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AMA Boston is Recognized by the Mothership
There are about 35,000 AMA Members from 75 chapters across the US and Canada. When you might catch the eye of the International Headquarters and they specifically recognize what you are doing as an example to be followed by the rest of the association, it is an honor and great moment of pride for the chapter! Our social network has been a game changer for our chapter and as others begin to "get it", it will likely revolutionize the association as a whole. Unbeknownst to me, the national AMA has written this wonderful article about what we've been doing in Boston.
John Cass, 2005-06 President of AMA Boston and Director of Marketing for IdeaLaunch, a Boston-based content marketing services company, explained that the chapter has implemented a multi-channel approach to social media to engage its marketer members. Founded in 1940, AMA Boston now boasts 800 members.
“We currently use two social media sites,” Cass explained. The chapter’s connect amaboston.org site integrates a social network within the main chapter website. AMA Boston also maintains an active AMA Marketers group on LinkedIn.com.
Launched in mid-2008, Cass noted connect.amaboston.org developed out of a planning session for the new AMA Boston site that took place more than two years ago.
Cass explained that he and several AMA Boston chapter board members including Steve Halling, Cecil Dorman, Myles Bristowe and Donnie Baker met to discuss the design of the new AMA Boston website with integrated social media. “AMA Boston regularly holds planning meeting on weekends,” he said. “The meetings are open to AMA members and volunteers to discuss one topic specifically about an AMA committee or project.”
The result of that planning session was a new design for amaboston.org, a new content management system, a new blog on wordpress and eventually a new Ning social network.
Cass recommended to Bristowe who served as Vice President of Internet Services that the chapter could use Ning as a good white label “software as a service” application.
“Once you sign up for Ning as a member, you can access all of their social networks,” Cass explained. “A lot of the content on Ning sites is available for public view, although you need to join the social network in order to post.”
He added, “Founded by Marc Andreesen of Netscape fame, Ning has grown organically over the last two years since its launch. Myles checked out Ning for AMA Boston and determined it could be integrated into the chapter’s graphics template. We launched the new Connect amaboston site in late June 2008.”
The new social network is helping to increase exposure and membership for AMA Boston, and is made possible through the efforts of the chapter’s many volunteers. “We currently have over 700 members on the site, 20 different special interest groups, over 50 events listed, and over 70 blog posts,” Cass reported.
Cass, who authored the 2007 book, “Strategies and Tools for Corporate Blogging” and currently maintains a blog on corporate blogging and social media, also noted that the chapter launched an AMA Marketers LinkedIn Group in October 2007 which now boasts over 1,100 members, including both AMA members and non-members. “We moderate the site,” he stressed, “restricting discussions to marketing related topics.”
“Both the LinkedIn Group and Connect.amaboston.org is helping to increase the chapter's exposure in the Boston and New England marketing community because we have opened both sites up to all marketers in the region,” Cass said. “We do have some restricted content in several special interest groups on the connect.amaboston.org site. But open communications with the whole marketing community is helping to increase attendance at AMA Boston events. In fact, recently many events have been sold out. The communities also help to increase member retention and acquisition.”
Chapters Get Connected: AMA Boston Online Community Drives Member Interest
In today’s wired world, AMA Chapters are quickly recognizing that unless they get connected to social media, they’ll short-circuit their success in recruiting and retaining members. Logging on to social communities is a great way to network, create valuable connections and recruit new members. While many professional and collegiate chapters maintain their own groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, AMA Boston is one chapter that has gone the extra social mile by hosting its own robust online community, Connect amaboston.org.John Cass, 2005-06 President of AMA Boston and Director of Marketing for IdeaLaunch, a Boston-based content marketing services company, explained that the chapter has implemented a multi-channel approach to social media to engage its marketer members. Founded in 1940, AMA Boston now boasts 800 members.
“We currently use two social media sites,” Cass explained. The chapter’s connect amaboston.org site integrates a social network within the main chapter website. AMA Boston also maintains an active AMA Marketers group on LinkedIn.com.
Launched in mid-2008, Cass noted connect.amaboston.org developed out of a planning session for the new AMA Boston site that took place more than two years ago.
Cass explained that he and several AMA Boston chapter board members including Steve Halling, Cecil Dorman, Myles Bristowe and Donnie Baker met to discuss the design of the new AMA Boston website with integrated social media. “AMA Boston regularly holds planning meeting on weekends,” he said. “The meetings are open to AMA members and volunteers to discuss one topic specifically about an AMA committee or project.”
