Member Communication: Give Your Messages a Personal Touch

Are you turning off your members with form messages that don’t really speak to them?

If so, consider changing your approach. Over at XYZ University  (opens in a new tab), MemberWise’s Richard Gott discusses the rise of online personalization—in short, the move toward a more personal communication style.

“You need to think about what you would want if you were a member of your organization,” he writes. “How would you want to be addressed when it comes to voting in online elections for the next chair or president?”

Instead of writing bland “Dear Colleague” notes, communicate using members’ names, and  write in the first person. It’s a great strategy that makes it about them, not you.

(For what it’s worth, one master of the first-person approach to online communication is Chris Brogan  (opens in a new tab), who tends to take a very personal tone with his emails.)

Get the WiFi Right

3 Active Steps to Make Certain You Have the Right Event WiFi Solution by @DedeMulligan  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) #pcma  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/qbXk1y4SaJ  (opens in a new tab)

— Jeff Hurt (@JeffHurt) June 2, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

The wireless at your event needs to be right—but too often goes wrong. How can you ensure maximum attendee up-time?

SmartSource blogger DeDe Mulligan suggests  (opens in a new tab) that you plan early and revisit your contract often. (You know, just in case the next iPad surfaces in the meantime.)

“This may be hard to do if your event is several years out, but start early with the plan and then update or change accordingly,” she writes. “For example, if your conference is three years away, gather what you know today and then every six months adjust your WiFi plan.”

Also, it might help to survey your stakeholders—from attendees to exhibitors—to ensure that you know what their onsite wireless needs are. (ht @JeffHurt  (opens in a new tab))

Other good reads

Are you saying the wrong things at meetings? Over at Inc.com, Geoffrey James ponders the phrasings  (opens in a new tab) that could be killing your credibility.

“‘Ease of use’ is in the ‘eyes of the beholder.’” If you’re analyzing an AMS platform, SmartThought’s Chad Stewart writes  (opens in a new tab), an objective decision-making process is the way to go.

Much like a maintaining a good marriage, leading an association requires a lot of juggling, Partners in Association Management’s Rachel Luoma writes  (opens in a new tab).

We touched on the updates to iOS yesterday, but Apple’s Mac OSX got an upgrade yesterday too. LifeHacker has a roundup  (opens in a new tab) of the big changes.

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