BlogClump - Blogging About Associations From a Gen Xer

I like creating content. I do. But I have now reached the point where my ideas and desires for different things to write/blog/vlog have far exceeded my time and energy. Real life and real work are getting in the way. Although I feel like my various content creations have become part of my real life. Anyone else in the same boat? Now what?

My BlogPal (I think I am going to Trademark that term) Maddie Grant wrote a post about her encounter with Associations Now magazine . Then she followed up with a post about the Keen Article after being challenged by Acronym's Scott Briscoe . So, here is my take on the whole thing now that I have had a chance to read it. Keen is mostly worried that we will accept information as fact that isn't. Primarily, as an expert in an area, he is afraid you will believe someone else with less credentials over him. Web 2.0 doesn't vet knowledge, credentials, and status like traditional media. He likes the old way. It works for him. I understand that. It worked for years. However, it also meant that people that weren't necessarily experts, but that had bits of really good knowledge, never got to share them. Well, now they can. A lot of what you find on Web 2.0 is crap. I agree. But in the long run, it vets itself. Pages with total garbage get fewer views and go away. T...

Jamie Notter tagged me with the Think Different Challenge. It is actually very timely. I have had a few things rattling around in my brain, and I was thinking of way to get them out in a post. This is probably the best way to do it. My challenge is pretty petty, I will admit. I get fired up when someone doesn't know something they should. That sounds pretty subjective, but here is what I mean. It kills me when co-workers, friends, and even God forbid, members ask questions about things that I know they have already been given information on multiple times. Not so much members, as I know they aren't always looking for the information we give them. But co-workers who ask multiple times about the same thing, when we both have been given the same information drive me up a wall. I tend to be negative, but not outwordly towards them. I am going to try to think about it differently. We all have different levels of knowledge, different priorities. What I think is importan...

I found another blogger.com blog today and wanted to subscribe. Oops, no RSS feed to be found on the page. Then I realized, I didn't have one either. AH! Luckily, I did have a FeedBurner feed and quickly put their widget on this site. So now, you will see a lovely subscribe feature right under my ugly mug. Like any good manager, I am going to shift blame to you, my readers, for not making me aware of this problem. ;)

As I was flying home from Vegas, the person next to me was reading the in-flight magazine. It had an Accenture ad with Tiger Woods that I happen to notice. It showed him looking at his little notebook, seeming to digest information about the upcoming hole. It said 40% information, 60% interpretation. I think that ratio is very applicable in a lot of ways (including the recent debate about DTJ ).

Day 3 is complete. I am looking forward to going home. The sessions were ok. I saw an interesting presentation from the guy from Instapundit on podcasting. The last session was Mark Cuban, my hero. It was cool, as expected. I introduced myself to him again (I met him in 2002). There was one sentence that he said that was great: There is no shortcut to change people's desire to give you their attention. Long story short, people aren't anxious to give you their time. You need to give them a compelling reason to do so. It seems basic. Good luck!

Many of us who put on conferences and trade shows end up in the situation at one time or another. A speaker unavoidably gets sick, misses a flight, gets kidnapped, whatever. You have to scramble and make a key decision: Cancel the session or try to get a replacement. Most I have been to take the first choice. Sure, you have some disappointed people, but you give them a chance to go to a different session. If it is your keynote, or the only session going on in that time slot, I vote for the replacement. People usually understand and you didn't pull them away from another learning opportunity. Unfortunately, my first session at BlogWorld this morning went the replacement route. It meant I missed another session I wanted to attend. I don't blame the replacement. She didn't have enough time to put something together. And you could tell she wasn't that comfortable standing in front of an audience. She had a few decent things to say, but it wasn't as valuable...

I went to a session on RSS by Marshall Kirkpatrick from Read/Write Web . He went through so many cool RSS tools, I feel I should just list them here and let you check them out. Many you may know about, but some you may not. FeedDigest Yahoo Pipes FeedYes ZapTXT AideRSS BlogLines FeedBurner OpenID

I am waiting for a demo to start in 15 minutes, so I thought I would post real quick. Again, I am a trade show snob. Sorry. But things like not paying attention to your keynote when he is asking for a wireless mic to roam through the audience and letting loud noises repeatedly happen right outside your keynote can be fixed. The sessions are pretty good, but you are supposed to sign up in advance and only attend what you sign up. This method stinks because some sessions are too basic and you can't leave and go to another. And this conference suffers from ASAE's problem as well. Too many interesting sessions going on at the same time and not being repeated. It is a testament to their relevance, but not ideal for attendees. Don't get me wrong. This has been great. The show floor is a little small and a little too dedicated to blog revenue companies and web ads. But there are some gems to be found. And I admit association folks are not the key demo. This is probably perfect for...

This is on the Acronym blog too, but here are more resources for those that heard me talk at The Hats You Wear: http://blog.missiontolearn.com/blog/2007/11/freeconference.html

So I attended the Executive and Entrepreneur Conference today at BlogWorld. This part of the conference had about 150 people. About 1000 more are supposed to be here for the main program on Thursday and Friday. Overall, my impression so far is good. Good information, but great conversation. However, you can tell that this is the first time this show has happened. They weren't totally setup at the start of the program. Speakers were asked to speak rather than submit seminars, so they were sometimes disjointed. The speakers themselves had lots of knowledge and did a great job engaging the folks in the audience, but the room sets and AV weren't great. Ok, I am a trade show snob. I admit it. But hey, we do put on the fastest growing association run tradeshow! http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/avindustry_5284.htm Here are the key points I heard today: - According to Pew Research, 44% of US online adults are content creators - Allow evangelists to spread...

The program at ASAE I spoke at on Monday and Tuesday, The Hats You Wear, went very well. At one point, we delved into web 2.0 and social networking. It is very obvious that there is still a big learning curve for us association folks. Right now, as I type, I am at the BlogWorld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas. I will post later today about the conference. One thing people asked about on Monday and Tuesday was the legal risks of blogging, etc. I wanted to give this link to folks: http://w2.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-overview.php Here is another: http://blogrisk.com/

I am both nervous and excited. Monday and Tuesday, I will be teaching the membership portion of The Hats You Wear program that ASAE has put together. The outline looks wonderful and kudos to the ASAE staff (Libby and Brian) for all their hard work. I will be teaching with Steve Rauchenecker from CCIM Institute. The attendee list is about 70 with all types of job titles and associations attending (including fellow blogoclumper Maddie Grant ). The program has tracks in Membership, Finance and Law with each running concurrently, but being offered both days. If you are in attendance, please introduce yourself! PS - Don't forget to fall back an hour this weekend! More sleep = good!