One question that we hear often is:

Do we add member data in directly or do I have my members signup?

Most customers love the current implementation where members signup and manage their own information. Others want complete control and even want to add members manually and start communicating. So the question is: Who owns the data?

Can a system be designed that can be both a membership management system and a self-serve member communication tool? We think so. And we’re taking steps now to be the best of both worlds.

Organization administrators can now manually add person records in their organization’s management console. What this means is that you can now accurately reflect all the people in your organization. You can enter the profile information and upload their picture.

The next step will be to merge any offline person records with a real account should that person create a MemberHub profile. We’ll be speaking with existing customers to gather feedback on how this should work.

If you’re an administrator, check out the New Person button and let us know what you think!

When you adopt a tool like MemberHub as your organization’s primary communication tool you’re essentially telling your members that “this is how we communicate”.  Opening up two-way communication channels and putting your members in touch with each other will result in more informed, more engaged members. This means you get less phone calls and potentially save money on extra staff needed to ensure proper communication is taking place. But “will my members use it”, you ask.

Your members hang out on Facebook all day. You’re likely NOT going to get them to hang out in some other social networking application or communication tool. But that doesn’t mean that you should be using Facebook as your communication tool. And it also doesn’t mean that you need a really cool social tool to enhance communication.

A successful implementation of MemberHub means your members are connected, know how to reach other members, and can take care of the business of being a member (like signing up for an event). There’s no concept of “friends”. It’s not about logging on creating unbelievable online community. Online community doesn’t just happen. Even if you have the best tool in the world, online community only happens will it’s fostered and cultivated by people.

It’s about taking care of the business of being a member so that you can leave time for REAL community when members do gather together; rather than worrying about logistics and planning.

So when you’re considering your communication software needs don’t worry so much about getting members to hang out in the tool all day. Just make sure that you’re using it. Make sure that members know how to reach their group. Make sure that they know where to get the latest information. Make sure that communication can take place. Do these things and you will enhance communication in your organization.

When we performed our last customer survey, a couple of trends were immediately spotted. The most common was the suggestion to allow users to send a message to just a select few people in their hubs. Discussions are great for creating dialog between all the members in a hub and you can easily send a one-to-one message to a member (or admin) of your hub. But there wasn’t an easy way to send a message to a few select people in your group. Well we heard ya loud and clear and we’ve made some simple, very intutive changes to allow you to do just that.

Anytime  you’re on the Members listing in your hub, you can click the little mail envelope icon beside the member’s name. This pops up a message dialog where you can provide a Subject and Message to send an email to that person. In the past the message could only be sent to that one person.

Now when you get the New Message popup, there is a To: field where you can add additional names. Simply start typing the name of any person in your hub and the dialog will attempt to auto-complete the name for you. Also notice that there is new checkbox at the bottom. Leave that checked and you will be emailed a copy of your message.

As an alternative to clicking the envelope icon beside a member’s name you can also click the blue New Message button found in the right-hand sidebar on the Members page in your hubs.

Enjoy and don’t hesitate to visit the Support Forum at http://help.memberhub.com if you have any feedback or suggestions.

The name may be a bit different, but the intent is still the same – to grow the Kingdom by embracing new media. M2LIVE.org (formerly Ministry 2.0) will host its next webinar on May 13, 2010 at 11 a.m. (EDT); featuring LifeChurch.tv’s online community pastor, Tony Steward. Tony will be discussing social media and answering the fundamental question … is it worth it?

If you joined us last month, where John Saddington of the 8bit Network was our featured guest, you know that the inaugural M2LIVE webinar was a big success. The FREE webinar series features insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists. While presenters will have opportunity to share their message, the format will allow you ample time to ask questions and engage the presenter.  To access the webinar, visithttp://www.m2live.org/live/ on May 13th at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). Each webinar will last about 45 minutes.

M2LIVE.org is a grassroots effort allowing believers of all backgrounds to come together to celebrate Christ, while sharing and learning from one another. A series of web-based and live hands-on workshops, M2LIVE is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using the latest in web and social media technology. Learn more at http://www.M2LIVE.org.

Last week, I attended the Exponential Conference. While I was there I had the opportunity to hear Ken Blanchard speak. In case you don’t know who Ken Blanchard is, he is “one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.” He’s written a ton of books including the very succusful and timeless The One Minute Manager. He’s the man.

Ken talked to the crowd about servant-style leadership. During his 10 minute power-packed exhortation he told the group of over 3,000 church planters to do this:

Set the vision and the direction; be sure to mention Jesus, and Jesus will do all the marketing.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this only applies to church planting. ;-). What would Jesus Market!? While this sounds easy enough, it’s a real challenge. It’s a struggle for leaders to step out of the way and NOT try to figure it all out. I can tell you as a “starter” (nod to the 37Signals guys) and aspiring leader it’s incredibly difficult to not attempt to do everything yourself.

What do you need to let Jesus market for you today?

The development team will be moving MemberHub.com over to Amazon’s Cloud (EC2) this Saturday, April 17th, between 3:00pm and 5:00pm ET.

With Amazon’s EC2 hosting you should notice performance improvements when accessing the site, viewing Your Dashboard, Your Calendar and accessing your hubs. To learn more you can read about the technical list of benefits on Amazon’s website.

