ChatterBachs… Composing Strategies

I had the privilege of attending the ASAE Great Ideas Conference in Colorado Springs at The Broadmoor March 10-12, 2013. I was certainly not in a position to capture all that was happening at this inspiring conference. My hope is that if you attended this will serve as a reminder of the material covered in the sessions. Also, may this post and the notes, tweets, photos, and resources below provide you with enough insight that you too will be challenged to think differently about the challenges you and your organization face.

Conference Catalyst, Thom Singer

• This is not a junior high dance. Ask questions. Power in the word, “Hello.”
• #1 reason that people attend conferences: networking. But then we stink at it. Smile. Have name tag visible.
• Invest in people. Anything you need… it’s probably somebody’s 1st cousin who holds the answer.
• Plan while at the conference how you will follow up with people you meet.

Thom Singer, The Conference Catalyst

Opening General Session: The Fascination Advantage: From First Impressions to Lasting Value, Sally Hogshead

• Are you giving your members the orange ticket- a distinct, irreplaceable experience?
• What kinds of personalities do you want to attract to your association?
• Fasination is an intense focus. You’re engaged, in the zone.
• A $39.99 UPS costume. They’re getting your kid to dress up like an employee of a company. Think about it.

Sally Hogshead, speaker and author of Fascinate

Helping Your Association’s Innovators, and Generating Non-Dues Revenue, Jeff Glassie, Whitney Kulesz

• How do we support new business ventures that can transform professions/industries?
• TripLingo: 1st to receive angel investor award from ACTE.
• One difficult obstacle to overcome for angel investing from an association: just selling people on a new idea.

Associations Got Talent, Mark Milroy and Jay Daughtry

• Select 5 objects that describe you.
• How would you finish the sentence “I am…” ?
• How do you identify hidden abilities that others possess?
• Getting people to talk about their talents helps them identify their dreams
• What cues lead to misperceptions about people?
• Give people the freedom to try something new & fail at it.

Career Mapping Tools: Charting the Present and Future, Shawn Hulsizer, Scott Mackenzie

• Creating a career map can help members understand and identify their professional pathway.
• Career mapping helps rethink and reorganize association products, services, website, education, etc.

Creating Meaningful Business Relationships, Shari Harley

• In building relationships, ask more, assume less.
• Going bowling won’t help people work better together. Talking about working style preferences will.
• The people we work with often think they told us what they want, even though they didn’t.
• Candor questions: 3 things that will keep you with organization? Worst boss you ever had? Best boss you ever had?
• Do you prefer to communicate via: email, voicemail, text message or IM?
• When do you do your best work: early am, mid-day, late afternoon or evening?
• Choose candor over comfort.

Components & Strategy- Lessons from Sun-Tzu’s “The Art of War”, Cecilia Sepp, Lowell Applebaum

• If people can help build it, they’ll support it.
• When we lose focus, that’s when we start to hear the noise before defeat.
• Every member of an association should be a volunteer.
• The best marketing tool you have? An engaged volunteer.
• Do what you can when you can with what you’ve got.

Closing General Session: The Vuja De Moment: Shift from Average to Brilliant, Simon T. Bailey

• Reach the point of being uncomfortable with being comfortable.
• The same letters that spell “listen” spell “silent”.
• People engage because of authenticity.
• What are we doing to ignite a fresh a fresh vision?
• There are 20,000 moments in a day. We are in the business of managing, creating & mastering moments.
• In the dictionary failure is before success. Embrace failure. Failure is not final; failure is feedback.
• What would I do if no one paid me to do it?
• An association is a memory, a connection, a collection of moments.
• Ask yourself what makes your association come alive.

Simon T. Bailey speaking at Great Ideas ’13, photo courtesy of Libby Hoppe

Innovation in a Box, Rick Johnston and Becky Granger

• Exercise: In 30 seconds name as ways as you can think of to use a brick.
• Think beyond the normal. Don’t let your mind edit you.
• Win like you are you used to it; lose like you enjoy it.
• Take someone else’s idea and put your spin on it.
• Innovation: Don’t worry if most ideas don’t seem immediately implementable- keep them in your back pocket for later.

Thanks to all who followed my tweets from Great Ideas. Thanks to so many who added my understanding while at the conference: Gabriel Eckert, Libby Hoppe, Dan Scheeler, Amy Lestition, Rachel Johnson, Brian Cheung, Rhea Steele, Katie Paffhouse, Kylee Coffman, Ron Moen, Jenna Crane and more. I also appreciate the numerous conversations in hallways, before and after sessions, at meals, and at receptions. All of this made it a richer experience.

For a recap of the 2012 conference, check out my The Greatest of Great Ideas in Less Than 180 Seconds post.

What lessons did you learn from Great Ideas ’13? What were the highlights for you? What other posts or resources from this conference have you found helpful?