Comments for Associated Knowledge http://www.associatedknowledge.com The Intersection of Learning, Knowledge, Technology, and Community from an Association Perspective Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:25 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 CommentsForAssociatedKnowledgehttp://feedburner.google.com Comment on The Power of…Missed Opportunities by Maggie McGary http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/1SOF8o8gsSk/ Maggie McGary Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:25 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=457#comment-967 Awesome, awesome post. First off, lmao and amen about wishing the ASAE website was as attractive and user-friendly as the PWRA one is--I couldn't agree more! Secondly, the point you make about the general call for volunteers is 100% right on. I mean, look how many of us are blogging about it and are truly passionate about the whole thing--and look at the skills we and tons of others have that are equally valuable (or better) than Ogilvy's in terms of this project. Web designers/developers, writers, social media lovers, etc--how many ASAE members possess these skills? Plenty. And how many would be psyched to work on this kind of project? I would assume plenty? Or maybe I'm just idealistic? Awesome, awesome post. First off, lmao and amen about wishing the ASAE website was as attractive and user-friendly as the PWRA one is–I couldn’t agree more! Secondly, the point you make about the general call for volunteers is 100% right on. I mean, look how many of us are blogging about it and are truly passionate about the whole thing–and look at the skills we and tons of others have that are equally valuable (or better) than Ogilvy’s in terms of this project. Web designers/developers, writers, social media lovers, etc–how many ASAE members possess these skills? Plenty. And how many would be psyched to work on this kind of project? I would assume plenty? Or maybe I’m just idealistic?

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/05/04/the-power-of-missed-opportunities/comment-page-1/#comment-967 Comment on Cinco de Mayo by desabol http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/VXxmzNgOvBA/ desabol Tue, 05 May 2009 11:38:04 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=467#comment-966 Kena thanks for stopping by and commenting! I think one of the greatest strengths of the US is the fact that we do celebrate our multiculturalism and diversity like we do. Or we like a good reason to party. :-) Regardless, I like to use history to provide perspective - big and small - and Cinco de Mayo seemed like a great opportunity to do so. As for our own battles, I think we all have our fair share and just have to be mindful that we are fighting the right ones at the right times. Feel free to stop by again! Kena thanks for stopping by and commenting! I think one of the greatest strengths of the US is the fact that we do celebrate our multiculturalism and diversity like we do. Or we like a good reason to party. :-) Regardless, I like to use history to provide perspective – big and small – and Cinco de Mayo seemed like a great opportunity to do so. As for our own battles, I think we all have our fair share and just have to be mindful that we are fighting the right ones at the right times. Feel free to stop by again!

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/05/05/cinco-de-mayo/comment-page-1/#comment-966 Comment on Cinco de Mayo by KenaSiu http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/f30Tz_JQjTc/ KenaSiu Tue, 05 May 2009 11:31:30 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=467#comment-965 Hello Dave! It's nice that you have done a blog regarding "5 de mayo" and made the point. I still don't understand why is more celebrated in US than in my own country, Mexico, it's funny. Regarding our own battles, you really made me think, lately I have one with myself and if I think about it I guess is not worth it! Gotta reevaluate some stuff and change my attitude. And definitely a cerveza will be great today! Hello Dave!
It’s nice that you have done a blog regarding “5 de mayo” and made the point. I still don’t understand why is more celebrated in US than in my own country, Mexico, it’s funny.

Regarding our own battles, you really made me think, lately I have one with myself and if I think about it I guess is not worth it! Gotta reevaluate some stuff and change my attitude.

And definitely a cerveza will be great today!

