Disqus - Latest Comments for Maggielmcg

Re: Content Management: Consider the Alternatives

Maggie McGary — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 14:20:56 -0000

Hm, I'll have to try Webflow. Just built a site in Squarespace last week and it was pretty painless with a pre-designed template. Now trying the same in Wordpress with a page builder and...yikes.

Re: Making Sense of Facebook's Discouraging News Feed News: Associations Now

Maggie McGary — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:55:48 -0000

I keep meaning to find time to write about Facebook groups and how unbelievable I find it that publishers, who are being kicked in the face by Facebook with the pages thing and also the ever-changing video stuff, are somehow still trusting that Facebook currently has and will forever have their backs with regard to Groups. FB was "marching in the same direction" with publishers when it created its "Facebook for Journalists" certification and made publishers feel they were valued partners, only to now hit them with the double whammy of rolling out these news feed changes, then a few weeks later, hitting them with the news that they'll be letting the "Community" decide which publications are worthy and which are "fake news."

Facebook has one company's back, now and forever: Facebook's. Whether it's groups, pages, video, instant articles, future offerings...anything publishers or orgs entrust Facebook to make great or have value to the org, the end result will be Facebook eventually pivoting to make all the time/money/effort invested in Facebook worth nothing to the company and more data--i.e. money--for Facebook.

Re: What Impact Will Generation Z Have on the Workplace?

Maggie McGary — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:12:33 -0000

What David said. As the parent of two gen Z kids about to enter the workforce--and therefore a sample size of two--I can say that both have different attitudes about work and what they're looking for in a career, and have sought/gotten jobs or internships in different ways. My son is a CS major and has been actively pursed by recruiters since the first day of freshman year, and he hates the "we have a great culture--we wear jeans and hoodies" pitch. My daughter is a senior majoring in mass communications and sees recruiting differently--she either reaches out via Instagram DM or has had companies reach out to her because of the instagram account she manages for her sorority--and landed her jobs that way so far. I don't think either expects special snowflake treatment; so far, the opposite--they want to learn from more experienced leaders. I will say that both do have high expectations of supervisors/coworkers, probably because they've grown up in a time where every kid is expected to work their butt off and achieve; experiencing workplaces where people aren't professional and aren't working hard disappoint them, I guess because they assume that "grown ups" continue to work as hard as kids/teens have been pressured to do their whole lives.

Re: How to Attract and Grow Member Influencers

Maggie McGary — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 10:54:51 -0000

Thanks for the reply Tim. I know some see me as negative, but honestly--I am very passionate about associations and the great work they do/can do--including ASAE. It's just disheartening to see/hear so many stories from fellow ASAE members all voicing the same concerns and all basically being told to hit the road by ASAE. If associations are supposed to be member-centric and member engagement and retention is something ASAE wants to provide expertise on to other associations, they need to take a step back and examine the state of their own members' satisfaction and engagement....not be told "well, sorry you feel that way...bye."

Re: How to Attract and Grow Member Influencers

Maggie McGary — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 10:00:02 -0000

I wish ASAE would take its own advice regarding member engagement and connecting with influencers. Over the past year, ASAE has markedly shifted from becoming member-focused to vendor focused and seems to be taking a pretty cavalier attitude about alienating many loyal, committed long-time members. I've had numerous conversations recently with ASAE members who have noticed this shift and, when they tried to share feedback with ASAE staff, have basically been told "well, that's just your problem--nobody else feels this way."

"Influence" in the association world is absolutely important, and there are plenty of us who are influential both via social media and via real connections with many colleagues across the association sector. Rather than paying someone like Williams--who is undoubtedly smart but probably knows nothing about the way associations run--to run a workshop on attracting and retaining association members via influencers--how about ASAE take the time to evaluate the state of its relationship with influential members who are now on the brink of quitting because they feel so disconnected from ASAE?

Nothing against you, Tim--I know you're just doing your job writing for Associations Now, but it's disheartening to see this newsletter increasingly feel/read like generic business content as opposed to association-centric content featuring ASAE members and actual association staffers. I, for one, am not a consultant or a vendor but do blog about associations and social media and used to be picked up by Associations Now every once in a while; now, never. There are many ASAE members with great association-specific expertise to share who would love to feel more recognized by/engaged with ASAE--it would be great to see ASAE pivot back towards engaging its existing influencers--members who are connected with tons of other association folks--instead of trying to shoehorn generic business advice to fit associations.

