Are Associations Going the Way of Print Media?: Part II

This post focuses association chapters, the grass roots of associations, which are often the step-children in the association world since they don’t product revenue, and many don’t even break even. We are adapting our chapter meeting venue to the reality of today’s dispersed and busy workforce. We are co-hosting a meeting with the Denver APMP chapter on Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. where people will have 3 choices for connection. http://www.scip.org/Training/EventsDetail.cfm?itemnumber=8540 for details.

Key Insights to Be a Better Leader in Today’s World

Here are my takeaways from this leadership session sponsored by Sustainable Business Group. We all have a tendency towards a particular leadership style. A good manager is flexible and uses the right style to be effective at the appropriate time. It’s also good to employ people whose styles you lack to keep balance in the workplace. Empathy is the foundation of emotional intelligence regardless of your culture. “Nobody cares what you know until they know you care.”

Will Associations Go the Way of Print Media?

SCIP just announced that its formal merger was consummated with Frost & Sullivan’s Institute. This merger is a sign of the times: it’s hard for associations to survive in this tough economic climate. But I think it’s more than that: the association model is changing not just due to competition from other associations, but for people’s time and easy access to connections formerly made through associations via social media.

Looking at Security Issues in Social Media: What Doors Are You Leaving Open? (Webinar)

Social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are fabulous! However, be aware of what additional information may be leaking out about your organization through these same social networks! In this session, Marcy Rodney will share real examples, and will discuss issues and best practices around security and privacy when using these networking tools as well as how to find information. This free event takes place on August 25 at 6 pm on Second Life http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/62/114/33.

Collective Intelligence: Approaches to Find Stolen Art, “Urban Sunset”

Last weekend, we were at an outdoor art show in a prosperous Chicago suburb. Rodgers’ painting “Urban Sunset” an original oil painting of a Chicago city scene was stolen (24” by 30” + frame). We would love to recover this painting, but it’s probably not that likely, so I thought I would share this story with you to remind you to be careful, and to share some sources to recover stolen art.

How a Good Relationship between Marketing & R&D Improves Product Development

When marketing and R&D are truly focused on understanding and acting on customer needs, it makes both of their jobs easier and their results more productive! This is a powerful competitive weapon since this is not the case at many companies. Perhaps R&D can be masters of the art of possibility while Marketing can master the art of the Possible– that is what customers want and are willing to pay for.

Who Says Librarians Can’t be Analytic Competitive Intelligence Professionals?

I am amazed at how quickly librarians can build off their information expertise and applied it to analytics. Here’s an example of how they dove into win loss analysis. This article discusses an approach to conducting win loss analysis including start-up issues and questions we would pose to customers depending on if we won or lost the sale.

How Executives Find & Value Information

A recent Forbes survey of 354 executives at large US companies indicates that competitor analysis is the most critical area for research. The Internet is valued more than any other information source, including internal, external and personal contacts as well as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, conferences and trade shows. Connecting with the executive suite has always been a challenge for competitive intelligence professionals, but now that they can access information so readily, it’s even worse since it can give one a false sense of power! Today more than ever, we need to help our executives realize the value of accurate, insightful intelligence–which is NOT posted on the Internet!

How Corporate Recruiting Adds to a Competitive Intelligence Effort

Dorothy Beach shares her experience in setting up competitive intelligence in the recruiting space. Through her experience, Dorothy shows how counterintelligence is often more valued in recruiting than in other parts of a company. She outlines 6 steps to obtain high level management buy-in to develop a CI gathering process.

Just How Social is Social Networking?

In most cases on LinkedIn, it’s a loose connection, and you’ll never hear from that person again unless they want to sell you something, fill jobs or find a job. Yet I do connect with many of my pals and meet new people who share my interests on Twitter and we do engage through tweets, albeit with the 140 character limitation. The pendulum is swinging back to more traditional marketing for me since I still get more business from word of mouth marketing and referrals from existing customers and friends.