The Association Renewal Blog

The Long Tail Live!

Jeff and I went to hear Chris Anderson speak in NYC on Thursday. It was a brief presentation, much of which covered the basics of the Long Tail, although I must say, I am still amazed at some of the statistics. The top TV show recently (CSI) wouldn't have even been in the top 10 just a few years ago, based on percentage of households watching.

Main points I took home: I used to think that the music I heard on the radio and the movies I saw in the theaters were simply the good ones. Those that were not good, didn't make the cut. In fact, the ones I saw were merely the ones the distribution channels had room for. There were (and, more importantly, ARE) plenty more good ones out there. The internet opens the distribution channels, and suddenly we have access to much more "good" stuff than we thought was out there.

I think that's particularly important for associations. This community has become quite convinced that the way to find content is by going to conferences, reading the magazines, and otherwise taking in what a few people have deemed to be the "best" material (that they can fit into their channel). It's time to blow that myth apart.

Another important point: the economy that drives producers of "hits" is much different than the economy that drives the producers of the long tail. We need to understand that if we are to take advantage of it.

Chat About the Long Tail

I'm still getting caught up on my blog reading after putting it off during the annual meeting last week.

One post I read that is worthy of attention was a "fireside chat" two of the people from 37 signals hosted with Chris Anderson and others, talking about the Long Tail. It's worth a read. Here's a quote that I think Jeff will like:

Chris: “It’s okay that the Long Tail is full of crap! Just filter the bad stuff so I don’t have to see it.”

Power of Blogs

What a fun blog conversation this Long Tail thread has been! I agree with Jeff's points in the previous post, and I had a point of my own to make about giving up control, which I added as a comment under Ben's Acronym post.

But his whole conversation reminds me of the power of blogs.

Jeff and I both like to point out to people that soon after he and I started working together, he had to cajole me into starting a blog. He actually bought the domain name of my “Get Me Jamie Notter” blog just to push me into blogging. Well, it worked, and now, of course, I’m hooked. And one reason I love it is blogs are so good at making instant and broad connections. This Long Tail conversation is a case in point.

The background, of course, is that Chris Anderson has written a book (and a blog, by the way) about the Long Tail. Jeff and I also wrote an article about the application of that concept to associations. Then the following happened:

Lee Gomes writes a Wall Street Journal article critical of Chris Anderson’s Long Tail concept.

A reader of the Acronym blog alerts Scott Briscoe to the article. Scott knows Jeff and I wrote an article on the Long Tail and associations for Associations now, so he invites us to respond on the Acronym blog. Jeff’s response is here.

Ben Martin, who had originally responded with a few thoughts about our article on his blog, thinks about it some more and posts another response to the Acronym blog.

Jeff considers that and makes his response below, here on our blog.

I agree with Jeff’s points, but on the Acronym blog, under the comments to Ben's post, I noticed what Jason Della Rocca said about his association wanting to delete posts from a member forum, and it reminded me of another point about “control” that I wanted to add to the discussion, so I posted that as a comment to Ben’s post.

This is a rich conversation, engaging a diverse group of people, and generating some creative and useful thinking—and it simply wouldn’t have happened without blogs.

Why The Long Tail Matters to Associations (LONG POST)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Let me reiterate that this is a long post.  I apologize in advance for causing any undue eye strain.

In his recent Acronym post about the Long Tail, Ben Martin moves me with his very kind compliment and words of support for my argument that association leaders should not dismiss new but untested ideas, such as the Long Tail, out of hand. He also offers a very thoughtful explanation of his view that the Long Tail theory will not work for most associations. It is entirely possible Ben is right, but then again, Jamie and I also may be right. In truth, we don’t know, and won’t know, until a handful of strategically-aware and highly capable associations begin to put some of these ideas into practice. We hope that will happen in the near future, but until we have some learning laboratories willing to experiment, let me offer a few comments on the specifics of Ben’s excellent post.

Long Tail comments

Scott Briscoe invited us to submit comments to the Acronym Blog about a recent Wall Street Journal critique of Chris Anderson's Long Tail argument.  I shared some of my thoughts and I hope you will check them out and let us know what you think.

Guy Kawasaki on the Long Tail

Earllier this year, Jeff and I wrote an article for Associations Now on the concept of the Long Tail. Chris Anderson's book on that subject is now just coming out, so it's getting some attention, including from one of my favorite bloggers: Guy Kawasaki.

Kawasaki provides (as is his style) a top-ten list of things you need to focus on if you want to exploit the long tail. It's a good read.

Are they playing A Flock of Seagulls?

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love 80s music!  I just can't get enough of it and so I've really noticed recently that it is being played everywhere I go.  When I shop in my local supermarket, I'm singing and dancing down the aisles to Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners or Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins.  (Quite a sight for the other shoppers, I assure you...)  When I drop some clothes off at the cleaners, I'm mouthing the words to Stray Cat Strut, and when I'm sitting in a restaurant having lunch, I'll tap my foot on the floor while Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran plays in the background.  (BTW, all of the song links go to their music videos on YouTube.com)

For me, this is an incredibly exciting cultural shift.  There was a time not that long ago when you couldn't pry an 80s song out a radio station, except perhaps for about 30 minutes on weekday evenings or during the wee hours on weekend nights.  Today, the music of 80s is front and center again because pesky Gen Xers like me have cash to spend and we just love to hear the songs we danced to in high school wearing our Members Only jackets, parachute pants and white Capezios!  (Let me just state for the record that I only wore two of these three items when I was in high school.  I will not elaborate any further at this time.)

So if you're an association leader questioning the deepening reality of generational shift, I suggest you listen closely to the music being played where you shop or eat. If you hear A Flock of Seagulls on the sound system, you can be sure that the world is changing.

Thanks to ASAE & The Center!

We want to offer our thanks to ASAE & The Center for mentioning our article on The Long Tail in their most recent newsletter.  The article, Associations in the Age of the Long Tail, appeared in the February 2006 issue of Associations Now.  We think it is quite timely for you to go back and read it, especially with Wired editor Chris Anderson's book on The Long Tail coming out next month.  I've been reading an advance copy of the book and I think it definitely should be included on the must-read list of every association executive interested in new business models for their organizations.   

Tracking association social media usage

As you may know, Jamie and I are totally jazzed about the value of social media for associations.  I have certainly not shown much restraint on the subject, and I think it is useful for us to get a better handle on how many associations are using blogging, podcasting and other social media tools.

To facilitate this effort, I've created the Association Community Blogs and Podcasts Wiki as a master list of associations that are working with social media.  If your association is doing something in this arena, or if you're aware of an association that is, please visit the wiki and add a link! 

NOTE:  Please keep in mind that we are looking to include association-sponsored blogs on this list, not blogs such as this one, that discuss association-related issues.

Content Creation

Related to my last post (and Ben’s question) about the Long Tail, I found an interesting tidbit on the Business 2.0 blog that makes reference to the online game, Second Life.

This is a game where players have created a virtual world with lots of virtual “stuff” that gets bought and paid for with virtual (and sometimes real) dollars. According to the B2.0 blog, in the last 30 days 240,000 items were created generating a $6.5 billion “internal” economy. As they said on the blog:

If Second Life had to pay programmers to replicate all of that content development it would cost $400 million a year.  One thing created in the game is the Bingo-like game Tringo, which is now going to become an actual Game Boy title.  So what's virtual and what's real? And does it matter?

I’m not suggesting that the answer for associations is to create an online game to get people to generate content (although I wouldn’t rule it out either!). But I think it does reflect Jeff’s point that there is a “wellspring of new stuff” out there and you don’t have to access it only by paying people to develop it. They didn’t orchestrate Second Life in order to develop new Game Boy titles. That potential “hit” is simply a byproduct. But they were successful in creating an environment where many, many people created many, many things.

So I do think people will create content for other people. But we may have to check our assumptions about what that content looks like and how it will be used.