Social Media Roundup: Great Ideas Over This Way

Admit it: If you’re staying at home, you’re a little jealous of the folks at Great Ideas  (opens in a new tab) this year.

Surrounded by smart people (opens in a new tab) thinking in super-interesting ways, the Twitter feed might be nice  (opens in a new tab), but it’s probably nothing like making the trip.

So, with that in mind, here are a few great ways to get in the Great Ideas spirit … even if you’re still at home.

A Great Member Tangent

My latest blog post during today’s #ideas13  (opens in a new tab) sessions is A MUST Read on Membership Engagement. http://t.co/gvFDkgPRfY  (opens in a new tab)

— tommorrison (@tommorrison) March 11, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

Didn’t make it to Great Ideas this year? Get a little bit of a lay of the land from Tom Morrison, the CEO of the Metal Treating Institute, who spotted a number of moments  (opens in a new tab) that he said exposed missed opportunities for associations far and wide. “In one session,” he points out, “association executives wanted to talk about how to get their members to see their ‘perceived value’, yet when asked if they wanted to expand and talk about non-dues revenue generation, only 4 hands went up in a room of 80+ people. That was a missed opportunity.” Morrison then expands on this point to explain the opportunities available for member engagement. What efforts are you working on to build your own member engagement?

Great Reading for Great Ideas

#ideas13  (opens in a new tab) “Great Ideas aren’t just solutions…many of the Greatest Ideas are problems” http://t.co/y7qJCgVmux  (opens in a new tab) @GreatIdeasConf  (opens in a new tab) @ASAEcenter  (opens in a new tab)

— Scott Wiley (@ScottDWiley) March 11, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

Just in time for Great Ideas 2013, Harvard Business Review contributor Umair Haque dropped a meta-commentary on the whole concept of great ideas  (opens in a new tab). And … to be honest, it’s a great talker. Riffing off of the TED conference last month, Haque suggests that we may not be doing enough to think beyond short-term goals. That, perhaps we’re treating our best ideas too superficially by packaging them as TED talks. “When ideas are reduced to engineering challenges,” he explains, “the focus naturally becomes near-term utility in the so-called real world. We focus on implementation without ever stopping to question our assumptions. But Great Ideas don’t resound because they have ‘utility’ in the real world — they are Great for the very reason that they challenge us to redefine the reality of our worlds; and hence, the ‘utility’ of our lives.” Does your association challenge its members or redefine their reality? How do your ideas go beyond simple short-term solutions to radical reinventions? All in all, a great piece to get you thinking. (ht @ScottDWiley  (opens in a new tab))

Did you make it to Great Ideas? What’s your favorite highlight so far? Let us know!

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