Re: The Case for Grooming Internal Talent

Maggie McGary — Tue, 09 May 2017 12:57:45 -0000

I agree...and would also add that many associations seem to not promote from within when leadership roles do finally open up. Not only is this discouraging for staff who have worked hard and been loyal employees, but associations also miss out on the institutional knowledge those internal candidates bring to the table. It would be nice to see more associations develop leadership training and initiatives to help good employees move up the ladder, rather than just sitting in the same chair for decades.

Re: Talking Mastodon: Why It’s So Hard to Topple Twitter: Associations Now

Maggie McGary — Tue, 02 May 2017 08:52:40 -0000

A) love this article; b) I had forgotten that I paid for App.net too! and c) I'm really trying to give Mastodon a decent try but it's a struggle. Also, at this point, I can't see it ever taking the place of Twitter, either for me or for the world--WAY too tech-y for most (I could barely fumble through getting on it and figuring out which instance to join/app to use, etc), but I could see it becoming a decent alternative for certain topics/verticals. And if they ever add "toot-storms" I'm out!!

Re: Why Employees Resist Using Your Collaboration Tools

Maggie McGary — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 15:59:44 -0000

Amen--this, plus the fact that, just as external community and collaboration platforms need community management to flourish, so, too, do internal collaboration platforms. Unless the org is committed to not only purchasing the technology but also encouraging staff to use it, most people will keep doing what they're used to and what's easiest and least threatening in their minds. Especially when Sharepoint is the technology!! :) Even for tech-savvy people who are busy doing their regular jobs, diving into a new platform, figuring out how to use it, and making a habit of using it regularly is just not a priority if not incentivized, coaxed or just forced to. And less tech-savvy people? Forget it.

To me, this is just another shade of the need for community management argument--one that associations for the most part haven't bought into yet even as they continue to invest in the technology. It's one thing for IT to purchase something; it's another to hire people to train, teach, encourage, remind and reward people to use it at all, let alone to get to the point where the benefits of the new tech start to pay for themselves in terms of efficiency, better collaboration and communication, etc.

Re: When an Online Community No Longer Works

Maggie McGary — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 10:11:22 -0000

I think the second...

Re: When an Online Community No Longer Works

Maggie McGary — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 10:09:29 -0000

Great article, as always, Ernie, and really important reminder that in order to provide value to both the org and to users, community management and moderation are essential. Also, amen to being mindful about what social platform an org builds a presence--the reality is that each requires staff time and resources and being everywhere but with no moderation or management can be worse than not being anywhere at all. AND, as a movie fanatic, I can't believe I never knew IMDb even had message boards!

Re: What I’ve Learned in Four Years of Blogging About Membership

Maggie McGary — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 10:18:12 -0000

Wah--you will be sorely missed, Joe. You did an incredible job with this beat and for ASAE in general. Best of luck in whatever you're headed to next, and hope to still see you around the ASAE world.

Re: Rethink the Resume: One Tech Firm's Big Idea

Maggie McGary — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 09:19:20 -0000

I totally agree that this SHOULD be the way associations consider new hires; however, as a veteran job-hopper, I have to say I'm skeptical that this would work. Associations are very traditional when it comes to hiring, or at least that's been my experience. They tend to care more about loyalty and tenure than skills, which is unfortunate because, ultimately, this mindset is what will sink associations, IMO. Attracting candidates with the skills necessary to keep associations relevant today and nimble as they move into the future with regard to technology and member recruitment/engagement is something associations already struggle with; doing it within the framework of the traditional hiring/interviewing process just isn't a recipe for success if you ask me.

Re: Does the Banner Ad Still Make Sense in 2016?

Maggie McGary — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 08:26:18 -0000

Exactly! I totally agree, especially on mobile, where the "x" to close an ad seems to be just part of the image and never works.

Re: Is paid influencer marketing ethical in the event industry?

Maggie McGary — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 07:47:59 -0000

You make a really good point about paid influencer campaigns conflicting with the CMP standards of conduct; in this context, I'd say that paid campaigns are definitely murky water when it comes to event planners. That said, unfortunately, despite the FTC rules about disclosure, the whole concept has become a joke since FTC doesn't actually enforce them and nondisclosure is rampant. It's like now that the genie's out of the bottle, there's no way to really get it back in with regard to disclosure.

Re: Advocacy Groups to FTC: Regulate Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Maggie McGary — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 16:30:28 -0000

While I agree that disclosure is important and should be a priority for the FTC, unfortunately I think they've already set a precedent of not enforcing their own guidelines on disclosure across other social media platforms and there's kind of no way now to put that horse back in the barn. By putting out guidelines then actively NOT enforcing them, ever, even going so far as to state that they aren't monitoring bloggers and have no plans to--back in 2014 (http://www.chicngeek.com/20... pretty much made nondisclosure ok.

