UnTech10 Reflections: Technology is Only One Ingredient for Association Innovation

A week ago today, a group of volunteers gathered in a Washington DC conference room, shook the snow off their jackets, rolled up their sleeves, and finished the last minute preparations for a grand experiment in conference planning.

By all accounts UnTech10 was an amazing experience for everyone that gets jazzed about association technology.  Much has been written about how the community came together to put this together.  Everyone had something to contribute and egos were checked at the door to make this a success.

It was also amazing to see how many technologies came together to create instant event.  Just a short checklist includes:

• Twitter for the initial call to arms
• Web meetings and conference calls to strategize and organize
• Wikis and online collaboration sites for speakers to share presentations and content
• Online Meeting Hub/Website to serve as a central online gathering location
• Live Video Streaming to share the content with the online audience
• Tweetchat and hashtags to create and capture a wider discussion
• Webinar Events to create additional sessions and learning opportunities
• Mobile devices for sharing tweets and content
• Sharing Sites like YouTube and Flickr for sharing even more ideas and content
• Flip and mobile video cameras for capturing on the fly video
• Blogs for sharing takeaways and even more learning

And the list goes on and on. (Yes, as technical people we DID geek out on this kind of thing.)

So what’s holding your association back from doing the same thing?  When your organization hits a bump or has a crises, why can’t your staff and community pull together and accomplish the same thing?

I think the answer to that came from several of the participants who pointed out — it’s not about the tools or strategy, it’s about your culture!

How many staff in your association are following conversations with members and customers on Twitter? How many are writing and commenting on blogs or your Facebook page?

If your culture doesn’t support an environment of experimentation and getting out there and using these tools, then when the time comes to mobilize and create something special you’ll be asking your teams to do something they haven’t been trained to do.

For all the fear I hear about social media the reality is the waters are warm and open (it’s called SOCIAL Media for a reason).  Go ahead and encourage some experimentation and let your people surprise you.  Then when the time comes that you need to react and do something amazing, you’ll be prepared to shine and lead.

Thanks to everyone in the association technology community who embraced the culture and brought this event to life and led by example.