Association Inc » Asides

Ah, Associations … We Are Ancient

Kevin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:20:37 +0000

Preparing for trip and skimming through “A Traveller’s History of Paris” I stumbled across this passage: “Two booksellers, Fust and Schoffer, brought printed books to Paris in 1463. Fearful of competition from this new art, the powerful scribes and booksellers guilds had the books confiscated.”

That Thing You Do

Kevin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:34:14 +0000

The November issue of Associations Now includes a “Horizons” column I wrote wondering why completely different markets all just happen to need the same kinds of things, according to the associations that serve them. I don’t see the November issue online quite yet but through creative URL typing I was able to locate the article here. Thanks to Lisa Junker for the opportunity and, especially, the help! Update: The November issue is now online with a nifty new homepage design.

More Forecasts

Kevin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:12:42 +0000

Judith Lindenau riffs on the little “predictions” from my last post with an eye toward what they may mean specifically for Realtor associations, to her usual straightforward and thought-provoking result.

A Million Instant Pundits

Kevin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:45:11 +0000

The publisher of Cook’s Illustrated has an interesting op/ed in the NYT today on the lamentable death of Gourmet magazine, the success of his own subscription (membership) model, and the modern “click-or-die” marketplace: “The world needs fewer opinions, and more thoughtful expertise — the kind that comes from real experience, the hard-won blood-on-the-floor kind.”

Customers First, Then Product

Kevin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:35:28 +0000

Compelling theory that “startups are more likely to fail from a lack of customers than from the lack of a product.” I think this applies also to associations since I believe firmly that associations have a market, not a product (products can be developed to meet market needs and jettisoned when they don’t — what remains central is the market, constituency that we serve).

More on Membership

Kevin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:29:38 +0000

Scott Briscoe’s starting an interesting conversation on “the death of membership” over at Acronym. I’m having my say in the comments.

Gone, Google, Gone

Kevin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:11:07 +0000

LOL. If you’re using Twitter, think your hashtags thru. I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot of forethought to see how #gonegoogle would wind up being used. Edit: I just realized I typed “thru” instead of “through” without even thinking about it. Why does it bother me that that doesn’t really bother me?

The Power of Search — And of Monopoly

Kevin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:20:55 +0000

Mortgage lenders are apparently freaking out that Google may be getting into the mortgage quote business. Too many industries have looked at Google as an advertising killer without thinking about what other possible sectors their powerful search engine may be able to disrupt. (Do you really think text ads alone will continue to pay their data center bills, especially as click-thrus continue to steeply decline for online advertising? Do you think that decline is somehow affecting everyone but Google?) To me it seems obvious their various little online apps amount to little more than a distraction from the real big-money possibilities offered by Google search capabilities. Let’s not forget that while “do no evil” may be a catchy phrase, its meaning is very much relative.

Connect with Me, Connect

Kevin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:24:11 +0000

So the “Connect with Me” song and video at ASAE turned out to be actually catchy, clever, and cooler than I thought it would be when I first heard about it. Everyone in it should be very proud. It was a little too catchy, as I haven’t been able to get the damn tune out of my head for days. So I’ve been trying to wash it out with my newest YouTube fave, “What It All Means” by Sam Phillips. “I tried to simplify, but it seems as if that’s what you do when you die.”

And So It’s Come to This

Kevin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:06:49 +0000

I’m gathering good examples of association Facebook pages. Any suggestions?