I’ll admit it. I still love to read and receive magazines in the mail, including Entertainment Weekly, Signature, Consumer Reports, FORUM, Rolling Stone, The Economist, and Associations Now, just to name a few. Print publications provide a chance for me to escape – to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

However, as much as I enjoy print publications, I also thrive on electronic publications (websites, blogs, wikis, social media, and mobile applications). What would I do if I couldn’t watch the YouTube video everyone is talking about? Or plan my Santa Barbara wine-tasting tour by accessing a wide variety of websites? Or get the 411 from Facebook and Twitter on my iPhone?

There’s a plethora of ways for us to receive content and the best part is we can decide how we want to receive the content. We can utilize different tools to our preferences. What does this mean for our association? Do our members want these options too?

With the state of the economy and the new, almost daily, technology advancements, the publishing industry is quickly evolving. This evolution is not temporary, nor cyclical, it’s structural. The way information is created, published, and conveyed has changed and thus, the terms and conditions of how we engage with members has changed forever. Here’s some tips to navigate through the whirlwind:

Customer Driven

Despite the allure of the latest publishing technology trends, an understanding of your members’ preferences is the key to using new media effectively. It’s important to slow down and take the time up front to research how members want to receive information before transitioning content to a new technology—no matter how much time and money you might save or how hip you think the technology will make your association look.

Why? Because once you’ve killed that print magazine and moved on to digital, it’s really, really hard to go back. And if your members don’t like what you’ve done—or simply, how you did it—you might lose their loyalty along the way.

On the flip side, what if print is less important to your members than you originally thought? Perhaps mobile content is your members’ first preference… Are you ready to take those steps toward change?

“If content is king, ease-of-use is queen.”

These days content comes our way in a wide variety of formats. The good news is that integrated content through a variety of media (print, online, digital, mobile, and electronic) provides associations with the flexibility to reach a myriad of audiences. Content is king and will continue to be, but needs to be packaged in new ways, allowing readers to access content whenever and wherever they need it.

Streamline the Association's Array of Publications

Usually associations just add more and more and don't think about how they're competing with themselves. Just as your magazine or scholarly journal has a mission and value proposition, so too should your website, blog, wiki, mobile application, and social media dynamics. These mission statements will help you decide the best delivery mechanism for the content you want to distribute.

“Innovation doesn’t wait for the next board meeting.”

Keep a fresh perspective and utilize the newest publishing tools to distribute your content. Regardless of whether it’s print, mobile, online or electronic, association publications will continue to serve as the centerpiece of your organization. Your content is often the most tangible, valuable, and recognized benefit by members. It’s what the members can directly relate to and perhaps why the member justifies the membership.

Don’t Re-Invent the Wheel

And let’s not forget that these wonderful technologies are really just a stepping stone to the excitement of the in-person meeting. After tweeting someone for weeks or months, reading their blog, or listening to a podcast, it’s stimulating to finally meet that person face-to-face. Immediately the connection is established, and the conversation just flows. That’s why Association Media & Publishing continues to offer opportunities to interact and engage in a supportive atmosphere of camaraderie through the Annual Meeting, roundtables, and regional programs. Capitalize on what you’ve been doing since the organization was founded and use the in-person meetings to extend your content.

The connections begun through technology and cemented face-to-face are long lasting.

Take advantage of new media – make a strong effort to grasp the tools and resources available and analyze through research how they can help you better serve your members.

Associations are learning to adapt the ever-changing content consumption preferences and expectations of their members, their industries, and the public. By using a 360-degree approach—combining print, media, and events—associations are able to do what they do best, which is deliver and fulfill the needs of members. After all, there’s nothing better than an association that’s successful at giving members what they want.

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As an executive director, I think critically about the new technologies available to associations and how I could apply them to our goals at Association Media & Publishing. At a recent conference, I had the opportunity to hear Peter Hirshberg, a Silicon Valley executive who serves on the board of directors of Technorati.com. Hirshberg spoke about the power the audience now has because of Web 2.0 tools. The audience is deciding what to look at when, creating their own content, learning from one another, and gaining power.

As I sat through the session, I asked myself: How can we further leverage the power of Association Media & Publishing’s members and enhance our association? The research was already underway and plans were in place to launch the online conference community, but how could push the envelope even more?

Knowing the conference would have a captive audience, who always wanted to learn more, Association Media & Publishing created a micro-website for the conference in 2009: http://live.snap09.com. The conference website enhanced the attendee experience, provided an extension to the conference community and gave those who were unable to attend in-person the scoop. In real-time and through multiple mediums, the attendees shared their conference experience, what they learned, and challenges they needed answers to. With a team of volunteers, support from an industry partner, and staff, the plans to launch the site were made. An editorial calendar was created to ensure every aspect of the conference was covered on the micro-website, digital cameras and flip video cameras were distributed and a marketing plan was put in place to ensure maximum visibility to the community. The micro-website capitalized on the use of social media tools:

• Attendees used the #snap09 hashtag to follow the conversation through the Twitterfeed.
• Through video, the expertise of attendees and speakers were recorded onsite and posted through YouTube.
• Since the conference was paperless, concurrent session handouts were shared through Slideshare.
• A blog shared the top tips and insights from the two days.
• Photos posted through Flickr provided a glimpse into the experience of the attendees.
• Additional exposure was given to the sponsors and exhibitors of the event through the Marketplace.

The association gained power through the creation of the conference website. Although the association developed the tool, it was the members who made this theirs.

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Tweet, Tweet. Chirp, Chirp. Buzz, Buzz. Do you hear the chatter? More than before, the chatter is all around us because of social media. Likeminded people are conversing organically around a common interest to share best practices, successes and challenges, and build relationships and connections with colleagues and peers.

Through research, Association Media & Publishing knew their members hungered for just this – a social media tool to tie these conversations together, enabling members to “gather” virtually on a single platform. So, they knew what members wanted. However, a larger question remained, “If they build it, will members engage and interact?”

Association Media & Publishing already knew their members were utilizing social media tools for their organizations, personally, and some were even experts in the social media field. With this and the research behind them, Association Media & Publishing took the plunge and launched a social media and networking website for the conference in 2009. The new site would provide a forum for registrants to connect and begin discussions prior to the in-person conference.

The site-launching team put a lot of thought into what would make this tool successful. First and foremost, if our members were comfortable were Web 2.0 tools, the staff had to be engaged and comfortable as well. The staff practiced by participating in other community sites. And, more research was conducted. What should a social networking site consist of? What is the strategy behind developing a site specifically for the conference? How can we market the conference community?

Using Ning technology, a free social media platform, the conference community website became a wealth of content powered by Association Media & Publishing members, the users. The conference began on June 3rd and for the three months prior, the conversation was already underway. Conference registrants saw who was attending, discussed travel plans, concurrent sessions and speakers, and watched videos. Much like Facebook and LinkedIn, registrants completed a profile, shared their expertise, uploaded photos, and connected with colleagues and peers. All of this before the conference even started.

Association Media & Publishing leveraged the power of their members and enhanced their association’s community. By the start of the conference, nearly half of all registrants were participating on the online community – a success. And, the conversation continued well past the conference, so much so, the association developed an online community for the entire association.

Now, it’s your turn to get started. Begin by listening to the conversations -- conduct a search online, scan member blogs and Twitter, and explore social communities like, Facebook and LinkedIn. Use these tools to extend your association’s visibility and build community or launch a separate online community specific to your members. The results will surprise you.

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