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 has preferred pronoun stickers! Such a great example for all conferences and events! #ExpoChat #assnchat #AMP19 pic.twitter.com/ZKhp64co70

— Melanie Padgett Powers (@MelEdits) March 28, 2019

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.

And though it might seem redundant for cisgender attendees, using pronoun stickers (or pronoun ribbons, if you prefer) 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 by Garth Jordan #assnchat #BusinessModel pic.twitter.com/qcWtzDwtUD

— Sidecar (@sidecarglobal) March 27, 2019

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 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.

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.

Looking for meeting inspiration? BizBash shares the biggest event design trends from SXSW.

(Wikimedia Commons)