Somewhere between the living room and the kitchen I had a thought…  maybe the paint fumes played a big role in this, but I started to wonder where I could find a pure white semi-gloss that I can apply to my life with the same amazingly satisfying results.

You see, just one quick stroke of pure white semi-gloss paint on my baseboards covered up all of the smudges, wood putty and the bruises from the vacuum.   All it took me was about 90 minutes and now my baseboards are one solid shade of bright, white, goodness.

So what’s my point?  I think we all have quite a few versions of pure white semi-gloss at our fingertips just waiting for us to crack them open and apply to our lives.  Maybe you can find your’s at our upcoming Association New Media Summit, a Peach Knowledge Community webinar or maybe it’s just that “phenominal” book you bought 6 months ago…  Whatever it is for you – I encourage you to find it, crack open the can and get to painting!

The 2010 New Media Summit will take place on June 8th in the Association of Fundraising  Professionals’ Training Center in Arlington, VA.  We’ll welcome in person attendees as well as live webcast attendees from all over the nation for this fun day of collaboration.  We’ve lined up some great presenters and contributors for the day including association executives just like you, Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation, Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish, and other association technology experts.

Our goal for the day is to foster a conversation – to allow us each to contribute and learn from each other about what works, what doesn’t, and what we can do tomorrow to lead our organizations to success.  Some of the topics we’ll cover throughout the day include:

• What’s hot now in online learning and what are the upcoming trends?
• How mobile and portable devices fit into the 21st century association.
• How does new media change our role from “educator” to “curator”?
• A “three is the magic number” framework and how to implement it in your association.
• What revenue generating opportunities are available via online learning programs?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, make plans to join us on June 8th.  I look forward to seeing you there… in person or online!

Here is the wave:

Some of you may have noticed through our August 6^th webinar “Creating an Online Knowledge Community: 6 Tips for Association Executives” that Peach New Media is exploring this topic as it relates to our clients and their professional development goals.  The fact is that there is not a right answer when you’re talking about a closed or open community – you can have both and they can work together or you can pick one or the other.  They each serve a different purpose as it relates to the type of collaboration and community you are trying to develop.

Want to learn more?

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We’re excited to host Jeff De Cagna, experienced association professional and founder of Principled Innovation, as he will be leading a 3-part webinar series starting on September 25.  This will be a great opportunity to learn more about how your association can leverage the social web and develop a community strategy.  All 3 webinars are being offered for just $299, which gives you full access to each 90 minute session and the associated webinar recording and handouts.  To take advantage of this great opportunity or learn more CLICK HERE.

Every day I hear from Association Executives and business owners that they want to do {fill in the blank with choice of social media tool}. Usually it’s because they have found some connection with that particular tool or they know someone else who is doing it. What are lacking in most cases are a strategy, a plan, and measurable metrics to identify if your plan is working. Not to mention, managing a community is a commitment. The last thing you want is to put all this energy into a site that isn’t engaging.

In this blog, we’ll be posting some tips that will help you think through some components of a successful engaging and profitable online community.

Tip 1. Commit for the Long Haul

You need to decide if you’re in this for the long haul. If you’re dabbling, there are ways you can do that without risking your organizations reputation. Recognize that although it’s not a full time job to sustain a community, it’s a good hobby, for sure. It’s not a good idea to kick it off ‘just a little bit’. Or to kick it off big and then fizzle out. It will affect your credibility with your constituents. You need to continually provide good content, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Tip 2. Braintrust and Community Contributions

Take advantage of the fact that people love to talk about things they know something about. End your posts with questions. Inspire participation with controversial topics. And one of the things you can do that will really help is to find some key players in your community and ask them for their commitment to contribute. You will find that the vast majority of your community will just read posts, but a small percentage will offer a lot of content on their own. Create a “braintrust” of your favorite community members to continually provide content. Hold them to certain standards to remain a part of your “braintrust”. Check back on the PKC Blog for more tips in the coming days!