Membership
There are many reasons why people seek membership in an association. In general, they are looking for a place where they can network, keep up to date on the latest research and tools, monitor and promote profession-related policy, and continue their professional development.

Social networks focus on building online communities of people with similar interests, and there are benefits for both your organization and its members for participating. Social networks allow an association to leverage existing networks, to build and maintain relationships, and to reach out to your audience in a familiar environment — beyond the conferences and occasional in-person opportunities. In return, your members get to create a profile and share information and ideas with each other all the time, deepening connections.

Facebook and MySpace are the two biggest and well-known social networking sites, but these may not be relevant to the needs of your association. A good place to start is to create a group on LinkedIn, a professional networking site with 19 million users representing 140 industries around the world. Your association can stay in touch with its members through the group, members can communicate and ask each other questions, and people interested in joining can browse the current members of the LinkedIn group.

Niche social networks have gained popularity as well, and they exist for everything from automobile lovers to shopaholics to entrepreneurs in global business. Sites such as Ning.com make it easy for you to create your own social network with almost no programming. You can create a site devoted entirely to “Chicago Orthopedic Assistants” or “Chicago Steelworkers.” The cost of technology has moved close to zero.

Legislation and Lobbying
Associations with a strong advocacy agenda also have their place on the Web. One of the most basic things you can do is monitor the Web-based reaction to the issues that concern your organization. Start by use Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts). Type in the terms you want to track and you’ll receive e-mail updates of the latest relevant Google results. Locate the people writing about these issues and develop relationships with them. Comment on blogs and online editorials that relate to your association, and empower your membership to do the same. Just like in the real world, identifying the influencers is crucial to success.

Your association also can take its advocacy online and create a microsite where members gather information and can sign a petition. That’s what the Connecticut Education Association did when it built www.mentor5871.org as a means to support new legislation for quality teacher-to-teacher mentoring. As a result, more than 2,200 letters were sent to the Statehouse and almost 400 members forwarded the information to a colleague.

Conferences and Events
When an association is hosting a conference or event, the first thing to do is publicize it to the member community on social networks. But there is still more you can do after the event. Make some conference materials available to all, not just attendees. Create a YouTube channel so you can share video from the event. Encourage members to upload their photos to Flickr and tag them with the name of your event. Post Power- Point presentations and audio to Slideshare.net.

If your association has a blog, get someone to live blog from the event so people can follow from their office or from home the next day. Go a step further and invite bloggers so they can live blog on their site and you can reach a wider audience.

FIVE TOP TIPS

1. Create a working group: Reaching out online won’t happen on its own. First, hold a Web 2.0 leadership seminar to get your leadership on the same page, using the same language. Then find the people most enthusiastic about social media and bring them together to form an internal working group. Reaching out online affects the whole organization, so make sure all departments are represented.

2. Monitor your issues online: Being online requires a lot of participation. Go deep and find out where your members are active online. Map the community and be reactive when people are talking about you or your issues. Be relevant by participating in the conversations that already exist.

3. Define ‘success’ for your organization: Success won’t be the same for every association. Think backward and define what your goals are and what you want your members to be doing online. Do you want to recruit 100 new members? Do you want to raise your retention rate? Do you want to establish a pool of resources online?

4. Old metrics don’t tell the story: Part of defining success is defining how you’ll measure success. Beyond numbers, look at the level of engagement and gauge how much you’re connecting with your constituents.

5. Get Started! You can start by dipping your toe in the water, but it should be sooner rather than later. Experiment and see what’s working most for your organization.