Happy Friday! It’s finally starting to fee like spring here in Atlanta; now if only those annoying rainstorms would quit. I’m so ready for spring: more daylight, outdoor eating, baseball, the NFL Draft, flowers … it’s pretty perfect. Speaking of more daylight, don’t forget to spring your clocks forward this Saturday night before hitting the sack. Losing an hour is the only downside of the beginning of Daylight Savings Time — I’m really looking forward to longer days.

With many people attending the Great Ideas Conference, there was some great stuff in the association blogosphere this week, but not every post highlighted the conference.

1. Wes Trochlil shared some tips for organizations converting their data to a new database. There are some great reminders here, such as to stop keeping track of data you don’t need or use, keep your legacy database for future reference and only convert the data you need. Wes’ database tips always spot-on.

2. One of the newer-to-me blogs I’ve discovered recently is Ellen Behrens’. She writes the aLearning blog, and her post this week on exit interviews for members was fantastic. Members who don’t renew often have powerful information that would be beneficial to the organization, so definitely take a look at this post.

3. I read a ton of blogs, and they’re not all association-focused. This post, though, from the Six Pixels of Separation blog, discusses mobile technologies: “The Lines Continue to Blur (at Breakneck Speeds).” This one’s a great reminder about how much the use of mobile technology is increasing — and that it’s not just kids who are using it. Are you ready?

4. Lynn Morton wrote some awesome posts about Great Ideas this week, but here’s her takeaway post. From the more casual (use Emergen-C if you’re sick!) to the more serious (the spirit is there, the content is not), Lynn shared her thoughts from ASAE’s conference and encourages others to push the envelope a bit more.

5. Maddie Grant also had a great collection of takeaway and links post-Great Ideas. Her main takeaway was the concept of “autonomy,” which was discussed during Dan Pink’s closing general session. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Don’t forget to set your clocks forward!

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Every once in awhile, I stumble upon some new technology or software and think, “That is so PERFECT for associations!” I’ve got two to highlight today: TextMarks and Phonebooth.

It’s no secret that people’s use of mobile phones is constantly increasing, and important messages can be passed via text messaging (or SMS). Mass donations can even be accepted via text message, as we saw during the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

TextMarks is a service that makes it easy to set up marketing campaigns through text messages. An administrator chooses a word (or even acronym) to be your “textmark.” Members then can subscribe by texting that word to 41411. Once members subscribe to your service, they’ll receive any updates you choose to send out via text message.

TextMarks works with tons of providers in the U.S. (check out the list) and doesn’t charge users any extra for receiving a text message (standard rates do apply). If you want to use the service for free, your messages to subscribers will contain ads. Ad-free plans start out at $9.95 per month, which is a fairly cheap way to get your messages out en masse.

With all the talk about mobile in the association community and the need for associations to embrace different marketing platforms, TextMarks could be a great option if you’re interested in starting a mobile campaign. Your association could send reminders about event registrations or volunteer opportunities, or any short announcements. (I’d definitely recommend not abusing the service though – no one needs spam sent to their cell phone!)

The second service also deals with communication: your phone system. If you’re a smaller organization and are in need of a phone system that won’t break the bank, take a look at PhoneBooth, an alternative to Google Voice.

There is both a free and a paid service, and the free one is pretty comprehensive. You get a local number with up to five extensions, call forwarding to multiple sources, voicemail with transcription and the ability to get users connect with you from the Web – all for free! (Two-hundred in-bound minutes are included, and each additional minute is 6 cents.)

If you need more options, such as the ability to handle conference calls, Phonebooth OnDemand is $20 per month and unlimited local and long-distance calls on the Phonebooth.com nationwide network and support for HP VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and IP phones.

One downside to Phonebooth Free is that masking services aren’t available, so your outbound calls will still appear on Caller IDs as the number you’re actually calling from, rather than your Phonebooth number. But, if you need an easy to route calls and don’t need too many extensions, Phonebooth could be a really great option.

Does your association use text messages in its marketing plan? What kind of phone system do you use? Would you ever consider using an Internet service, such as Google Voice or Phonebooth?

Image credits: One, Two

I had a chance Tuesday to speak with Debra Helwig (you may know her on Twitter as @dhelwig) to find out more about her organization’s operations. Debra is the marketing and communications manager at IGAF Worldwide, an accounting association with more than 130 member firms across the world.

What makes IGAF Worldwide unique — and why I was so interested in speaking with Debra — is that the organization’s staff works virtually all the time. The staff of six work across North America, and three members serve jointly as members and regional coordinators in Asia, Latin America and Europe.

None of the staffers live in the same town, and only two are within 45 minutes of the remote office location. IGAF Worldwide has been fully virtual since October 2005.

