MC Talks
The MemberClicks Blog

In terms of disseminating information onsite at your organization’s conference, how are you currently doing it? Do you give people printed handouts and booklets when they check in at registration? Do you have a conference app where those materials are housed, but also have printed versions onsite? Do you rely exclusively on a conference app, cutting out printed materials altogether?

All organizations are different, and there’s no one perfect approach (because all attendees are different too!). But ideally, you want to have electronic versions of your conference materials in place, whether that’s in addition to printed materials or not.  

Now you may have some objections in mind, but allow us to address just a few of those…

If you read our blog regularly, you’ve probably heard me talk about my love for lists before. And bucket lists are certainly no exception. In fact, I’ve been pretty enthralled by bucket lists lately. There are all kinds of them! For travel, there are international bucket lists, domestic bucket lists, and even city-specific bucket lists. (Yes, I have all three.) Then, there’s the more recognized lifetime bucket list. (This is where you’ll usually find some of those more extreme to-dos, such as “Go skydiving” or “Ride in a hot air balloon.”)

All of that got me thinking...could your association or chamber benefit from a bucket list? Part of the fun of having a bucket list is the satisfaction you get from checking items off. Not to mention, there’s a little bit of a competitive element about them. “I’ve done 15 of these. How many have you’ve done?” Combine those two things, and that could be a great way to boost member engagement at your association or chamber.

Over the last year, all three of our locations - Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Vancouver - have moved into bigger, more functional offices. (Emphasis on the fun in functional!)

This week, we wanted to share a peek at our homes away from home, along with some cool facts about each city:

“Our departments are too siloed.”

“I don’t understand how my role makes an impact.”

“There isn’t enough transparency!”

Sound familiar? It can get easy to become so focused on our initiatives that we put our head down and barrel through - especially when times are busy and resources are limited. That said, this approach often leads to an unnecessary disconnect among staff.

There are a few things we do here at MemberClicks that help bring us all together. After all, transparency is one of our seven core values - and having three locations plus a number of remote employees demands it! See if any of these initiatives could work for your association:

Valentine’s Day is just days away, and whether you love it or hate it, it is a good time to let those around you know how much you love and appreciate them.

...And that means your members, too! It’s not too late to plan a little something special. In fact, here are three simple ways to show your members some love this Valentine’s Day:

It’s easy to get into an afternoon/end-of-day slump. But how you end your day can have a great impact on how you begin your tomorrow. Obviously, you want your work days to be as productive as possible, so to make that more of a daily reality, try ending each day by completing the following six tasks:

Words matter. If you’ve ever done any kind of marketing, you know that. And even as a consumer, you know that. Certain phrases just compel you to make a purchase.

So how can you tap into some of that psychology when “selling” your organization’s membership? Below are a few words and phrases you may want to consider utilizing:

Starting a new job can be intimidating, especially having to learn new processes and systems. And as an association veteran, it can be equally intimidating for you to have a new staff member poking around your database!

That’s one of the reasons why we offer so many different ways to train on your system, because we recognize that you may have staff who come and go throughout the year. And when it comes to getting new staff up to speed, introducing them to your database should be near the top of your list! Here are a few ways to do just that:

If your association or chamber is like most, you go through a certain process to sell memberships. At some point in this process, the potential member will ultimately decide to join - or not join.

If they join, you’ll be well on your way to new member onboarding, and recording information on why they joined so you can deliver benefits and gain valuable member intelligence.

But what if they don’t join? What can you learn from these potential members? Plenty!

Last night was the biggest game in football, and as you probably know, it was held in Atlanta - where I live! Now I didn’t go (those ticket prices!), but I still wanted to partake in the festivities, so I attended a few of the fan events leading up to the big game.

The events were great, but one thing that really stood out to me (and honestly, made the events better) were the volunteers. With so many people coming to town and a multitude of pop up events taking place, many, many, MANY volunteers were needed. And let me tell you, they delivered on everything you would want a volunteer to deliver on.

Because they made my experience so memorable (and because organizations rely quite heavily on volunteers), I wanted to share a few “lessons learned” from the exceptional volunteers of Super Bowl LIII: