--- title: "Wednesday Buzz: Online Community Insight" id: "40295" type: "post" slug: "wednesday-buzz-online-community-insight" published_at: "2017-10-25T22:02:36+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T16:14:34+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/10/25/wednesday-buzz-online-community-insight/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/10/25/wednesday-buzz-online-community-insight.md" excerpt: "Online communities can reveal a treasure trove of local chapter information to national chapters. Also: Are leadership development programs keeping women out of the boardroom?" taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "chapters" - "community data" - "Membership" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Wednesday Buzz: Online Community Insight National associations often lose insight into how local chapters are operating—especially when it comes to how chapter members are communicating with each other. The Higher Logic blog shares ways [associations can use online communities (opens in a new tab)](http://blog.higherlogic.com/how-to-use-your-online-community-to-better-understand-your-chapters) to reconnect with local chapters and get a sense of their priorities and performance. Start by making sure that each chapter has its own community by providing “a dedicated space of their own where they can focus on their members and their priorities.” Each community will have unique discussions, activities, and interactions, allowing you to learn more about each chapter. How can you leverage this information? “Use the data from chapter communities to learn about each individual group, including how they’re performing and which programs or member benefits are most important to them,” writes Julie Dietz. This knowledge may help you to understand the context behind reports on membership growth and retention rates and volunteer activity. ### Women in Leadership > Analysis: How most leadership training programs fail women [https://t.co/J36GH3G0mN (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/J36GH3G0mN) > > — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) [October 23, 2017 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/922570106726576128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Organizational leadership training and development** is designed to find top talent and then help those candidates learn the right skills to be an effective boss. But is it possible that these very resources are keeping women from the C-suite? *[The Washington Post (opens in a new tab)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/10/23/how-most-leadership-training-programs-fail-women/)*[r (opens in a new tab)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/10/23/how-most-leadership-training-programs-fail-women/) [eports on a new study (opens in a new tab)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/10/23/how-most-leadership-training-programs-fail-women/) from *Harvard Business Review* that indicates that “many corporate training programs value skills and ‘competencies’ without also measuring how employees score on potential, a system they argue overlooks many otherwise promising leaders—especially female ones,” writes Jena McGregor. ### Other Links of Note **Is your year-end fundraising off to a slow start?** *The Nonprofit Times* reports on why fundraising [may be more difficult this year (opens in a new tab)](http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/fundraisers-face-steep-year-end-climb/) . **Every speaker wants to deliver value to their audience.** *Inc.* shares a few [tips for delivering a more meaningful talk (opens in a new tab)](https://www.inc.com/fia-fasbinder/3-proven-tips-for-a-talk-that-people-remember-long.html) . **Member testimonials are a valuable tool** for recruiting new members. The Web Scribble blog shares a few strategies for [making them more powerful (opens in a new tab)](https://www.webscribble.com/blog/membership/5-strategies-for-writing-powerful-member-testimonials) . (aelitta/iStock/Getty Images Plus) [Raegan Johnson](https://associationsnow.com/author/raegan-johnson/) Raegan Johnson is a contributor to Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/raegan-johnson/) Tags: [#chapters](https://associationsnow.com/tag/chapters/) [#community data](https://associationsnow.com/tag/community-data/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoLeveraging Local and Regional Component Relations During COVID-19: A CEO DialogueJuly 24, 2020](https://associationsnow.com/2020/07/24/leveraging-local-and-regional-component-relations-during-covid-19-a-ceo-dialogue/) - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [VideoCommunity Voices: Pat BlakeSeptember 15, 2021](https://associationsnow.com/2021/09/15/community-voices-pat-blake/) - [VideoCommunity Voices: Sharon NewportSeptember 15, 2021](https://associationsnow.com/2021/09/15/community-voices-sharon-newport/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2017%2F10%2F25%2Fwednesday-buzz-online-community-insight%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !