Daily Buzz: Don’t Let Your Great Ideas Go to Waste

Here’s a frustrating situation: a member of your organization has come up with a great idea, but you don’t have the time or resources to make use of it. When this happens, an idea parking lot—a place to capture ideas that can be followed up on at a later date—can come in handy, suggests Association Success’s Chelsea Brasted  (opens in a new tab).

Brasted highlights Jessica Johnson and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), who have taken advantage of the strategy and created a physical space to hold ideas. Their space, which began as a board with sticky notes on it, eventually moved online and became a spreadsheet organized by priority level, whether something is in progress or has made progress, and what’s worked or hasn’t.

“Not only is it a place where Johnson, who serves as the director for education and meetings, can regularly turn to seek new priorities and a bank of ideas, but it’s a place where members can physically see that their concerns are being taken seriously,” Brasted says.

SHEA’s parking lot of ideas is updated about every month, and it regularly gets referenced during staff meetings, according to Brasted. With the document, ideas remain even as staff and board members change.

“It’s a living, breathing document,” Johnson told Association Success. “My executive director will update it with what she has, send it to everyone, then go out and update it.”

Strengthen Your Content With External Sources

Brands must use more than in-house voices to be a valuable info source for their audience, says @AnnGynn  (opens in a new tab). https://t.co/HR5zjSYCo0  (opens in a new tab)

— Content Marketing Institute (@CMIContent) January 29, 2020  (opens in a new tab)

If you want your audience to see you as a valuable source of information, treat your content marketing like a media outlet  (opens in a new tab), writes Ann Gynn on the Content Marketing Institute blog. Don’t just use paid in-house sources in your content, reach out to new voices and outside experts.

“Third-party sources can elevate the conversation with multiple and diverse viewpoints, examples, or experiences,” Gynn says. “In turn, the audience is more likely to consume and engage with the content because they recognize the publishing brand’s goal as an information provider, not as a seller of products or services.”

Other Links of Note

Worried about writing your annual report? Follow these five steps  (opens in a new tab), says Kivi Leroux Miller on the Network for Good blog.

The future of work. Fast Company asks five designers  (opens in a new tab) what the workplace will look like in 20 years.

Now you’re speaking my language. Google has unveiled a feature  (opens in a new tab) that lets you translate and transcribe conversations in real time, CNET reports.

(ipuwadol/iStock/Getty Images Plus)