Since I didn’t get the opportunity to share a few of my favorite blog posts from last week, I thought I’d take today to do so. As always there were some great blog posts around the association community. Perhaps you missed a few, or maybe you just need some extra reading material today. Either way, enjoy!

No money, mo' problems?

1. There were a few posts on ASAE’s Acronym blog specifically geared toward small staff associations, which I loved. Sue Bowman summarized a few tips for organizations that are involved in marketing on a “shoestring budget.” Some key points? Promote the members-only benefit your organization offers, and make it a priority to understand your metrics and what defines your success.

2. Jeffrey Cufuade has started a new series on his blog called Facilitation Friday. Last week’s discussed how associations can make their communities more connected. Just allowing people to convene isn’t enough. There has be additional value. All the choices organization leaders make should involve community and allowing people to connect more. After all, that’s what associations are all about.

3. As the community manager at ASHA, Maggie McGary knows a thing or two about social media and associations. And that’s why she said associations and community managers go together like PB&J — both are all about connecting people. (Sense a theme this week?) Every association is already a community. Maybe they’re not all active online yet, but who from your organization greets them when they arrive?

4. In a fantastic post on SmartBlog Insights, Shelly Alcorn wrote about governance and the problems that surround this aspect of association management. Shelly admits that governance gets a bad rap, but she writes that governance is more leadership than management — and shares how governance can become more authentic. Don’t get caught up in the politics of it all.

5. I absolutely loved Brian Reuwee’s post at the Drake Co’s blog about futbol, football and association collaboration. He discussed how countries across the world collaborate to make the World Cup an unforgettable event (although many Americans seem to forget it exists for three years at a time), while American college football conferences are in disarray due to television revenue issues. If associations look to FIFA as an example of good collaboration, it would seem that almost anything is possible.

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Happy Friday! I can’t believe it’s already May! I feel like we just celebrated Christmas here, and Cinco de Mayo is already over! There were some great posts in the association community this week – feel free to share some more in the comments!

1. David M. Patt shared some wisdom this week through a story about an advertisement. The moral of the story: even if you think you know what your audiences should want, it doesn’t always work that way. Ask them, then provide it, no matter how much you think they shouldn’t want something.

2. I’m a huge fan of ABC’s “Lost” (although I’m several episodes behind, so no spoilers!), so I loved Carolyn Hook’s post on Acronym this week. She shared three scenarios from the show and derived community-building tips from each one. Whether you watch the show or not, there are some great ideas in this post.

3. At the Membership Marketing Blog, Tony Rossell shared some results from the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Survey. The question: What strategy leads to membership growth? The options: Acquisition, retention or both. The results might surprise you – check it out.

4. Guest writing at the Social Fish blog, Leslie White discussed the possibility of associations using a modified BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process to make decisions. She suggests an independent commission could evaluate programs, services and events and the board would accept or reject it. What do you think?

5. Joe Gerstandt wrote a great post about inclusion in the workplace and unintentional filters that are set up. He writes, When people do stand up, when they do speak their truth, ask big questions or challenge decisions we generally send some pretty clear messages that they are making everyone’s life more complicated. A very good read…

I’m off to the beach this weekend! I hope everyone has a fun, enjoyable weekend too! And a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

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No matter what organization you work for, most of us probably spend more time in the office than we do anywhere else. Hopefully, you enjoy spending time there and it’s not just work work work all the time. Encouraging office camaraderie is important – it keeps employees sane and happy and lets staffers to engage on a less formal level.

Here at MemberClicks, we partake in a festive, informal gathering during the last few hours of every Friday. There’s always a theme (ranging from “The Masters” to “Banana Splits” to “Candyland,” and we enjoy food and good company while winding down the workweek.

I post pictures from most of the events at our Facebook page, but here’s just a few to give you a feel for the fun times.

What does your organization do to encourage camaraderie within the office? It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, but those little extra things can help promote community and ensure your workplace is one that staffers enjoy going to each day. Even something as simple as getting together for a fun lunch each week can keep everyone grounded and happy. Sometimes, we all need something like that to look forward to!

Feel free to share suggestions! Let us know what your association does to encourage a community feel in the office.

Happy Friday! How’s everyone adjusting to the time difference? I know I love that it’s still so light outside when I head home for the evening. As usual, there was lots of great content around the association community this week, so let’s get right to it!

1. Does your organization have a morning ritual? Jeffrey Cufaude wrote about one at an association he used to work for and how it positively affected the staff members. Even a seemingly simple meeting or few words of encouragement from the president or CEO can get a day started off right.

2. Jeff De Cagna has been participating in a Webcast discussing “Beyond Relevance,” and his blog post this week captured the spirit of the conversations. He argues that reinvention, rather than relevance, is necessary for associations to move forward and continue to succeed. Definitely a must-read.

3. Over at Midcourse Corrections, Jeff Hurt has been writing a series about how to write better conference session titles and descriptions. Be sure to check out the first installment: How to Write Killer Conference Session Titles That Attract Attendees. There’s ton of useful information and plenty of examples, as well.

Now for a blog post not written by someone named Jeff…

4. Joe Rominiecki sparked a great discussion in the Acronym comments with his post, Isn’t “content curator” just another term for “reporter?”. On the heels of the recent discussion about content curation, Joe pointed out that reporters have been “curating” content for years and years. The journalist in me loved the discussion … check out the comments and see what you think.

5. A few months ago, KiKi L’Italien declared today, March 19, “Love a Lurker Day.” Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish wrote a great letter to all “lurkers” (people who visit blogs and rarely — if ever — comment, join social networks but don’t participate, etc…). If you always read but never comment, I invite you speak up today! Everyone is an important part of the community whether they actively participate or not. Thanks for visiting.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a great sunny weekend!

Happy Friday! And congratulations to the Crimson Tide of Alabama for winning the BCS National Championship Thursday night! MemberClicks President Thomas Howard is a proud ‘Bama alum and since no one in the office is really a Texas fan (sorry to the Longhorns out there), a lot of us were pulling for the Tide in Thursday night’s game. (I do feel awful for poor Colt McCoy, though.)

I hope everyone had a good week, and if it was your first full workweek after a holiday vacation, I hope it didn’t go by too slowly. And there was some great stuff around the association blogging community this week!

1. Following his webinar, Jeff De Cagna wrote about the trends that will affect associations in 2010 and beyond. Organizations should not overlook the importance of Jeff’s “Mobile Everything” bullet. We’re rapidly becoming a mobile society and this can affect how your association communicates and gathers content.

2. Keeping with the “mobile” theme, check out the three iPhone apps every nonprofit needs to know about. There’s some good info here your nonprofit could use for its mobile strategy.

3. Over at Acronym, Joe Rominiecki took a trip down memory lane by digging through the Association Management archives from 2000. From outsourcing to collaboration to knowledge, Joe discussed how each concept was applied in 2000, and how associations have improved since then. Loved this post.

4. Cindy Butts wrote this week about fundraising and staffers missing opportunities. She used a great example of an fundraiser that told a story to relate to the audience, and accepted both credit card and PayPal payments. Takeaways: make (giving) personal and make it easy.

5. This post is technically from last week, but it’s so great that I can’t help but share. Jeffrey Cufaude’s The Many C’s of Community really grabbed my attention when I got back to work Monday morning. He writes, Community is a spirit that resides within every individual, but it is manifested in very personal choices. I’m not even going to try to say it better myself.

Enjoy your weekends, everyone (despite the painful lack of college football!)!

(Image source: Jae C. Hong, AP, via NYT)