All data is Web-driven and can be accessed through a Web interface. IGAF Worldwide uses a Virtual PBX, so when you call a phone number and input an extension, a cell phone or landline can ring wherever it needs to. Debra said the IGAF Worldwide staffers communicate primarily through e-mail and Instant Messenger, and they haven’t had a face-to-face staff meeting in more than a year.

Debra said the IGAF Worldwide staff doesn’t use Skype, but they have used Second Life to collaborate.

One of the main benefits to working virtually, Debra says, is that a number of their member firms are international. It’s not uncommon for Debra to be on conference calls at 9 or 10 p.m., or have to answer an e-mail to a European member at 5 a.m.

The light at the end of the silo

Debra worked for a large-staff association for 10 years prior to joining IGAF Worldwide, and she says the biggest difference is the lack of silos in a small-staff. At a larger association, everyone has their own specialty and role, and that’s not the case at IGAF Worldwide and other small-staff organizations.

“Having your hand in the entire process helps you see where efficiencies are,” Debra said. “There’s little to no communication gap at a smaller association.”

Every day is different for Debra, and it’s not uncommon for her to have to spend a few hours occasionally stuffing envelopes!

The self-proclaimed “relationship and service queen” lives by the philosophy of Seth Godin’s “Tribes” – everyone who works for an association leads a tribe.

“It’s vital to have an intense interest in what your members do and what they need. At a small-staff, you have that ability,” Debra said.

Although Debra has limited knowledge of the accounting industry (we’re actually both proud UGA journalism school alumni!), she’s greatly invested in her member firms and says she has a good sense of who the people are, what they need and how to connect them with each other.

“We’re here to help. That’s it,” Debra said. “If we as a staff communicate better, we can help more people.”

Working virtually hasn’t hindered IGAF Worldwide’s ability to serve its members. Debra says all the staffers have a fantastic relationship with their “visionary” president, and that trust is the most important aspect of working virtually. She visits member firms often and attends business development sessions, and because IGAF Worldwide is a small-staff, they’re able to build great relationships with their members.

“We don’t have to have all the answers. We just have to have the ability to hook our members up with people who do have the answers.”

Read Debra’s blog or connect with her on Twitter. If you work for a small-staff association and would like to be profiled, please e-mail me at socialmedia@memberclicks.com.

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When Apple made its big iPad announcement, we started thinking … How could small-staff associations use the iPad to manage their business operations? We were intrigued, and we wanted to find out! So, we decided to give a few away and find out for ourselves!

CEO Steve Jobs promised it would be “magical” and give us an even bigger, better mobile device than the iPhone, but what does that really mean?

The day after Apple’s big announcement, I tried to sort through the hype and figure out what the iPad could mean for small-staff associations down the road. We’re increasingly moving toward a mobile society, and the iPad takes that a step further. I see a lot of potential for the iPad down the road, but we want to find out exactly how a small-staff association would use this awesome device.

So, today marks the official kick-off of the MemberClicks’ Great Small-Staff iPad Giveaway!

Here’s the deal: We’re giving away four 32GB iPads, equipped with wi-fi — one to a current MemberClicks customer, the other to a non-customer.

How to enter: E-mail me at socialmedia@memberclicks.com with a short essay explaining why your organization needs the iPad and how you hope to use it. Be creative and specific! Events, meetings, mobility, creating an app … anything goes here!

How will an iPad affect your small-staff organization’s operations and/or use of the MemberClicks solution?

We’ll select two grand prize winners exactly two weeks from today, on March 23. The iPad becomes available on April 3, and we’ll be pre-ordering them when that’s available.

But the fun doesn’t stop after that. We want to know how your organization is utilizing the iPad. So we’ll be checking in periodically with each winner to get the low-down on how your organization is using the device. And your organization will be featured right on this blog to keep our readers updated.

Sound like something your association is interested in? E-mail entries to socialmedia@memberclicks.com.

We can’t wait to read how the iPad can affect the daily lives of small-staff associations.

Happy Monday! I hope everyone attending ASAE’s Great Ideas Conference made it to Colorado safely, and if you’re not able to be there in person, be sure to follow the Twitter hashtag #ideas10 for some great takeaways.

So, March is an exciting month for those of us here at MemberClicks. Generally, we send out a newsletter to our customers each month full of info about our training webinars, product updates, book reviews, useful PDFs (Beyond the Big Three, anyone?) and more.

This month, though, we’re launching a new, non-customer-focused e-newsletter, The Small-Staff Journal. We collect so much information about small-staff operations and want to give back to the community. You don’t have to be a MemberClicks customer to receive it, and we hope you’ll choose to connect with us in this way.

So, if you’re interested in receiving the first edition — which comes out tomorrow! — e-mail me at socialmedia@memberclicks.com. And trust me — if you like giveaways, you want in on this one to be one of the first people in the know. (It’s a biggie!)

I hope everyone’s week is off to a great start!