Association Leadership - September/October 2008 - (Page 11)

TSAE update 60-Second Solutions Quick Information You Can Use NOW Data Availability and Replication The loss of data, which is essentially the loss of information, can be disastrous. Some say it is not a matter of if, but when. File corruptions, hardware failures and thefts or losses of laptops or portable devices are three scenarios in which your data can be lost forever. Your information technology staff should have a policy detailing risk and a plan to recover ﬁles. If you don’t have an IT department you may want to consider using services or backup solutions to ensure availability in a disaster situation. The level of complexity of the plan relates directly to your disaster tolerance. Often there is a direct correlation of money and time to the depth of the plan. Consider many free Web-based services for important contacts to ensure availability from anywhere. Google has many services, including Gmail for e-mail and Google Docs for other types of ﬁles. Many providers are available for services such as this, some free and some fee-based. Synchronization is very important as well. If you have the most current version of your documents on a ﬂash drive and have a version six months old on the Web-based service provider’s site, it may not have been worth your time to place outdated ﬁles. Ultimately the burden is on you to ensure often enough that critical documents are replicated, so you can rest easy. If you primarily work with very large ﬁles – media ﬁles, for example – you may want to invest in a portable hard drive. Online storage could be costly and very time-consuming with constant uploads and downloads. These are easily found in many stores and online. Examples are: • Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) • Google Storage (Google) • Windows Live SkyDrive Hard-drive manufacturers for local backup solutions include Western Digital and Maxtor. Source: Garry LaBranche, Chicagoland Forum. Grassroots Lobbying Associations are important for grassroots networks – starting either with members of a particular association or in forming coalitions with other like-issue associations. Big tip: During an election year, political parties are always looking for precinct chairmen. Your association should nominate members for these positions then get the members actively visiting legislators. Legislators always want to visit with constituents, and if your member is a powerful precinct chair, it’s a more attractive proposition! Source: Grassroots L@L by Mark Lehman, Texas Association of Realtors What Should Associations do for Retired Members? Do you have a special membership classiﬁcation for them? Are dues reduced? What special privileges do you afford those who have paid for 30 or more years and have been active in the organization? Do you encourage them to attend annual meetings? Do they continue to receive publications, if they desire? What about former chief elected leaders and board members? Do you have a special set of privileges for them? Do they continue to remain active and involved with the organization through their retirement? One trade association always has a special lounge area set up for top retired leaders, which provides an opportunity to meet friends and relive old times. Another association continues to send the magazine to widows of former leaders. Ask ﬁrst, but many times they appreciate getting it. Source: Butler Consulting Group, Indianapolis. Smart Nutrition Gets Easier There is a lot of hype on food packaging. A careful analysis of the nutrition facts panel might provide guidance, but you have to do a lot of math to discern the best choices. However, starting this fall, several supermarket chains will be rating food on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI). Foods are analyzed on 30 nutrient factors – like ﬁber, fat, vitamins, calories – and are assigned a number from 1- 100 that indicates how healthy they are. The higher the number, the more nutritious the food. The scores will appear on tags right in front of the products, so you can tell at a glance which cereal or bread or granola bar or pasta sauce is the more nutritional choice. Source: www.onqi.com September/October 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 11 http://www.onqi.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - September/October 2008

Association Leadership - September/October 2008 Contents President’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions An Interview with TSAE’s New Chairperson TSAE’s Newest Board Members Vetting Volunteers Orientation of Volunteer Leaders Get on Board – Qualification Considerations Questions to Ask Before Saying Yes Liability Insurance for Volunteer Leaders Committee Planning TSAE’s Annual Golf Outing Congratulations to Our New CAEs Perspectives Association Case Study New Members Community Spotlight San Antonio Beaumont Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - September/October 2008

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