I recently attended a job fair and asked a job hunter if he thought about joining an association in his chosen industry to help him find a job and network since he was new to Florida. “I have.” His answer surprised me but we continued talking about what YourMembership.com does and our involvement with associations, membership management and online community. When I asked him what association he had joined or what his experience had been thus far he said, “Well, I found a group on LinkedIn. It was 25 people and I thought that sounded about right.”
To him a LinkedIn group and an association are the same thing. There have been a lot of blog posts on associations and their fight for relevancy recently. “Remaining relevant” is a complex issue. It’s more than just making sure your offerings are in tune with what your members want and need. It’s also a matter of “educating” the less experienced on 1. what an association is 2. the importance/value of association memberships. Here’s an interesting post from a twenty-something entering the workforce. Read the rest of this entry »
