Daily Buzz: Identify Preferred Pronouns on Conference Badges

Conference badges can give a lot of information: name, title, social handles. But one element that tends to be missing is an attendee’s preferred pronouns.

At ACES: The Society for Editing’s 2019 Conference, attendees could add preferred pronoun stickers to their name badges.

#ACES2019  (opens in a new tab) has preferred pronoun stickers! Such a great example for all conferences and events! #ExpoChat  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #AMP19  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/ZKhp64co70  (opens in a new tab)

— Melanie Padgett Powers (@MelEdits) March 28, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

While the sticker is useful to attendees, it also highlights a discussion point among copy editors—when The Associated Press Stylebook began allowing the singular “they” in some cases back in 2017, it was big news for ACES’ members  (opens in a new tab).

And though it might seem redundant for cisgender attendees, using pronoun stickers (or pronoun ribbons, if you prefer  (opens in a new tab)) can usher in a new, more inclusive meeting standard.

Evaluate Your Association’s Business Model

“The result of diversification has been a plethora of product lines that are difficult to navigate, buy, access and use for the average member.” How does the product-line business model help, and how does it hinder? https://t.co/c4nz1mK0pT  (opens in a new tab) by Garth Jordan #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #BusinessModel  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/qcWtzDwtUD  (opens in a new tab)

— Sidecar (@sidecarglobal) March 27, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

Many associations work according to a product-line model, where, in addition to membership, they create and sell various resources and products. Garth Jordan writes on Association Success  (opens in a new tab) that the business world’s shift to diversification and ease of use has challenged the core work at many nonprofits.

“The result of diversification has been a plethora of product lines that are difficult to navigate, buy, access, and use for the average member,” he says. “And instead of being organized around holistically solving the challenges of our members, we are more likely to structure our associations around creating more and more products, of which many have such meager consumption we should be questioning their existence.”

Jordan suggests stepping back and evaluating your association’s structure. Is it purposefully designed to care for members in a contemporary way? If not, it might be time for a new process.

Other Links of Note

Addressing volunteers’ mental health can help avoid burnout. The VolunteerMatch blog explains how to navigate conversations when volunteers say they’re OK but might not be  (opens in a new tab).

Setting social media goals can add more value to your organization’s marketing strategy. The Hootsuite blog outlines how to set—and reach—goals that give your social posts purpose  (opens in a new tab).

Looking for meeting inspiration? BizBash shares the biggest event design trends from SXSW  (opens in a new tab).

(Wikimedia Commons)