PLANTING A MEETINGS FOREST

The Pan-European Magazine for Association Executives Supported by ESAE, European Society of Association Executives, and UIA, Union of International Associations, Brussels

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MEETINGTRENDS

2009

HEADQUARTERS 36

> M E E T I N G T R E N D S

You would think of it as a minefi eld if you are

the type of person who believes governance

is the way to order and organize. If, however,

you think like Google does, you know that eve-

rything is different in a world where the user

determines the direction of the conversation.

Associations should no longer just speak to

their members, they should connect their

members to one another and derive value out

of making these connections. They should

no longer fence off the knowledge bases but

open them up for general consumption and

conversation or debate.

Let’s take a closer look at relationships.

I believe the current generation of young peo-

ple - let’s call them the G(oogle)-Generation

- develop relationships more quickly and more

intensely with more understanding because

they keep in constant contact with the people

in their lives and their networks. Social Net-

works brings them and keeps them together.

The value added perception from the current

association members comes from a new angle.

Existing members that are already sold on the

value of your association will have an oppor-

tunity to learn the uses of online connections

stimulated by their peers in the association. By

(inter)connecting with your existing members,

your network has just expanded exponentially

and thereby the reach of your conversation

and knowledge base as well.

NOW TO PRACTICAL MATTERSSo enough about the perceptions and now

to practical matters. Besides the commonly

known Google tools like GMail, Google Cal-

endar and Google Docs you can now develop

enterprise-like platforms from your laptop

computer or handheld devices on Google Apps.

I’ve tried and applied its principles over the

past months to set up multiple platforms for

initiatives (www.meetingsinitiative.org) built

on Google Apps using Google sites as well as

satellite websites for local spinoff initiatives

(nl.meetingsinitiative.org, uk.meetingsinitiative.

org, it.meetingsinitiative.org) and other small

business purposes.

Another tool has vastly improved the quality

of leading an association. As president of a

local chapter, introducing online web 2.0 col-

laboration to run the chapter like a business

has been a very rewarding experience.

The MPI Netherlands Chapter is now using

Central Desktop online collaboration for

over 50 volunteer board and committee

members. Other chapters like MPI Italy and a

new chapter in formation in Turkey are also

applying these technologies. Easy use, basic

confi guration requirements and vast email

reduction based on periodic mail digests on

project progress are the key ingredients to

its successful application.

Thirdly I crafted a number of bespoke social

networks. One for participants and alumni of

an interactive conference and event

management course programme on Ning.com.

Another is a collection of experts and novice

software users that are now actively exchang-

ing experiences, insights and tips & tricks even

though they are competitors in their daily busi-

ness environment. This Software User Group

of commercial businesses have met through

their not for profi t trade association and form

a community within a community. Today’s

online technology tools allow small organiza-

tions & businesses to get more work done

with fewer employees or with teams located in

GOOGLE HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE, RESEARCH, BUILD COMMUNITIES, LIVE OUR LIVES,

CONSUME OUR RELATIONSHIPS. GOOGLE CHANGES OUR PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD AND MAYBE EVEN OUR

FUTURE BRAIN STRUCTURE IN WAYS WE ARE YET UNABLE TO COMPREHEND. “WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO?”

READING JEFF JARVIS’ BOOK AND THE CELEBRATED MEDIA AND NEWSBLOG BUZZMACHINE.COM GOT ME

THINKING ABOUT THE WAY ASSOCIATIONS AND FEDERATIONS OPERATE IN AN OPEN SOCIAL NETWORKING

MINEFIELD. TEXT RUUD JANSSEN ©TNOC | THE NEW OBJECTIVE COLLECTIVE

HOW THE WEB CAN HELP YOU RUN AN ASSOCIATION7 virtual tools for building a learning organization and getting more done with fewer paid staff

Ruud Janssen

Associations should no longer just speak to their members, they should connect their members to one another and derive value out of making these connections. They should no longer fence off the knowledge bases but open them up for general consumption and conversation or debate

HEADQUARTERS 37

distant cities and countries. Most are

inexpensive, if not free. Below are some

of my favorites:

Central Desktop (www.centrald-

esktop.com) is an online project-

management and wiki-like intranet tool

that allows you to set up projects with

internal collaborators and external

customers, and manage all types of

communication, fi le and document

sharing. It’s a great tool for creating

online operations, engaging volunteer

leaders and retain knowledge bases for

associations or SME companies. With

both public and private workspaces,

users work and collaborate realtime.

You can use it as a makeshift event

website integrating project manage-

ment tasks as well as integrated web

meetings and syndicate messages and

content to Twitter and Facebook.

Dropbox (www.getdropbox.com) is

simply a high powered FTP site, but the

interface and work fl ow is impressive.

Users simply drag fi les to dropbox

desktop folders, which are then

uploaded and stored online. You can

share folders with anyone. Upload a

fi le and it shows up on your remote co-

worker’s desktop. You can even set up

public folders so anyone can send large

fi les without clogging mailboxes.

The free online Google Calendar

(www.google.com/calendar) lets you

share your calendar with collabora-

tors and sync with desktop and phone

calendars over internet.

Google Apps (www.google.com/intl/

nl/apps/business/index.html), the

most recent addition to Google, allows

you to setup a fully operational back-

offi ce with email synchronization at

a fraction of the cost of an Exchange

server type environment.

Virtual collaboration via iLinc (www.

ilinc.com) allows you to work face-

to-face in real time using web- and

videoconferencing. It also allows

you to access fi les and programs of

multiple desktops and visit websites

together with a live browser so you

can take someone to a page and walk

them through a real demo or sign-up

process.

Jott (http://jott.com) allows you to

record voice memos that get turned

into e-mail text. You can create boxes

for anyone you collaborate with and

send notes anytime and anywhere.

While you’re at it, use voice messages

to create groups for distribution, post

appointments to Google Calendar and

even update your Twitter feed.

SimpleEvent (www.simpleevent.com)

is a free conference-call service, but it

has some useful additional features.

For example, you can put together

meetings on the fl y and have multiple

people join in. You can also use it to

host large web meetings of up to 1,000

participants.

The named systems are a random

sample of a wide range of tools avail-

able online. They are the basis of a

learning organisation if you have the

curiosity and willingness to try them.

In my view none of these tools prevail

over any other but demonstrate how

I have seen teams thrive across mul-

tiple organisations and cultures. They

bridge the gaps of communications

and allow us to further develop and

foster relationships pre-, during and

after face to face conferences, live

meetings and events.

Ruud Janssen is a veteran international con-ference organiser, marketing coach, award-winning e-marketeer, association volunteer leader, emerging technologies speaker and entrepreneur at ©TNOC | The New Objective Collective

> M E E T I N G T R E N D S