I am not normally one to start things off like this but I do like the idea of harnessing the wisdom of the crowds for purposes that actually contribute to community learning and ultimately the greater good. Unfortunately, most of the meme’s I have seen in the past are pretty silly and don’t really share much in the way of important information that others can actually learn or benefit from, in effect diminishing the value of the exercise.

However in meeting and having the opportunity to spend time with the many highly intelligent and well-spoken individuals that are part of the association blogging network, I want to see if I can elicit, distill and ultimately synthesize not only my own learning as well as theirs. As a learning professional with a deep belief in the power of the collective, I think this is a great marriage of technology and social network to contribute to a valuable end.

In that spirit I offer the following meme for each of your thoughtful contemplation and reflection:

The 5 most important lessons learned at ASAE & The Center’s 2007 Annual Meeting.

They can be specific to the Thought Leader sessions, the Learning Labs, or even the informal interactions that took place in the time between sessions or at any other times during our time in Chicago. What matters the most is reflecting your key take-aways in the hopes that others who may not have had the same conference experience(s) can share in and benefit from some of your own learning, which in turn helps us learn and grow as a collective.

1. Never underestimate the power of a group of almost complete strangers who share a common interest to come together quickly to create dynamic results.
2. Creating genuine online interactions is a core competency that every association needs to possess in order to grow and create member value especially as our world becomes increasingly global and interconnected.
3. Despite the pivotal role that technology plays in accessibility and transparency which often translates into member value, never doubt the importance of face-to-face interactions.
4. We are all interconnected and have the ability to bring out the absolute best and worst in each other. We need to aspire to having genuine interactions that are mindful of the impact that our presence and actions have on others at all times.
5. As much as you think you know about a topic, there is always someone who knows more or something different. It should be your goal to not only get to know those people but also learn from them.

There is a lot more that I took away from the conference but these are the top items at present. I think I will pass the torch to a few friends to get the conversation started.

Ben Martin
Jamie Notter
Dave Gammel
Zach Wilson
Jeff DeCagna

Feel free to comment away and share what your key take-aways were.

Today is the day! After months of informal discussion, organization and anticipation we finally reached the day of the Association Social Media Unconference (for more on unconferences). Jeff De Cagna did an awesome job laying the foundation (setting up a wiki for the event), securing a great space (thanks ASAE & The Center), and encouraging people to sign-up and participate.

For me the event was going to be an opportunity to get out of Philadelphia and into D.C., meet a number of you folks who I know only from a virtual perspective and hopefully share some knowledge, camaraderie, and good times with. Needless to say I was really excited about the event and thrilled to be involved with it.

However, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. A small home related situation (my HVAC system died) has left me stuck waiting at home for a service man to arrive and repair the fan unit. Not a fun way to spend your time, at least not compared to how I had planned on spending the day. This whole experience does make me wish that was closer in terms of where I live/work (even though Philly to DC isn’t that far) it’s still much farther than 99.9% of you were going to have to travel today or any day to meet up with other association folks. I guess I am on an island of sorts and it bothers me from time to time.

Regardless, I hope all of you who are attending the ASMU have a great day! I can’t wait to read/listen (podcasts please!) to some of the sessions and I want to thank folks like Jeff, Ben, Rick, Zach, and Sue for taking such a leading role in this and for their thought leadership in general. Hopefully, the next time we do this we could have a virtual component so we could accommodate folks who want to participate regardless of where they are. I’ll start looking for potential solutions!