Drawing conclusions from disparate data is key for associations

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February 15, 2012 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF News for SmartBrief prospective partners Sign up Partner with us Publications About SmartBrief   What's Happening  Drawing conclusions from disparate data is key for associations Finding the big picture in a sometimes bewildering mix of cultures, data and media will be essential for association leaders, writes consultant Shelly Alcorn. Associations "still struggling with inclusion issues in the U.S. are woefully unprepared to effectively deal with an emerging global marketplace," Alcorn writes. Read other Spotlight on Association Leadership posts here. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/1)      Top 10 tweets: Mergers, CEO moves and trade-show tips National Assn. of Television Program Executives seeks new leadership Good series from ASAE on handling conflicts of interest What you can learn from "new rules for radicals" Things to avoid at this year's trade show -- for vendors and attendees International Assn. of Conference Centers redefines mission National Meat Assn., North American Meat Processors Assn. become one Assn. of Legal Administrators exec director to step down New Radio Television Digital News Assn. leader to move group in new direction National Assn. of Realtors membership drops under 1M for first time in 8 years What sets nonprofit marketers apart?      NCA president discusses leadership priorities for 2012 National Confectioners Association President Larry Graham discusses his leadership priorities and goals for industry and the association with SmartBrief's Rebecca Pollack Scherr. "Providing value to all 700 members is always a challenge," Graham said. "We have big companies and small companies, we have suppliers, brokers and international members, and keeping focused on the big things facing us while not ignoring some specific needs of some of our specific member categories is a full-time job." SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/6)        Leadership Focus  Why should companies prioritize the importance of family? Companies need to look beyond simple "work-life balance" and help their workers juggle family and work responsibilities, Harvard business professor Nancy Koehn says in this Big Think video. That means making family life a part of a company's core set of values, and helping employees to live and work well. "Everyone has a family, and everyone is very much affected in terms of the possibilities and their paths by what that family is and what it becomes," Koehn says. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/7)      Navigate your company through a Concordia-like catastrophe The Costa Concordia failed to address five deficiencies before the cruise ship's wreck, write Priscilla Cale and David Tate. All businesses can fall prey to such problems, which include overconfidence; a lack of strong, forward-thinking leadership; and internal disputes. "Everyone has heard the old adage that 'failure to plan is planning to fail.' But for business owners, just being aware that some event will occur is not preparation in and of itself," Cale and Tate write. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/9)      3 lessons from the Komen crisis: The reaction to the Komen Foundation's decision to defund Planned Parenthood, later reversed, shows the need for leaders to park their egos at the door, writes Scott Eblin. Organizational goals should take priority over vanity projects. "It's clear that the Komen Foundation hadn't fully prepared for the era when transparency has moved from buzzword to reality," Eblin notes. EblinGroup.com/Next Level Blog (2/6)      Bosses should check themselves before they wreck themselves Business leaders should make sure they pause occasionally to take stock and catch their breath, writes Scott Eblin. Taking an occasional timeout is the only way to make sure all your energy is being channeled in the right direction, Eblin writes. "The demands of today's world are great," he adds. "How ... can you have a reasonable shot at showing up at your best if you're dancing 'til you drop?" SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/10)      Other News Are you a manager or a leader? The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/11)      No-cost perks you can offer employees Employee Benefit News (2/1)      Do your workers know when it's OK to unplug? FastCompany.com/FC Expert Blog (2/7)        About SmartBrief  What we do SmartBrief publishes industry-specific e-mail newsletters in partnership with prominent associations, professional societies, corporations and nonprofits. More than 4.5 million executives and professionals rely on SmartBrief every day to stay informed and save them time. Visit here to view our partners, see samples and subscribe. For updates, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Want to explore partnering? Let's talk.        Media 2.0  3 lessons from social media superstars Brands such as Coca-Cola, Red Bull and Oreo have built huge followings on social networks, and their successes hold lessons for smaller brands, writes Kevin Allen. While having a huge marketing budget obviously helps, the companies' social outreach is founded on quality content, customer engagement and strong branding -- all tactics that should also work well for smaller brands. Ragan.com (2/10)      Model suggests the secrets for wildly successful tweets A statistical model developed by HP Labs reportedly allows researchers to predict the success or failure of a given tweet about a news article with 84% accuracy, even before it's published. Researchers found that sourcing was the most important factor, but that articles that mention prominent celebrities also had a higher success rate. Mashable (2/9)      How to get a handle on your Facebook data Facebook "likes" are a powerful data source for brands that know how to make the most of them, writes Nigel Fenwick. Free tools such as MicroStrategy's Wisdom mine Facebook pages for data and can provide quick, compelling insights into a brand's fans' demographics and other brand affiliations. "The opportunity for CIOs is to help lead the way toward integrating this stream of customer data into other sources of customer insight to provide a competitive advantage," Fenwick writes. Forrester.com/Nigel Fenwick's Blog (2/9)        Other News 3 lessons Wikipedia can teach you about employee motivation FastCompany.com/FC Expert Blog (2/6)      Facebook is the stickiest social network ClickZ (2/9)      How to avoid the worst social media blunders SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (2/2)        SmartNugget  How to secure your data and stay productive on the road A number of tools can help you to be more productive and better protect your business data while traveling, writes Natalie Sisson. For example, the FindMyiPhone application can help you to locate your lost smartphone, and Gmail's offline feature can help you to manage your e-mail even when you aren't online. Forbes (2/10)          Subscriber Tools Click here to unsubscribe from all future promotional messages. 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