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Louise Kanis is no early adopter but she was so excited by the potential of social networking for associations she threw in her corporate job and started issociate – a social networking site designed and built for professional and industry associations and their members.
She shared her vision – and how social networking can help with member retention - at Associations Forum meetings in Sydney and Melbourne in Oct/Nov 2009.
Social networking – why all the fuss?
Not a fan of social networking? Bewildered by the appeal of Twitter and MySpace? When you hear about people spending hours on Facebook, do you think, “For God’s sake, get a life!!!”. I was like you. Until I had an epiphany.
From corporate dinosaur to internet entrepreneur
I spent 20 years handling communications for large corporations in the financial services sector.
In my last role I looked after the Corporate Communications for Aon in Australia. Aon is not a well-known retail brand but it is the world’s largest risk broker, reinsurance broker and human capital consulting firm. Soccer fans know the name – Aon is now the name on the front of the famous red Manchester United jersey.
I was not an early adopter of social networking – in fact, I’m not an early adopter of anything technological – and I think subconsciously I was thrilled when I saw a story that legitimised my Refusenik attitude.
Corey’s “secret” party
Stories like Corey Worthington – who threw a party while his parents were away and let people know about it via MySpace.
The result? 500 drunken young revellers, $20,000 damage and Corey was transformed from an anonymous suburban Bogan to a globally infamous cashed-up Bogan – for a Warhol quarter of an hour at least.
Britain’s not so secret agent
And stories like Lady Sawers, wife of Sir John Sawers, the next head of MI6, who started a Facebook account on which she disclosed details such as the location of their London flat, the address of Sir John’s parents and the whereabouts of their three beloved children.
More embarrassingly, she posted holiday snaps. I love my husband, but any photos of him in his Speedos I will be keeping purely for personal consumption.
Richard Wilkins kills Jeff Goldblum
And stories like Richard Wilkins, Entertainment Reporter for Channel 9, who announced on national television, after seeing the news break on Twitter, that the actor Jeff Goldblum had fallen to his death while shooting a film in New Zealand.
Of course, Jeff Goldblum, thankfully, is still with us. Less fortunately, so is Richard Wilkins.
Looking on the bright side of social networking
These stories confirmed my worst fears and prejudices against social networking.
But I had been only looking at one side of social networking. The negative side. There was, and is, an incredibly positively powerful side to social networking - if only I was willing to open my eyes and see other stories.
Iran’s dictators undone by Twitter
Stories like the recent Iranian elections. The country’s dictators rigged the result but the local papers and TV stations weren’t going to be advertising the fact. And the regime also brought down phone networks to stop people texting their dissent.
But the Iranians were still able to express their outrage through Twitter, which led to never-before-seen mass protests, which led to footage on YouTube, which led to worldwide attention. In fact, social networking was so powerful it briefly made foreign affairs cool in the United States – quite an achievement.
Shedding light on Black Saturday
There has just been an inquiry into why the Victorian Country Fire Authority was so slow to inform the public about the threat posed by the Black Saturday bushfires.
Into the void stepped social networking.Here are a couple of quotes:
“I went outside and (saw) smoke over the back in a wheat paddock that been harvested …. I quickly went on to Twitter and sent a message that there is a fire in Horsham.”
A local who was in Malaysia saw the news on Twitter and called his wife to tell her to get out of the house.
What do we make of this?
During the emergency, ABC Radio 774 in Melbourne started to use information from social networks as part of their source because the nominated fire authority wasn’t providing the most current information.
Lovers embrace social networking
And as a final indication of the power that social networking has to achieve good, I can share with you this statistic:
1 in 6 couples married in the US last year met on social networking sites like Facebook.
What changed my view of social networking?
But I didn’t get into social networking because of its ability to advance the cause of democracy, or disseminate information during natural disasters or to aid the course of true love.
I got into social networking because I was excited by what it could do for associations. Hand on heart.
How my husband’s “internet dating” got me into social networking
A couple of years ago, I was looking over the shoulder of my husband one night and I thought I’d caught him on a dating site.
But after he pointed out that he was actually just updating his Facebook page so he could stay in touch with his brother in Dili, and after he’d explained to me what Facebook was, and I started to unpack my suitcases, I thought “hmm, now that would be cool for associations.”
And that began a two-year odyssey that saw Jen and I leave the security of the corporate world for the much more precarious but significantly more exciting world of the Web 2.0 start-up.
So what we’d like to do today is share with you the possibilities that we saw and continue to see – in fact, increasingly so.
Do professionals want social networking?
Now the thing that’s quite possibly running through your mind now is that these women are crackers. Professionals are not going to get into online social networking. Well, we beg to differ – on both counts.
We did a survey and sure, it showed that 16% of professionals loathe social networking sites.
Another 9% quite possibly would loathe them – if they knew what they were.
And 50% had some sort of social networking account but weren’t active users.
So that’s a small piece of the pie our futures are relying on. But there were some more promising statistics to come out of the survey.
While less than a quarter were interested in a social network that could enhance their private lives, 77% were interested in a social networking site that could advance their careers.
Yet, 69% said they wouldn’t use Facebook, MySpace or Bebo for that purpose.
What professionals don’t like about current social networks
The social networking site LinkedIn clearly has a stronger business emphasis but professionals expressed these reservations about the current leading social network for business people:
- Nearly 55% bemoaned the dearth of fellow professionals
- Almost half wanted more control over who sees their personal contacts
- 37% wanted fewer unsolicited approaches.
91% of professionals interested in social networking
We then asked them this question: How likely would they be to use a social networking site that was open only to professionals – and every member of their association belonged to it.
- 53% said they’d be highly likely to use a site dedicated to their association’s members.
- Another 38% said they’d be likely to use such a site.
So 91% of professionals said they’d be interested in using a social networking site – if it wasn’t purely social.
The message here is pretty clear. Professionals and associations members are no different to the rest of the population. They want social networking – just not as we know it.
7 reasons why professionals like social networking
Why? What is it about social networking that appeals to them?
Fundamentally it lets them do 7 things that they’ve always wanted to do within an association – just a whole lot more easily.
Member benefit #1: Have your say
The first is that a social network dedicated to people within a profession or industry gives members an opportunity to be heard by the people that most matter to them.
At a basic level it is cathartic – it lets members get things off their chest.
But it also lets them try to shape the direction of their profession or industry and it helps raise their profile. Whether that’s in a positive or negative way is entirely up to them.
Member benefit #2: Opinions they trust
The second is that gives them access to the Opinions and Recommendations of people they trust.
On the net, you can get the answer to any problem. But when MisterMaxx from Muskogee tells you how to acid wash your tessellated tiles, how can you be sure they’re not playing a practical joke at your considerable expense?
Giving a real example, if someone from the association I belonged to in the finance services industry recommended a recruitment firm specialising in communications staff – I’d certainly give them a go. If I saw an anonymous recommendation on the net, I’d give it far less credence. It’s the personal recommendation that makes the difference.
A social network of your peers give you access to advice from people who have had to display some level of competence – and who aren’t anonymous.
Member benefit #3: Collegiality
The third is that it lets members mix with “people like us”.
As I’ve said, Jenny and I spent many years working in the financial services industry and most of those in superannuation. Out in the non super world it was not always easy to explain what we did – or why for that matter.
But amongst fellow superannuation professionals we no longer felt quite so weird – our peers had an understanding of what we did. And we knew what they did. We weren’t constantly explaining ourselves.
Industry and profession based social networks offer a similar kind of sanctuary. They let you be among people who speak your language.
Member benefit #4: Influence
The fourth reason is that it lets members be part of something that has some power.
Alone, they can’t change anything.
But as part of a strong, vigorous social network, members can start muscling up on the issues that matter and people (i.e. governments) have to take notice.
Member benefit #5: Learning
It’s not just technology that is changing rapidly. Most people need to continue with some education and learning to ensure they can continue to work effectively and stay relevant. The online web 2.0 world opens up a whole new way that members can stay abreast of what’s happening.
Member benefit #6: Ambition
Ambition – this is a biggie. Anyone who says that social networking plays no part in a professional’s working life is kidding themselves. Networking plays a critical role and it is a large reason for the success of so many association conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops.
Social Networking sites give members the ability to open doors and stay in touch. If there is someone out there that you need to access, a few hours or days on a social network and you’ll have your introduction.
Of course, some people will feel violated in the process – and we’ll talk more about that later.
But Ambition ranks very highly among the factors that explain the appeal of social networks to professionals.
Member benefit #7: Leisure
The final reason why professionals like social networking is a bit of surprise.
They don’t like the idle navel-gazing of Facebook.
But they do like finding opportunities to pursue their hobbies and interests with their peers. To find people who want to play golf. Or go sailing. Or who share their passion for travel.
The “networking” in “social networking” is important. But the “social” is not inconsequential.
Why associations should also social networking
So that’s why social networking is good for your members. But, what’s in it for the association?
Well, obviously, if you can provide something that’s good for members, it gives them a very good reason to continue to pay their annual subscription.
Also, it helps to dissuade them from going elsewhere to get the same functionality. A social media guru in the States who specialises in professional social networking called Dennis McDonald has clear evidence that younger members are choosing not to join their association because they feel they can create their own network using social networking sites.
But there are some very clear ways in which social networking can enhance associations.
I’m going to talk about 6 ways in which social networking can help you with member engagement. But overall I’d say that it can energise your association, making it a far more interconnected, vibrant, and stimulating organisation.
Association benefit #1: Extends your opening hours
The first way in which social networking helps is that it extends your association.
Instead of being an outpost that only operates during monthly meetings and annual conferences …
… it’s open for business 24/7, 365 days a year.
Association benefit #2: Brings your members nearer
The second is that it brings the member and the association much closer together.
To use a cricket metaphor, members may often feel like they’re fielding down at deep fine leg, desperate to take a toilet break, but unable to attract the captain’s attention.
The US Military operates on a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. But a lot of associations indeed corporations such as the ones that I’ve worked for have operated on a “Tell, Don’t Ask” basis.
Like traditional media, we were only operating in broadcast mode, not really wanting to listen to what our clients or members were saying.
To be fair, the technology made a genuine two-way relationship difficult.
But a social network opens a communication channel between an association and its members.
It gives you the ability, through basic features such as polls on your home page, to tap into the mood of your membership and find out exactly how they feel about the pressing issues of the day.
So a social network is going to bring your members or clients closer – whether you like it or not.
Association benefit #3: Edifies and enlightens
Because it enables you to establish a closer relationship, the next way in which a social network can help your association is in edifying and enlightening your membership – education.
It provides you with an always on news channel.
But because an Events calendar is a feature of your social network home page, your members will also have a heightened awareness of your education programs and association events.
Benefits of this include increased revenues, higher member standards, and higher member interaction – with both your association and other members.
Association benefit #4: Removes barriers
One of the most important things that a social network can do for your association is that it acts like the ultimate icebreaker between members.
A lot of your members may be shy and unlikely to approach people they don’t know or don’t know well at association events. In fact, it can disincline these people from attending events.
But the online environment removes a lot of those inhibitions.
Obviously, this emboldening effect needs some checks and balances, but in general it’s going to encourage a greater participation in your association from the socially less adventurous.
Association benefit #5: Continent shrinker
Many associations are national bodies but the opportunities are frequently limited for members in the more remote regions of this vast continent. Indeed this is a challenge not just for national associations but for state associations too who simply can’t provide for their regional – at times even suburban – members.
Introducing a social network can make these outer lying members finally feel included in your association.
Association benefit #6: Youth appeal
And the final way in which social networks can help your association is in allowing you to appeal to younger members.
A social network might not make your association “cool” but it gives you a chance of engaging generations who might otherwise entirely marginalise your association.
Brian Hazlett, Director of Undergraduate Recruitment at Binghamton University in New York, founded a social network of College Admission Professionals.
Here’s what he said:
“A dedicated social network offers members an interactive and dynamic online forum. Industry conferences are only offered several times a year and require a concerted effort afterwards by individuals to stay in touch. The social network allows professionals to connect and interact daily – posing and discussing a pressing question, seeking input from a diverse group, bouncing ideas from one person to another and catching up on news and trends in one online location.”
Social networking – turn a threat into an opportunity
Yes, social networking is a threat to associations – because it lets them do a whole bunch of things they want to do a whole lot more easily.
Now, you could put off doing anything about social networking. But I’d suggest that’s not in the long term interests of either your association or your members. If you lose contact with the emerging generations you might never get them back.
Far better to get out ahead of the game, include social networking in your communication mix, and turn a threat into a fabulous opportunity to energise and revitalise your organisation.
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