Let’s say your association recognizes it needs new ideas. What comes next? Brainstorming sessions? Task forces? You could land in a cycle of call to action, meetings, and reports that keep hitting on the same points. What if ideas that venture outside the box require employees who are made from a different mold?

PGi marketing and sales executive Jeff Perkins shares thoughts on that very question today in a LinkedIn post. Though he writes with marketing departments in mind, the same employment principles apply in all kinds of departments in all kinds of organizations.

As Perkins points out, ads for open positions often contain boilerplate requirements like “X years of experience,” background in so-and-so field, and a degree in Y.

“Here’s the problem: These ‘requirements’ actually screen out the kind of big thinkers that companies want to recruit,” Perkins writes. “So you end up seeing the same kinds of candidates. And then guess what happens? You end up hiring the same kinds of people with the same old ideas.”

So if you’re finding that your association is just treading water—buoyant thanks to past successes but unable to find that next big idea—consider breaking out of the hiring box and pulling in people from more diverse, nontraditional backgrounds.

Swag of the Day

Looking for a new source of competition rewards or items to add to your next event’s pile of swag? Amazon has launched a new storefront dedicated to 3-D printed items, making it that much easier to create, say, a bobblehead of yourself.

Other Good Reads

For associations dabbling in content marketing, Michele Linn of the Content Marketing Institute has some valuable tips on how you can properly track your efforts.

The four hazards of conference organization: If you’re looking to ramp up your association’s event-hosting activities, it’s essential to know what can go wrong. But don’t stress too much. “At the end of the day, all you can do is take it one step at a time while having fun, keeping calm, and knowing you did your best,” digital consultant John Boitnott advises on Inc.com.

Building communities is what associations do best. So how do you bring that success online? Dennis Shiao, director of content marketing at DNN Corporation, breaks down 10 steps to building a successful online community in a post on Connect Meetings Intelligence.

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