Any savvy social media team knows that it’s smart to engage with followers, but AARP has taken engagement to a deeper level by hiring and training a social response team.

AARP responds to all Facebook questions, whether they’re simple inquiries about membership or complicated questions about policy proposals, reports a Marketing and Growth Hacking blog post. For example, one Facebook user asked whether the GOP’s new tax bill would tax Social Security differently. Within hours, a member of AARP’s social response team replied to let her know that there is no change in the bill.

“AARP, despite its enormous reach, isn’t settling on a one-way broadcasting strategy, but instead has accomplished the impressive feat of developing a scalable system for responding to the thousands upon thousands of comments across Facebook, Twitter, and its other online destinations,” writes tech journalist Simon Owens.

Not only does all of this engagement keep members informed on issues that are important to them, but the organization’s director of social communications says it also helps AARP to greatly expand its reach on social media.

A Little Encouragement

New post: How to get attendees to risk doing something new at your event https://t.co/WXdzhnztSY #eventprofs #assnchat pic.twitter.com/FpZnb16LdL

— Adrian Segar (@ASegar) December 18, 2017

Event designers go to great lengths to create new activities at meetings, but how do you get timid attendees to give them a try?

Meeting designer and facilitator Adrian Segar says to make it a group activity. “Seasoned facilitators know this: When working with groups we are routinely able to get members to do things collectively that they might well balk at as individuals,” he writes in a new post for Conferences That Work.

Segar goes on to say that “the power of group work to engage and transform attendee learning and connection in ways that cannot be matched by conventional broadcast sessions means that it should be top-of-mind for every event professional who wants to hold engaging and successful meetings.”

Other Links of Note

Cloud computing isn’t going anywhere. CMSWire examines 10 ways it may evolve in 2018.

Fundraisers need to constantly communicate with potential donors. Future Fundraising Now shares a few tips for how to do that without annoying them.

As you finish out the end of the year, Smooth the Path suggests a few key questions to ask yourself to help prepare your association for 2018.

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