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/05/05/cinco-de-mayo/comment-page-1/#comment-965 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by desabol http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/aVKKel1bjsQ/ desabol Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:37:00 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-954 Maggie, such a thoughtful response and I really appreciate the time it took you to write it. I do hope you one of your explanations is correct, but it would be great to hear directly from them to provide some clarity to the situation. The choice of a LinkedIn group is also questionable but I suspect they didn't want to go to the trouble of creating something stand alone but wanted to be able to cultivate the potential of the community that forms around DigitalNow. Regardless of the approach or the reason for their decision I think that what would be most helpful is if somebody from Fusion stepped up and said something - anything - to explain things. If I am truly not the type of person they want in their tribe I'd be ok with it provided they have a valid business reason for it and are willing to articulate it in a public forum. However, saying what they said in the manner they said it essentially makes it sound as though I am not worthy of their time and consideration. I may not be directly tied to an association presently, but what happens when I become a player once again - which I will? Are they really that arrogant or ambivalent? I sure hope not, but again I guess we will have to see what plays out. To date I have seen/heard anything from them. Hopefully that will change soon. Thanks again for stopping by! Maggie, such a thoughtful response and I really appreciate the time it took you to write it. I do hope you one of your explanations is correct, but it would be great to hear directly from them to provide some clarity to the situation. The choice of a LinkedIn group is also questionable but I suspect they didn’t want to go to the trouble of creating something stand alone but wanted to be able to cultivate the potential of the community that forms around DigitalNow. Regardless of the approach or the reason for their decision I think that what would be most helpful is if somebody from Fusion stepped up and said something – anything – to explain things. If I am truly not the type of person they want in their tribe I’d be ok with it provided they have a valid business reason for it and are willing to articulate it in a public forum. However, saying what they said in the manner they said it essentially makes it sound as though I am not worthy of their time and consideration. I may not be directly tied to an association presently, but what happens when I become a player once again – which I will? Are they really that arrogant or ambivalent? I sure hope not, but again I guess we will have to see what plays out. To date I have seen/heard anything from them. Hopefully that will change soon. Thanks again for stopping by!

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-954 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by Maggie McGary http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/xkqt-S18QYg/ Maggie McGary Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:53:24 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-953 Wow--this is almost as bad as the story about the Ketchum/Fed-Ex Twitter thing! I can't help but think (hope?) that there was some sort of misunderstanding and they accidentally rejected you by clicking the wrong button? I say this because I manage my association's group on Linkedin and it is limited to members. I have to go through the requests to join manually, look each person up in our database and either approve or decline them. There have been times when I've accidentally declined members because of some snag with our database--maybe they used a nickname in Linkedin or something, or recently got married. Or sometimes I must have just plain looked it up wrong. If someone isn't a member I send them a similar note to the one you received: thanks for your interest; sorry but it's limited to members; please feel free to join over 11,000 ASHA members and fans of our page on Facebook or to follow us on Twitter. (obviously in a better format than that!) After mistakenly declining a member, I changed the text of the letter to say something like "our records show you are not currently a member of ASHA; please let me know if this is not the case." That way, it hopefully at least dampens their anger at being rejected by an association they are a member of! The only other thing I can think of is maybe it wasn't Julie herself who actually sent the message--maybe someone else in the office signs in with her login to administer the group? I admit I'm grasping at straws here, hoping there's some explanation, because if not, this is just ridiculous. What kind of strategy is that: let's alienate potential future attendees and offend past attendees and presenters? I'm not really understanding why they thought a Linkedin group would be a good idea. Oh, and I like how you're invited to email them to find out how much it costs to buy your way into the group by becoming a Resource Partner. Now I have to go apply to the group myself to see what kind of email response I get! Wow–this is almost as bad as the story about the Ketchum/Fed-Ex Twitter thing! I can’t help but think (hope?) that there was some sort of misunderstanding and they accidentally rejected you by clicking the wrong button? I say this because I manage my association’s group on Linkedin and it is limited to members. I have to go through the requests to join manually, look each person up in our database and either approve or decline them. There have been times when I’ve accidentally declined members because of some snag with our database–maybe they used a nickname in Linkedin or something, or recently got married. Or sometimes I must have just plain looked it up wrong.

If someone isn’t a member I send them a similar note to the one you received: thanks for your interest; sorry but it’s limited to members; please feel free to join over 11,000 ASHA members and fans of our page on Facebook or to follow us on Twitter. (obviously in a better format than that!)

After mistakenly declining a member, I changed the text of the letter to say something like “our records show you are not currently a member of ASHA; please let me know if this is not the case.” That way, it hopefully at least dampens their anger at being rejected by an association they are a member of!

The only other thing I can think of is maybe it wasn’t Julie herself who actually sent the message–maybe someone else in the office signs in with her login to administer the group?

I admit I’m grasping at straws here, hoping there’s some explanation, because if not, this is just ridiculous. What kind of strategy is that: let’s alienate potential future attendees and offend past attendees and presenters?

I’m not really understanding why they thought a Linkedin group would be a good idea.

Oh, and I like how you’re invited to email them to find out how much it costs to buy your way into the group by becoming a Resource Partner.

Now I have to go apply to the group myself to see what kind of email response I get!

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-953 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by desabol http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/vRFnn0HgL0c/ desabol Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:09:48 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-949 Scott, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I think you hit the nail on the head. It's not only about perception it's about the reality. If you are selling one idea and doing something completely different you are exposing yourself to a lot of scrutiny. I can say in their defense that their conferences are pretty darn classy and well run, hence my disappointment of being denied the ability to associate with a company/event that I had respected so much, at least until recently! Feel free to stop by to keep updated on this. I don't intend on letting this go without getting some sort of resolution/answers. Cheers! Scott, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I think you hit the nail on the head. It’s not only about perception it’s about the reality. If you are selling one idea and doing something completely different you are exposing yourself to a lot of scrutiny. I can say in their defense that their conferences are pretty darn classy and well run, hence my disappointment of being denied the ability to associate with a company/event that I had respected so much, at least until recently! Feel free to stop by to keep updated on this. I don’t intend on letting this go without getting some sort of resolution/answers. Cheers!

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-949 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by desabol http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/2DOdnsvBPbc/ desabol Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:04:55 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-948 Maddie, it does leave a very bad taste in my mouth and I would have been similarly disappointed if it were any one of us who are active in the association community and try to give considerably more than we get. Obviously, they want to portray themselves (or so it seems) as giving to the association community but in the day and age of transparency, you have to walk the talk or risk getting called out on it. I for one am calling them out and hope someone from Fusion (preferably Don or Hugh) take a moment to jump into the thread. The fact that both Lindy and I (and who knows who else) were denied entry is really their loss as we are among the countless others (yourself included) who really try to do the right thing for the advancement of Associations in general. Maddie, it does leave a very bad taste in my mouth and I would have been similarly disappointed if it were any one of us who are active in the association community and try to give considerably more than we get. Obviously, they want to portray themselves (or so it seems) as giving to the association community but in the day and age of transparency, you have to walk the talk or risk getting called out on it. I for one am calling them out and hope someone from Fusion (preferably Don or Hugh) take a moment to jump into the thread. The fact that both Lindy and I (and who knows who else) were denied entry is really their loss as we are among the countless others (yourself included) who really try to do the right thing for the advancement of Associations in general.

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-948 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by desabol http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/w3EZUXlQhoQ/ desabol Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:00:50 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-947 Bruce, thanks so much for the response. I think it was an arbitrary and unfair decision and a really fine example of what not to do in a situation like this. What bothers me the most is the digital paper trail of correspondence that I have between myself and Jule/Kay from Fusion from years past. The question of exclusivity versus inclusiveness really seems to be at the root of this whole situation. Especially from an organization like Fusion that promotes the power of online communities, I expected so much more. Bruce, thanks so much for the response. I think it was an arbitrary and unfair decision and a really fine example of what not to do in a situation like this. What bothers me the most is the digital paper trail of correspondence that I have between myself and Jule/Kay from Fusion from years past. The question of exclusivity versus inclusiveness really seems to be at the root of this whole situation. Especially from an organization like Fusion that promotes the power of online communities, I expected so much more.

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-947 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by Scott http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/Md9bnkBKfqc/ Scott Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:37:15 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-946 Seems to be little doubt they're going for the Country Club approach. What makes that all the more amusing is their apparent inability to correctly apply their own rules for becoming a member of that club. I hope they're better at organising conferences. Seems to be little doubt they’re going for the Country Club approach. What makes that all the more amusing is their apparent inability to correctly apply their own rules for becoming a member of that club. I hope they’re better at organising conferences.

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-946 Comment on How Not to Manage a LinkedIn Group by Maddie Grant http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForAssociatedKnowledge/~3/9-lX5Y3-0zA/ Maddie Grant Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:25:20 +0000 http://www.associatedknowledge.com/?p=446#comment-945 This kind of stuff leaves a really bad taste - and they did it to the wrong person. We're all spreading this story all over the association blogosphere. It was a hot topic in our NTEN chat room today, and who knows where it will go next. Why be exclusionary in public spaces like this? It's so lame. It's not like they are a membership association restricting their stuff to members only for valid reasons. They are a for-profit company making money off association execs. This kind of stuff leaves a really bad taste – and they did it to the wrong person. We’re all spreading this story all over the association blogosphere. It was a hot topic in our NTEN chat room today, and who knows where it will go next. Why be exclusionary in public spaces like this? It’s so lame. It’s not like they are a membership association restricting their stuff to members only for valid reasons. They are a for-profit company making money off association execs.

]]> http://www.associatedknowledge.com/2009/04/22/how-not-to-manage-a-linkedin-group/comment-page-1/#comment-945