Monday, January 18, 2010

CEO Blog: Live from Las Vegas

It is Sunday evening and I'm in my deeply-discounted Las Vegas hotel room (Imperial Palace, if you must know) working to recap the highlights of my first day at the 2010 National Association of Home Bulders' International Builders Show (IBS).

If you never have been to an International Builders Show, you certainly should at some point give it a try. There is no bigger spectacle in our industry than this. The show always features state of the art displays, interactive exhibits, and the latest innovative products. But what some people miss (for all the spectacle of the show) is the pre-show education. Builders and other HBA members spent Sunday gaining continueing education credits and necessary education as they pursue designations. Others serve on NAHB committees and have spent most of today working on your behalf on may critical issues.

I spent most of today working with other HBA executives to identify ways we can deliver better value for the membership dollar to HBA members. It is clear that the realities facing associations is and will be different in the future than it was in the past. Programs and events that always have "worked" may seem less effective than they once were. The value proposition for HBA members is changing, and it is up to association executives, staff and volunteer leadership to identify where their HBAs can be of greatest value to their members and begin re-defining the very role of an association accordingly.

Practically, that can mean a more comprehensive incorporation of social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc.). It also can mean an increased focus on education and designations. Perhaps it means delivering critically important, exclusive data and analysis of the housing market and the greatest opportunities for future success.

These and others all are in play as we consider what the future holds. It makes little difference what was important to our members in years past. It doesn't even make much difference what they find valuable today. What matters most is what members will expect an/or demand from their associations in the future. Those are the kinds of issues we are wrestling with in these pre-show education programs. I'm learning a great deal and am optimistic that what I am gaining here will directly provide value to our HBA members in the greater Springfield area.

Today I posted frequent twitter updates as I attended these seminars. I will continue doing that all week. I'm going to work to incorporate some photos with the tweets starting Monday. To follow me on twitter, click here.

Matt Morrow
Chief Executive Officer
HBA of Greater Springfield

Sunday, January 10, 2010

May I Tweet You from IBS?




If you haven't yet caught onto the Twitter bandwagon (or if you have but have yet to discover the new world of membership value provided through the HBA's social media connections), a grand opportunity is just around the corner.

The National Association of Home Builders annual International Builders Show International Builders' Show® (IBS) officially opens January 19, but pre-show education begins as early as this week (Friday, January 15). IBS is the largest annual building industry tradeshow in the country.  It's THE place to see and discuss the hottest products on the market and network with your friends and allies.  On top of that, IBS offers more than 175 education sessions taught by industry experts.

To plan your visit to the International Builders' Show, or just to see what all the fuss is about, visit buildersshow.com. Whether or not you plan to be there for all or part of IBS this year, you can keep up with much of what is going on there by following HBA President Rusty MacLachlan or by following me on twitter. Rusty and I will be in attendance and we will tweet our little hearts out about the very best of what we see, hear and learn. If we can make our respective blackberry technologies work (Rusty uses twitterberry, while I prefer the ubertwitter app), we might just go all multimedia on you with dazzling cameraphone pictures and video of some of the coolest stuff.

But you won't get all that goodness unless you get signed up for twitter now, set up an account, and sign up to follow us (and probably a bunch of other folks you will find once you are there) on twitter. Unfamiliar with twitter? I wrote a blog a few months ago about why I think twitter is such a perfect fit for the HBA, complete with a little tutorial on how to get started. To quickly read that primer (and watch a cool little video tutorial), click here.

So, lets get going. Many already are following us. Rusty has 71 followers and I have 198, and we both use our twitter accounts nearly exclusively for HBA and home building/remodeling industry content, so we won't cover you in useless drivel (now THAT'S something few twitter accounts dare to promise!). Just navigate to twitter.com to set up a free account. Then find and follow those of us who tweet on behalf of the HBA. Here are our most HBA-focused twitter accounts (many other HBA members also tweet the goings on of the HBA and within the industry, and for that we thank you... they also are well worth following on twitter... you know who you are!)