Friday Buzz: Believe in Associations

As the workweek winds to a close, let’s take a small break from the daily grind to appreciate the lifesaving and world-changing work that associations have done for decades and will continue to do into the future.

“Associations are the reason our quality of life is so high, our life expectancy is so long, and why our democracy works,” writes Cecilia Satovich  (opens in a new tab), senior vice president of client services at Results Direct, in a reflective LinkedIn post.

Satovich aims to spread the word about the awesome effect of associations, and she does so by telling a few personal stories about how associations have changed her life for the better. For instance, groups like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics advocated for programs that led to hearing screening tests in public schools. This program detected Satovich’s hearing loss when she was in kindergarten.

She goes on to reveal how associations have been a “behind-the-scenes” force helping her with a family member with cancer and her own neurological pain.

“Association advocacy isn’t just on the Hill, it’s through supporting industries and professions,” she writes. “It’s through supporting people to do their jobs better, and the rest of us average consumers are the beneficiaries of that high standard of quality.”

Good SEO News

Google Just Made It Easier To Find Events In Search https://t.co/Ucr1hMRJ36  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/rbR3WBXBVp  (opens in a new tab)

— Julius Solaris (@tojulius) May 12, 2017  (opens in a new tab)

Google is changing the way it surfaces event listings on its mobile app and mobile site. These changes may make your next event easier to find.

According to a post from the Event Manager Blog  (opens in a new tab), “event-related searches will result in a clear summary of activities pulled directly from event listing sites such as Eventbrite, Meetup, and more.” Meaning that searchers won’t have to click through different website listings to find information; event details will appear right on the search return page.

Check out Google’s developer guidelines  (opens in a new tab) to make sure your event surfaces during searches.

Other Links of Note

Lessons learned. Entrepreneur shares valuable wisdom from leaders  (opens in a new tab) who have stumbled and recovered.

What should you know about marketing in 2017? HubSpot spoke to 11 experts for their top tips  (opens in a new tab).

Start your meetings off strong. MeetingsNet shares a few ways to wow your audiences when kicking off your general session  (opens in a new tab).

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