Re: A LinkedIn-Centric Strategy for Member Recruitment

Maggie McGary — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:31:39 -0000

That's good--I know Terrance is an expert in this stuff, but I think it's important for other associations to understand why just scraping data from LI and then marketing to those people isn't a good idea.

Re: A LinkedIn-Centric Strategy for Member Recruitment

Maggie McGary — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:49:08 -0000

My only question about this method is the legality/ethical issues associated with scraping data from LinkedIn. LinkedIn's User Agreement forbids scraping or copying profiles and information of others through any means (including crawlers, browser plugins and add-ons, and any other technology or manual work) and also says that users must comply with all applicable laws, including anti-spam laws. Especially with international people I'm not sure how that would work in terms of marketing to people via email addresses scraped from LinkedIn, or even just without their opt-in. But of course, this is the detail I focus on because I'm me : ) I do think the journal and newsletter ideas are awesome, and agree that associations could definitely use content like that that they already have in place to try to convert LI group members to association members.

Re: FDA's New E-Cigarette Rules, Now Taking Effect, Prove Divisive

Maggie McGary — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:45:39 -0000

Took the FDA long enough to implement this! I say bravo to this and boo hoo to e-cig manufacturers who now have to comply by the same regulations as other tobacco product manufacturers, and who will be forced to stop peddling an addictive substance to teens. E-cig use is rampant among teens--even in my kids' high school classrooms and on the local middle school bus--and everyone (read: the e-cig industry) wants the world to believe that their product is harmless, non-addictive and a safe alternative to cigarettes. They're not. There are also no studies proving that they help with smoking cessation. http://jama.jamanetwork.com...

Re: Serve Versus Sell: How to Negotiate Associations' Dual Roles

Maggie McGary — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 12:48:40 -0000

Interesting and definitely one of the hardest aspects of working for associations. It's especially frustrating when you have volunteer leaders who put duel pressure on the org to both serve and increase revenue--then stand in the middle of achieving the revenue goals they themselves set. They don't want to feel sold to or sold out, but somehow expect to magically increase revenue. Or so I've heard :)

Re: The State of Email Design Stinks

Maggie McGary — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 10:14:27 -0000

I so feel your pain on this one, as I struggle to design two new email newsletters...using no paid tools, of course. Will definitely try Beefree. I can't imagine having to do it daily--I'm stressing about managing two monthly newsletters!!

Re: Wednesday Buzz: Plot Your Feedback

Maggie McGary — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 09:40:28 -0000

Thanks for highlighting my post Eli!

Re: Cyberbullying Stalls "America’s Favorite Veterinarian" Contest: Associations Now

Maggie McGary — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 10:59:47 -0000

"Apparently many of the so-called animal activists have no problem practicing cruelty to human beings"--one of the most accurate, truest comments I've read recently.

Re: In Defense of the Active Social Voice

Maggie McGary — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 16:12:16 -0000

I can't recommend strongly enough that people read Sherry Turkle's books for the larger context of where she's coming from now with her upcoming book. I've read Alone Together and am starting Life on the Screen and find it totally fascinating and so much deeper than just a curmudgeon chastising people for not paying attention or spending too much time on devices. She has been researching the way interacting with computers and with others via the internet--and via text-based games and chat boards before the internet--fundamentally changes people for 30 years. She's a clinical psychologist in addition to holding a double PhD in sociology and psychology...from Harvard. Maybe I'm just a sucker for degrees, but honestly--her research credentials seem pretty awesome to me, as are the anecdotes she shares in her books. I have kind of a hard time believing that she came across poorly...but I'm admittedly super biased because I think she's amazing.

For all I know, she isn't a great public speaker or the timing was just wrong with her session--but I think it would be awesome for ASAE to host a follow-up conversation with her at a future conference. I have a feeling the vibe and takeaways would be a lot more positive and I also think her insights have a ton of relevance to associations and event planners.

Re: Monday Ann Sense The Flesch Reading Ease Test

Maggie McGary — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 09:06:34 -0000

Amen! This is what's wrong with the internet now, and why so many blogs just suck and are horribly written. I hope that eventually people tire of reading crap and search algorithms go back to favoring good content...but I'm sure it will never happen.

Re: Monday Buzz: The Experimentation of Interaction

Maggie McGary — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 08:30:14 -0000

Thanks so much for the Mizz Information update, Morgan!