no legacies. Call it a paradox: the nature of associations are such that they tend to attract leaders who are very interested in grand gestures, big footprints, and lasting legacies; and it is also the nature of associations and their rapidly-shifting structures that such things are often quickly forgotten.
It’s okay to have an agenda. Why do so many people pretend that they don’t have one? Partnerships, collaborations, and organizations of all stripes at all levels would work much better if everyone was just honest about what they want, in my opinion.
Meet the We Bees. Around the country, former proponents of term limits are seeking to overturn (or at least lengthen) them, in part because, according to the NYT on Wednesday, they believe they “leave too much power in the hands of civil servants.” One elected official said, “We call those folks the We Bees, as in, ‘We be here when he’s gone.’” Does that make staff the We Bees of the association world, and what are the implications of that kind of sentiment?
True “ownership.” Staff don’t and can’t “own” an association, but the associations that are the most innovative and fastest-growing are those whose staff feel like they have a personal stake in its success. They “take ownership,” so to speak. But the successful association executive learns to feel like an owner without losing sight of who the real owners are. Sometimes that means letting go of strategies or tactics that you feel very strongly about, and sometimes it means doing something that you might not personally think is the best way to go. All without letting it impact your ability to keep creating, innovating, and “owning.” It’s a hard lesson to learn but probably the most important one in association management.
There are some more, but I’ll save them for another rainy day. (Oh, earlier I’d promised some news from the Event Technology Expo this week — unfortunately, something came up and I wasn’t able to make it.)
No comments yet.