Are you hearing that more frequently? As life becomes more complex, members have more options for spending their time and, consequently, more demands on their time. Juggling their work, family, and social lives with association service isn’t as easy as it used to be. The traditional membership experience—volunteering for committee and board service—requires a commitment of time and energy that many are no longer able or willing to give.

“The younger generation will change the dynamic of the membership and volunteer experience,” predicts Jill Eckert McCall, director of the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education and past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section. “We want to engage and serve in ways that are very different than generations before us. We don’t just give lip service to work-life balance; we actually go out and get it.”

Bar associations have the opportunity to provide an alternative volunteer path for those of all ages who want to get involved, give back, and have a meaningful membership experience, but on their own terms.

Read the rest of my article about microvolunteering at the American Bar Association’s Bar Leader magazine website.

Photo by Tim Pierce (Flickr)

Pinterest is a virtual pin board — imagine an online scrapbook or vision board. Pinterest users create thematic pin boards based on interests, hobbies or dreams. When you see a piece of online content accompanied by an appealing photo, you “pin” the link (and corresponding photo) to one of your boards by using the website’s Pin It button or a Pin It bookmarklet, or by uploading the link.

Your boards and pins (images) are public. You follow people or their boards, re-pin their pins onto one of your boards, or “like” other pins – the Likes show up on your Facebook page. You can browse pins by topic or search by keyword. It’s social and serendipitous.

Why the buzz?

Pinterest was dismissed by many as merely a niche site for women planning weddings and craft projects, but, according to ComScore, it now has over 4 million users and is rapidly growing. Its traffic increased 329% in the last quarter! No longer niche, it’s one of the top ten social media sites in the world.

Who uses Pinterest?

I see people on Pinterest who don’t use Twitter or Facebook regularly; it’s attracting a new social media audience. The market research firm Experian says Pinterest users are primarily female (58%) between 25 and 44 years old (59%). These demographics “distinguish it from other new social media platforms, which are generally populated by men 18-24.” We’ll see about that, I’ve seen a lot of men join Pinterest recently.

Please read the rest of this post at the Avectra blog.

Texas Apartment Association's Pinterest boards

But are these efforts really from the heart? Wouldn’t a handwritten note or homemade meal be a more meaningful gift of the heart?

Katya Andresen, Chief Strategy Officer of Network for Good, blogged about a better way to celebrate gifts of the heart – Generosity Day.

Make tomorrow Generosity Day! The Cause page explains how.

“We’re rebooting Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day: one day of sharing love with everyone, of being generous to everyone, to see how it feels and to practice saying “Yes.” Let’s make the day about love, action and human connection.”

That sounds so much better, doesn’t it? Katya says: “Say YES on February 14th to every opportunity to be nice, help out, or delight with generosity.”

Yes!

You know me, I can’t help thinking: How could associations and their members celebrate Generosity Day?

• Open up your member wall, if you still have one. Let everyone get a taste of your members-only benefits.
• Make it a day of community service.
• Spend time with students and young professionals – answer questions, give tours, invite them to work alongside you, provide guidance and mentoring.
• Spend a day with elderly retired members who perhaps feel a bit forgotten.
• Invite members to share how they’re celebrating the day. Everyone who submits a story gets a special promo code.
• Buy your staff breakfast, lunch, afternoon treats or happy hour drinks.
• Ask staff to submit anonymous notes about how they appreciate their colleagues, for example, “I appreciate Ralph because he always cleans the kitchen counter even when it’s not his mess.” Read one note about every person on staff. Remember those poor kids in elementary school who only got one Valentine’s Day card when all the other kids got 30? Don’t let that happen, make sure you have a note to read about everyone, even if you have to write it yourself.

Now, make a note to yourself about next year’s Generosity Day. Plan ahead and give your members a chance to spread love and happiness.

Big Heart of Art by QThomas Bower (Flickr)

I would have LOVED something like this when I was single. Not so much to meet guys, although that wouldn’t have hurt, but as an easy way to hang out with new people for a few hours around a dinner table. I love that type of thing, especially when food is involved.

We had Meetup groups in Sacramento that did something similar, but the dinners usually attracted too many people. After a while, all the faces became a big blur — too much networking, not enough real conversation.

One of the top reasons people join associations is to meet and develop relationships with peers or prospects. Associations facilitate this by hosting conferences, volunteer opportunities and other events. Why not try the GrubWithUs model — small dinners for six to eight people? Here are some ideas:

• During conferences and other meetings, like many associations do.
• By geographic area for local members.
• By conversation or brainstorming topic — pay for someone’s dinner and ask them to report back on ideas shared — market research!
• By professional niche or interest.

Don’t focus on excuses to not do it – handling payments, staff time — you can find ways to make it work if you really want to.

The accounting department may have to become more nimble to pay the restaurant in advance, but it’s the 21^st century, the age of PayPal, debit cards and taking care of business.

You might have to rely on volunteers. Thank them by paying or subsidizing their check, or giving them a promo code for an event or product.

Not everyone can afford to attend your conference to meet other members, but they will surely appreciate you making the effort to organize or facilitate member meet-ups.

And I hear you too. “Games? You can’t be serious. Not at my association.”

Full disclosure, I’m not a gamer, so this is all a bit foreign to me too. I first started paying attention to games two years ago at a TEDx conference where I heard an IBM game designer talk about using games for training and education. Ever since I’ve been intrigued by the idea that game thinking can help associations deliver a better experience.

I’m not the only one. Game dynamics was the topic of last week’s #assnchat.

It’s tempting to dismiss any consideration of games by saying members are serious professionals and wouldn’t go for those shenanigans, but they do.

Games are the most downloaded apps. 72% of households play computer or video games. The average gamer is 37 years old. 42% of gamers are women. 55% of gamers play on their phone or hand-held device.

Here’s what I’m wondering: how can we leverage the principles of game design to make the membership experience or professional development journey more meaningful, or encourage online community participation?

Please read the rest of this post at the Avectra blog.

photo by Patrick Hoesly/Flickr CC