Government Relations 101 Part Deux: Help Them to Help You

I had the privilege of hearing former Deputy Premier Jessica McDonald speak on Monday as part of CSAE-BC’s session on Government Relations. I couldn’t help but notice that the main theme to the advice she gave the association executives in the room was about making it easy for government folks to help them achieve their association’s agenda. While this rule of thumb holds true for pretty much any relationship in which you are looking for a benefit, it was interesting to be reminded about how this might work in a government relations environment...

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TED Talks You Should Watch: Chris Anderson on Online Video as an Innovation Accelerator

This is an interesting TED talk by Chris Anderson about the role online video, and other social media for that matter, is playing in accelerating innovation by encouraging and environment of continual improvement.

Have you used social media as a way to kickstart or boost innovation in your own career or organization? 

TED Talks You Should Watch: Matt Cutts on Trying Something New for 30 Days

There are a lot of good lessons in this short TED talk by computer programmer Matt Cutts.  Enabling change, whether that be by trying something new or getting rid of a bad habit can be easier than you think:

Matt suggests that if you want try something new, do it every day for 30 days and chances are, it will become habit.  If you start by making small, sustainable challenges, you will be surprised at what you're capable of.

What about extending this concept from the 'self' to the organization? What are some small changes that could be made to improve your nonprofit? Would you consider Matt's approach?

Only Two Months Until CSAE 2011: Are You Going?

CSAE has great lineup of speakers and sessions for association executives at this years’ upcoming national conference in Saskatoon. I think this is my seventh conference...and I can’t wait!

And, if you will be in Saskatoon, I hope you will join us for our session, Ready or Not! Association Trends for 2012 and Beyond.  We will be presenting the research gained from our Not-for-Profit Pulse survey research conducted throughout the year and will then put participants to work coming up with some big ideas to mitigate the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that 2012 has in store.

More information on this great event and registration can be found here.

Don't miss this great event! See you there!

TED Talks You Should Watch: Seth Godin on Things That Are Broken

Seth Godin is not only S-M-A-R-T...but apparently he's pretty funny, too.

This TED talk was filmed back in 2006 and introduced Seth's new website, Thisisbroken.com (since changed to www.goodexperience.com). In it, he talks about the reasons why things are broken - processes, systems and things alike.

Not only is this video spot on, but parts of it are pretty hillarious.

Check it out!

Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.