Happy Friday! Short workweeks are fun, but you know what’s NOT fun? Cramming five days worth of work into four. I’m definitely ready for the weekend!

Before you hit the (proverbial) road, though, be sure to check out this week’s Friday Top Five — five blog posts from around the association community that were extra-special to me this week.

1. The Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology blog questioned whether or not cloud computing is good for the environment. Although many in the association community (including, of course, those of us here at MemberClicks) are big advocates of cloud computing, it may not be so environmentally sound. Read on for more info.

2. Jamie Notter discussed conflict this week, and why we should be moving toward the conflict rather than avoiding it. I’m the first to admit I can be passive-aggressive, so actively engaging in conflict isn’t exactly my favorite thing. But sometimes, moving toward conflict and confronting it can be beneficial; you can resolve small issues before the become big problems.

3. In a post for the Nonprofit Conversation blog, Nancy Schwartz shared nine keys for nonprofit organizations to utilize online video. One of my favorites? Online video is an expectation, not an option, for members under age 25. Additionally, remember that short and sweet is so important when it comes to videos. Attention spans for online video are minuscule.

4. According to a survey cited at the Association Management Group blog, demand for association management services is up. Bruce Wardle interviewed a few association execs and asked readers why thought demand for AMCs has increased. What do you think?

5. Conor McNulty at the Acronym blog asked a few insightful questions this week: What would you have done differently in your association management career? The post garnered lots of great comments, and I encourage everyone – no matter how far along in your career you are – to take a look.

From everyone at MemberClicks, have a great weekend!

In case it wasn’t apparent, at MemberClicks, we’re all about using technology to simplify busy lives and schedules. Of course, we realize that small staff association professionals are often more overwhelmed than your typical association professional. It’s tough managing an entire organization with just four (or three, or two, or one) staff!

Therefore … I love highlighting awesome applications and sites that help save me time. Today, I’ve got two: Remember the Milk and Evernote.

Right off the bat, I love Remember the Milk — I can sign in with my Google account and sync my Google Cal, Tasks and Gmail. (As a self-proclaimed Google addict, I adore this.) Basically, RTM is fantastic for the list-lover in you. You can make any kind of list you want; set reminders to notify you however you’d like; easily manage your tasks; plot your to-dos on a map; collaborate with coworkers, friends and family; sync your lists with your mobile phone; easily search your tasks and schedule your time however you’d like.

Phew! What a list! For association execs managing multiple departments, members and their own busy lives, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out.

Evernote is similar in that it wants to help you “remember everything.” Online bookmarking tool, file collaboration tool and easily accessible on-the-go, Evernote would be great for small staff professionals to share files, save ideas and inspiration and organize their files. Your account is easily searchable and can sync to your work and home computers and mobile phones — and your account is also available in the cloud, from any computer with an Internet connection.

Evernote suggests several ways for users to use the service:

Do you use either one of these tools? What other tools do you use to stay productive and efficient?

Happy Friday! Is it just me, or did we sort of skip fall this year and practically jump straight to winter? Brrrr!

Anyway, as always, there were a ton of great posts in the association community this week! What were some of your favorites? Mine are, of course, below.

1. Cynthia D’Amour had a great post regarding association leadership – would you be willing to try what you’re asking your members to do? We’ve got to be willing to step up and do the things we ask others to do and set a good example. It’s all part of leadership.

2. David M. Patt discussed cloud computing — one of our favorite topics, of course! — and made some great points. It’s not the association CEO’s job to be tech-savvy. It’s their job to know that technology can make their lives easier and what value it brings to the association.

3. When it comes to implementing a new AMS, how do you do training? Do you break it up over time or try to plow through it all in one day? As Wes Trochlil points out, breaking it up into smaller pieces can often be more effective and is a better learning method for most of us.

4. At the SocialFish blog, Leslie White had a great post about how crucial listening to the social web is for associations. Even if you’re not utilizing social media, it’s important to know what’s being said — about your association, the industry and your competitors — so you stay in-the-know.

5. How does your association define its mission or vision? Jeffrey Cufaude shares some great insights at his blog this week. Do you dream bigger than your current mission? At a small staff association, when you get so consumed with the day-to-day tasks, it can be difficult. This is a good read.

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Throughout the past year (and 310 posts!), I’ve highlighted tons of cool tools small staff associations can use, whether they’re social media-related or not. I thought today, I would compile those posts into one handy guide for future reference. Most of these tools are free (or very inexpensive), and many can help increase your productivity, become more active in the social Web or revamp the way your office runs.

