Crowdsourcing allows business to take innovation and creativity to a new level by collecting information from hundreds of minds and varied experiences. It allows anyone to contribute their ideas leaving race, gender, social standing, out.. There are a plethora of ways to utilize crowdsourcing for your next association conference that will engage your crowd and keep them talking after it ends.

Creating a solid app with a team of people is just the beginning.  Measuring and analyzing the use of your app is key to app success.  Carefully tracking progress not only aids in understanding how your app is being utilized, but it enables you to focus on whether to adjust features, or devote more energy toward promotion of the app.   By measuring information like shares, comments, likes, and bookmarks you can get a good feel for what your members want more of and content that you should reconsider.

Attitude is everything!  That has been my experience.  Recently I was working the mobile app support booth at an event we serve.  It was a large event. The users had lots of questions, mostly about Wifi, not the mobile app.  I helped hundreds of people over the course of a few days and it occurred to me that attitude is so important, both my own and that of the customer.

Recently at a "event wrap up" meeting, which we do after most client events, we recevied some very helpful feedback. We listened, we planned, and we reviewed. We brainstormed on how to make things better for next year.  We planned a few new features and the client learned a thing or two.

When a volunteer is working really hard on a program or for an organization, it is important to be recognized for work well done.  Awards Programs provide an opportunity to recognize volunteers and organizations that go above and beyond. Thanking organization members not only encourages them to continue working hard, it gives a sense of place within the organization.  Awards programs are something members can look forward to each year. It inspires one to push beyond what they believe they are able to do.  Leaders also see the effort made, allowing members to further their organizational objectives.

Mentoring has become increasingly popular with associations recently.  The basic premise is to “match up” the experienced with the novice to exchange ideas, guide and even challenge each to grow beyond their current limits. Some groups are moving past informal to formalized programs and even going hi-tech in the process of matching.

It is a term often heard recently for those getting new office space, we are moving to a “collaborative work space”.  This was the conversation recently at a business event.  One person was relating to the others in the group about her new office space.  It sounds new, hip and evokes a sense of cutting edge.  Another person made the comment that those “collaborative environments” don’t seem so collaborative when workers put on the earbuds or headsets and “tune out” the people around them.

What an incredible thing that can happen when people work together. Working independently it's each of us sitting in our offices, each staring at our individual screens working on our little part of the project making some small progress.  But when the heat is turned up, and the deadlines are looming, suddenly an idea comes to mind. "Hey let's all go into the Strategy Room and work on this project so we can deliver.”