Join the Association Conversation: ASAE’s InnovationTalks
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 by Deirdre Reid
Next week, September 19-23, the association community will be abuzz with InnovationTalks, a five-day campaign to encourage conversations about, and commitments to, innovation in the association community.
Jeffrey Cufaude, one of the members of the ASAE Innovation Task Force, shared the goals of InnovationTalks on the ASAE listserv:
Keep that 30-day innovation commitment in mind; we’ll get back to that.
Innovation: not just a leadership buzzword
Innovation belongs to everyone everywhere. Elizabeth Engel at the National Association of Children’s Hospitals & Related Institutions reminded us recently in her post, Truck Stuck! Now What?, that the executive suite doesn’t have ownership rights to innovative ideas.
You can influence the behavior and mindset of your colleagues by proposing new ideas, approaching projects and tasks in new ways and making changes in how you work with members. By your actions show colleagues that they don’t have to do things “the way we’ve always done it.”
Think about what you can do to get your association “unstuck.” Make a list of doable ideas and wacky wishful ideas. Start small. Eventually if you get enough colleagues to think innovatively with you, your work culture will start to shift and what was once wishful will become doable.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s the unsexy stuff where innovation happens.”
Frank Fortin at the Massachusetts Medical Society can vouch for that statement from Peter Sheahan, the final keynote speaker at ASAE’s Annual Meeting. Frank discovered that being innovative meant first getting the basics squared away: clean data, efficient workflows, email address acquisition and maintenance, and landing page optimization. He’s building a strong foundation for future innovation.
Join the conversation
ASAE’s InnovationTalks page has a list of events and resources to help you organize your own talks. Schedule a mid-morning coffee or brown bag lunch to discuss innovation with your colleagues. Meet up with other association professionals in your region for an InnovationTalks happy hour. Join or lurk in the online conversation by following the Twitter hashtag for ASAE InnovationTalks, #asaeinnov.
Today and tomorrow, September 14 and 15, the Wisconsin SAE is hosting the National Summit on Association Innovation. Follow its Twitter hashtag, #innovationhub, and check out their Innovation Hub community for additional discussion.
Innovation is the topic for next Tuesday’s #assnchat, the weekly Twitter chat for association professionals, hosted by Kiki L’Italien. Search Twitter for the #assnchat hashtag on September 20 at 2pm EDT to lurk or participate.
Friday, September 23 at 12:30pm EDT, the DelCor Social Media Sweet Spot, a live weekly webcast also hosted by Kiki, will focus on innovation. You can lurk and listen or participate in the chatbox alongside the video.
Your 30-day commitment to innovation
Now it’s your turn. You can see by Frank’s examples that innovation isn’t limited to huge world-changing ideas. Here’s your assignment:
Think about how you can take steps toward innovation in the next 30 days. Either share your 30-day commitment here in the comments or send it to me via email at deirdre.reid.nc at gmail.com. Please share or email me your innovation commitment by the evening of Monday, September 26 to be included in next week’s post. It’s time to inspire and be inspired!
UPDATE: We’ve extended our 30-day commitment collection period into the week following InnovationTalks so that everyone has time to brainstorm, collaborate and create innovative and doable ideas that they’ll implement in the next 30 days. Next week, I’ll share some of Disney’s secrets to eliciting creativity and innovation from their staff. But for the following week, I’m counting on your ideas and commitments to innovation.
Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who thinks data integrity is sexy and sometimes innovative.
Jeffrey Cufaude, one of the members of the ASAE Innovation Task Force, shared the goals of InnovationTalks on the ASAE listserv:
“We want to have as many association staff members, volunteer leaders, and industry partners:
- exploring what innovation might look like for their organizations and efforts,
- making an innovation commitment they can complete in the next 30 days, and then
- sharing the takeaways and commitments from their innovation conversations with our entire community so that we can be inspired by-and learn from-each other.”
Keep that 30-day innovation commitment in mind; we’ll get back to that.
Innovation: not just a leadership buzzword
Innovation belongs to everyone everywhere. Elizabeth Engel at the National Association of Children’s Hospitals & Related Institutions reminded us recently in her post, Truck Stuck! Now What?, that the executive suite doesn’t have ownership rights to innovative ideas.
You can influence the behavior and mindset of your colleagues by proposing new ideas, approaching projects and tasks in new ways and making changes in how you work with members. By your actions show colleagues that they don’t have to do things “the way we’ve always done it.”
Think about what you can do to get your association “unstuck.” Make a list of doable ideas and wacky wishful ideas. Start small. Eventually if you get enough colleagues to think innovatively with you, your work culture will start to shift and what was once wishful will become doable.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s the unsexy stuff where innovation happens.”
Frank Fortin at the Massachusetts Medical Society can vouch for that statement from Peter Sheahan, the final keynote speaker at ASAE’s Annual Meeting. Frank discovered that being innovative meant first getting the basics squared away: clean data, efficient workflows, email address acquisition and maintenance, and landing page optimization. He’s building a strong foundation for future innovation.
Join the conversation
ASAE’s InnovationTalks page has a list of events and resources to help you organize your own talks. Schedule a mid-morning coffee or brown bag lunch to discuss innovation with your colleagues. Meet up with other association professionals in your region for an InnovationTalks happy hour. Join or lurk in the online conversation by following the Twitter hashtag for ASAE InnovationTalks, #asaeinnov.
Today and tomorrow, September 14 and 15, the Wisconsin SAE is hosting the National Summit on Association Innovation. Follow its Twitter hashtag, #innovationhub, and check out their Innovation Hub community for additional discussion.
Innovation is the topic for next Tuesday’s #assnchat, the weekly Twitter chat for association professionals, hosted by Kiki L’Italien. Search Twitter for the #assnchat hashtag on September 20 at 2pm EDT to lurk or participate.
Friday, September 23 at 12:30pm EDT, the DelCor Social Media Sweet Spot, a live weekly webcast also hosted by Kiki, will focus on innovation. You can lurk and listen or participate in the chatbox alongside the video.
Your 30-day commitment to innovation
Now it’s your turn. You can see by Frank’s examples that innovation isn’t limited to huge world-changing ideas. Here’s your assignment:
Think about how you can take steps toward innovation in the next 30 days. Either share your 30-day commitment here in the comments or send it to me via email at deirdre.reid.nc at gmail.com. Please share or email me your innovation commitment by the evening of Monday, September 26 to be included in next week’s post. It’s time to inspire and be inspired!
UPDATE: We’ve extended our 30-day commitment collection period into the week following InnovationTalks so that everyone has time to brainstorm, collaborate and create innovative and doable ideas that they’ll implement in the next 30 days. Next week, I’ll share some of Disney’s secrets to eliciting creativity and innovation from their staff. But for the following week, I’m counting on your ideas and commitments to innovation.
Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who thinks data integrity is sexy and sometimes innovative.
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Deirdre Reid
Deirdre is a freelance writer, blogger and copywriter. The association community remains her professional home after spending ten years at national and state associations overseeing membership, vendor programs, marketing, publications, chapter relations and more. Away from her laptop, you can find her hiking, doing yoga, cooking new recipes, volunteering at the history museum, or relaxing in a comfy chair with a good book and glass of wine or craft beer.
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