1. Simplify your phone communications with Google Voice: Google has tons of free tools that are great for productivity. Google Voice allows you redirect as many numbers as you want to a single voicemail inbox, so all your calls can be directed to one phone number. Great for organizations with just one full-time staff member.

2. Applications to boost your productivity: I covered Google Reader, Tweetdeck, Evernote and Typinator. Of course, there are tons of RSS readers out there, and dozens of applications to manage Twitter (I’ve also used HootSuite and CoTweet).

3. All about podcasts: I shared a few different podcasts relevant to association professionals, and discussed using podcasts to communicate with your members. Subscribing is easy — anyone can do it straight from iTunes. And I recommended Audacity for editing your audio content.

4. Two options to improve your organization’s communications: TextMarks makes it easy for organizations to set up text messaging campaigns that members can subscribe to. This is a paid service, but it’s fairly inexpensive and has tons of benefits. And Phonebooth has both free and paid services that include a local number with up to five extensions, call forwarding and voicemail with transcription.

5. Create your own check-in application for conferences: With the popularity of location-based applications increasing, many associations may be wondering how they can participate in the trend. DoubleDutch allows organizations to create their own applications for events, distinguishing between different booths on the trade show floor and session rooms.

6. Have you heard about YouTube’s Nonprofit Program?: YouTube provides nonprofits with premium branding capabilities and allows them to raise funds with a Google “donate” program. Additionally, nonprofits will be listed on the Nonprofit channel’s page and have the option to add a “Call to Action” overlay on videos to drive campaigns.

7. Cloud computing now even more collaborative with Google’s changes: Google recently rolled out a slew of changes to its Docs, making them even more user-friendly and easy to use. With awesome chat features built in, collaboration is a snap for organizations — especially if you travel a lot.

8. PostRank: Social media stats and Google Analytics combined: PostRank combines stats from Google Analytics, your blog, Twitter and Facebook to give you a comprehensive “engagement score.” You don’t have to include every element, but the more you have, the more accurate your engagement score will be. Additionally, PostRank offers real-time social media monitoring so you’ll always be on top of your mentions and comments.

9. Looking for a tool to easily manage your organization’s social media presences?: Postling lets small businesses (or associations!) manage all of their social media outposts in one handy dashboard. Additionally, Postling can monitor mentions of your organization across the Web. You can allow multiple users or administrators access to your dashboard, and select which accounts they have access to.

I hope some of these tools benefit your organization, whether through increased productivity or better social media engagement!

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Happy Friday! It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through July already! Luckily the heat wave on the East Coast seems to have subsided a bit, but of course, we’re all still taking comfort in our air-conditioners.

However, it’s been an exciting week, especially with ASAE’s online conference designed specifically for small-staff associations. There was some great stuff around the association community this week, and I think small staff association professionals could really benefit from the following five links.

1. Over at Beth Kanter’s blog, there’s a guest post by Robert J. Rosenthal, director of Communication for VolunteerMatch on how volunteer coordinators can help their organizations become networked nonprofits. I think this post is especially valuable for small staffs because so many have to rely on volunteers to run programs and services. When you wear the hats of many different departments and silos, it’s crucial to have volunteers you can count on.

2. KiKi L’Italien shared a great presentation about how organizations can leverage their greatest online audience: lurkers. I think often, many association professionals are wary to create a blog or content online because of a low response rate. However, just because people aren’t commenting or responding doesn’t mean they aren’t reading and learning from your content. Passive users and readers still have tons of value for organizations!

3. At the Association Executive Management blog, David M. Patt wrote a fantastic post about changing expectations based on someone’s generation. People in their 50s, 60s — and even 70s — are waiting longer to retire due to many factors. People are living longer, healthier lives. Many haven’t saved enough for retirement, so they must keep working. So if you’re in your 40s, 30s and even 20s, you may want to adjust your expectations for your older colleagues.

4. Over at the SocialFish blog, John Haydon had an excellent guest post complete with a free download: The Complete Facebook Guide for Small Nonprofits. I think this download is a great resource for any small staff association professional looking to explore Facebook and find out how they can leverage it to their organization’s advantage. If your members are active on Facebook, I definitely recommend checking this out.

5. This week at Effective Database Management, Wes Trochlil shared a great case study about custom software vs. off-the-shelf. Often, organizations must evaluate what features they can truly live without in an association management software solution to save money on a custom solution that is difficult to update and maintain. Developing software is expensive, and there are so many off-the-shelf AMS solutions out there that there’s bound to be one that fits your needs.

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