"Contribution is King"

Published : 20 August 2009

Many of our Associates work in the public and third sectors - bringing our commercial disciplines and experience to bear to market segments which no longer have to rely on the professional internediary to communicate their messages to their communities.

 While publishers complain that their business model is broken, similar noises are beginning to be heard - though muffled by the culture - of the Associations world. Even Government has reacted more to the social networking phenomenon - The Power of Information Report  (see previous views ) with its Digital Engagement programme and some very innovative approaches to third generation web development are testimony to this. 

By comparison  the Associations sector faces many more cultural obstacles to embracing Web 2.0. If everyone is now a publisher, then everyone too is potentially at least their own membership organiser.  Jeff da Cagna, founder of Principled Innovation and our favourite blogger in this field, put it memorably this week when he said: "Membership is too cheap to meter" anymore, in a world where people can create their own voice, and provide their own feedback and pushback mechanisms. (see Jeff's Toronto conference video at  http://www.principledinnovation.com/blog/2009/08/20/my-asae09-session-video/).

 The work we have been doing with our I-Publishing partners in collecting case studies and camp fire stories from the world of previously Association dominated communitie provides rich experience of innovative social networking initiatives in this area. And we will be publishing this shortly. It will illustrate that though Associations may have less onerous contribution targets than shareholder driven publishers, the challenges they face to their place in the value chain are just as great.

 Meanwhile, just as publishers have had to get used to the idea of  "Content is no longer King", so Associations are having to get use to the fact that "Membership is no longer King" -  instead "Contribution is King ! "