The result of that planning session was a new design for amaboston.org, a new content management system, a new blog on wordpress and eventually a new Ning social network.
Cass recommended to Bristowe who served as Vice President of Internet Services that the chapter could use Ning as a good white label “software as a service” application.
“Once you sign up for Ning as a member, you can access all of their social networks,” Cass explained. “A lot of the content on Ning sites is available for public view, although you need to join the social network in order to post.”
He added, “Founded by Marc Andreesen of Netscape fame, Ning has grown organically over the last two years since its launch. Myles checked out Ning for AMA Boston and determined it could be integrated into the chapter’s graphics template. We launched the new Connect amaboston site in late June 2008.”
The new social network is helping to increase exposure and membership for AMA Boston, and is made possible through the efforts of the chapter’s many volunteers. “We currently have over 700 members on the site, 20 different special interest groups, over 50 events listed, and over 70 blog posts,” Cass reported.
Cass, who authored the 2007 book, “Strategies and Tools for Corporate Blogging” and currently maintains a blog on corporate blogging and social media, also noted that the chapter launched an AMA Marketers LinkedIn Group in October 2007 which now boasts over 1,100 members, including both AMA members and non-members. “We moderate the site,” he stressed, “restricting discussions to marketing related topics.”
“Both the LinkedIn Group and Connect.amaboston.org is helping to increase the chapter's exposure in the Boston and New England marketing community because we have opened both sites up to all marketers in the region,” Cass said. “We do have some restricted content in several special interest groups on the connect.amaboston.org site. But open communications with the whole marketing community is helping to increase attendance at AMA Boston events. In fact, recently many events have been sold out. The communities also help to increase member retention and acquisition.”
Comment
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Comment by Dave Gilman on May 22, 2009 at 2:50am - Congratulations to Myles and all those who took part to create The AMA Boston social network. It is truly a technological, ever evolving masterpiece and deserves any and all praise.
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Comment by John Cass on May 21, 2009 at 10:44pm
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My thanks go to all of the board who were involved in our social media efforts. especially the recent efforts of the official bloggers and social media committee.
I just received my copy of Marketing News in the mail today, and saw a familiar face on the back page - guess who!
Angela, wow, great that AMA Boston is reaching all the way to Brazil. Interesting to compare notes on marketing in Brazil to the US.
Larry, Makes sense to me that the strategy in social media is one of engagement, not mass messaging. You can certainly try to entice people to a social media site, but they will not stay around if there's no engagement, or content that speaks to them.
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Comment by Amy Quigley on May 21, 2009 at 4:46pm - Nice job Myles! Great leadership = great work!
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Comment by Angela Simpson on May 21, 2009 at 3:44pm - Wonderful article! I am presenting this to my MBA students tonight - here in Brazil. I am proud to be part of AMA Boston.
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Comment by Kevin Flavin on May 21, 2009 at 2:29pm - Congratulations to Myles, John and the rest of the board for your leadership. It's only the beginning, there's a lot of successes that are building on each other. Keep up the good work.
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Comment by Rick Littrell on May 21, 2009 at 2:18pm - Great article and confirmation on the advanced vision of our board. Congrats to all involved and looking forward to working and learning from the best.
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Comment by Steven Halling on May 21, 2009 at 2:09pm - Nicely done article. The Boston Chapter's social network is a true example of the power of social networking. Makes me proud to be a part of it.
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Comment by Todd Randolph on May 21, 2009 at 1:17pm - well, maybe not the Scientific American article... : )
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Comment by Todd Randolph on May 21, 2009 at 1:16pm
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Coming soon n the "News" section
Scientific American: "AMA Connect Can Be Seen From Space"
Foreign Affairs "AMA Connect Representative Named to United Nations"
Forbes "AMA Connect Membership Growth Outstrips Twitter's"
Tiger Beat "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Miles"
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Comment by Larry Lawfer on May 21, 2009 at 12:52pm - This is wonderful and a testimonial to the good work that is being done here. Congratulations Myles. What I think that gets lost in this frenzy of social media and all the tools available is that the underlying goal is to communicate to people. Just because you can click a button and connect with someone does not mean there is any real connection. Just linking to thousands of people because you think higher numbers are of greater value mean absolutely nothing unless you are sharing and informing. Sometimes I think of this social media as a great big cocktail party where everyone is invited. During my time at the party I want to really talk to some people and will actively avoid some others. It comes down to what do you have to share and who are you wanting to share it with. Yes, there are lots of new tools, and the goal is to communicate. Don't get lost in the tools, hone your skills of communication. What do you think?
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