Happy Monday! We’ve got some more recaps from ASAE’s Annual Meeting in store for this week, but today, check out some presentations I found that I think small staff association professionals can benefit from:

We’re (almost) halfway through the workweek! I hope everyone’s week has been busy and productive, because there’s nothing worse than being … bored and unproductive. Right?

This morning, I wanted to share a few slideshows/presentations that I found recently with our readers. Please let me know what you think!

Do you use Google Docs? I think the free Docs is one of the greatest things out there for small staff associations. Staffers can give others access to docs and they can easily be viewed from any computer with an Internet connection since they’re stored “in the cloud.”

If you don’t use Google docs, though, news from late last week might just change your mind. Google announced big changes regarding the types of files it now supports. Instead of just PDF, .doc and .ppt files, Google Docs will support the following file types:

• Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX — before, only .ppt and .pps were supported)
• Apple Pages (.PAGES)
• Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
• Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
• Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
• PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
• TrueType (.TTF)
• XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Reminder, though: You can’t create these types of documents in Google Docs — you can only work off of them. I think these changes add a whole new dimension to Google Docs as a viable free document sharing software small staff associations can use. There are a plethora of ways to use these free collaborative programs. Just being able to access documents from any computer is a major plus in and of itself! But imagine you have computer issues (it’s been known to happen!) and your computer has to be sent away to get fixed. Although everyone should have their files backed up, knowing that there are other versions in the cloud can be immensely comforting.

Does your small staff association use Google Documents?

Happy Friday! Who’s ready for the weekend? Now that both NFL and college football seasons have officially started, I finally feel like autumn has arrived, despise the still-warm temperatures in the area. Who else is ready for fall to get here???

There were some interesting developments in the tech world this week, notably the unveiling of Google’s Instant Search. There were also some great blog posts in the association community. Here are a few of my favorite for small staff association professionals.

1. Joe Flowers, who’s a small staff association professional himself, discussed a communication breakdown that occurred in his association’s office. Between preparing for a national conference and doing a complete Web overhaul, the seven-staff association is strapped for time. They depend on volunteers to get a lot of things done, and I’m sure many other small staffs out there can relate to this conundrum Joe describes.

2. At Thanks for Playing, Elizabeth Engel finished off her Big Questions for Associations series with part three: How will we manage the change from a preset package of options (membership) to an individually negotiated exchange of value?, she asks. The membership model for many associations is changing, and stakeholders should be investigating ways to engage non-members if they’re willing to pay for value.

3. At ASAE’s Acronym blog, Lisa Junker kicked off their newest endeavor, “bookblogging,” with a review of Zappos founder Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. She writes, in real life, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget that we have the option to do things differently–essentially, to switch tables. This book is on my Amazon wish list, so I was glad to read Lisa enjoyed the book. I think small staff association professionals could learn from this book, which also discusses “conscious and deliberate effort.”

4. At social media blog Mashable, Features Editorial Assistant Erica Swallow put together a great post about emerging social platforms and how businesses can use them. Small associations can benefit from taking a look at this list, too, since it encompasses many trends in social media that should be on their radars going forward.

5. While not a blog post, I still think this article from a recent Associations Now is good reading material for any small staff association professional. Leila Faucette, the sole employee at the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, shares how she manages the 1,650-member organization. She shares some great tips, such as answering the phone personally, improving the website quickly and giving every member prompt attention should they need it. Good stuff.

I hope you all enjoy your weekends — find some time to kick back and relax! And feel free to share your favorite blog posts from the past week in the comments. Have a great weekend!

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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