Again, the move will take place this Saturday, April 17th, between 3:00pm and 5:00pm ET, although we do not anticipate being down for the full two hours. During this time you will not be able to log into MemberHub.com. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Last week we exhibited at NTEN’s annual technology conference in Atlanta. This was our first year attending the event and we didn’t know what to expect. As a vendor, our expectations were far exceeded. Here are 5 things that we took away from our time with the #nptech folks!

1. Then NTEN folks make things happen.

Holly Ross and her team know how to get things done. That organization offers so many resources and opportunities to get plugged in and learn about technology. If you’re a nonprofit and not paying attention to this organization, you’re really missing out. But what I’m really suggesting here is that the NTEN folks are people of action. In my experience, many nonprofit people are passionate but fail to be people of action. But not the NTEN folks. From their ever expanding website to a 3-day power-packed conference that’s sold out in its second and third year of life, they get things done and people excited! So kudos to her team (special thanks Sarah Janczak for all her hard work on the vendor side of things).

2. Technology is the still the bastard child of the nonprofit budget.

That may sound a bit harsh, but sometimes you have to make outrageous claims when you’re blogging, right? Many nonprofits still seem to lack a sufficient amount of passion for technology excellence. That’s why NTEN rox! We met with several folks that were frustrated with their technology and IT initiatives. But the NTEN community is fueling a new initiative towards technology in the nonprofit world. That’s why people love NTEN! Which brings me to my next point.

3. There is some serious passion brewing around technology in the nonprofit world.

With any industry, there are always the techie’s. The folks that make things work and the ones that are always suggesting new software tools. NTEN is bringing these people together and really generating the buzz and attention that technology deserves. The people that we interacted with at the conference are passionate, exciting people that see the REAL benefits in technology. The nonprofit world is going to be a better place because of these nptech’ers and their goal of making technology a first class citizen in the nonprofit sector.

4. NTEN’ers know how to have a good time!

Just following the twitter hashtag (#10ntc) alone is proof.

5. I’m relatively tall.

It’s always nice meeting people in real life that you connect with online. Isn’t it weird? There were two people that I was looking forward to meeting at the conference. Steve Heye and Peter Campbell (including the idealware team). Well we ended up right beside the idealware booth; which worked to our advantage because they were one of the busiest booths at the conference. I had always envisioned Steve and Peter, these nptech giants :), to be taller than me. I’m always the short guy, but not this time!

All in all, it was a great experience for the MemberHub team to be down there. Our primary market has been faith-based organizations (mainly churches) but after working with the likes of the YMCA of the Triangle, a few other local nonprofits and attending the NTEN Conference, we’re excited about continuing to serve the nonprofit community.

Already looking forward to #11ntc! Thanks again NTEN.

The name may be a bit different, but the intent is still the same – to grow the Kingdom by embracing new media. M2LIVE.org (formerly Ministry 2.0) will host its inaugural webcast on April 14, 2010 at 11 a.m. (EDT), featuring 8BIT founder and North Point Ministries’ creative web director, John Saddington. Saddington will be discussing church social media strategy development.

The first in a series of FREE webcasts, the M2LIVE webcast will feature insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists. While presenters will have opportunity to share their message, the format will allow you ample time to ask questions and engage the presenter.  To access the webcast, visit http://www.M2LIVE.org/live on April 14th at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). Each webcast will last about one hour.

M2LIVE.org is a grassroots effort allowing believers of all backgrounds to come together to celebrate Christ, while sharing and learning from one another. A series of web-based and live hands-on workshops, M2LIVE is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using the latest in web and social media technology. Learn more at http://www.M2LIVE.org.

I had a great conversation this morning with Tony Dye. Tony is a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. He spends a lot of his time consulting business and churches on technology and his passion for finding new tools is inspiring. It’s evident when you speak with him, visit his blog or do anything Church IT RoundTable related. This morning Tony mentioned that back in the day, everyone was so excited for “software” because it was going to make our lives so much easier. So, has it? That’s the question that Tony is still asking today.

Has software made our lives easier? Has the quality of life been improved with software or has it added complexity to our lives? Now I know that there are so many factors to consider here. Like age group, industry, and type just to name a few, but I’m asking a more rhetorical question. While software and devices such as the iPhone have revolutionized the way we live our lives, there still seem to be so many people that fight day-in and day-out with software. One of the funniest (albeit very crude) articles I’ve ever read was a post on The Onion which was a fictitious counterpoint argument between a bubbly staff receptionist and her computer. Let’s just say that the computer had some pretty ugly things to say about the receptionist.

But what’s the deal? Especially in the church world. Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of folks feel as if they are constantly battling their software and making their lives more difficult. What do you think?

[I don't know who to give credit to for that image. It's from the movie Office Space.]

In order to help administrators get started with their new subscription, we have re-organized the Help in the Management Console of your Organization. In addition to providing links to the most important tasks, we have created a video that will walk you through completing those tasks.

To see this new help, click on the Manage link beside your organization on Your Dashboard. On the Overview tab you’ll see the help links with a screenshot link to the video in the sidebar. If you currently see Recent Activity on the Overview tab just click the green Show Get Started Help at the top.

As always, if you have any questions, you can reach us through the Support Forum by clicking on the blue Feedback & Support box when logged into MemberHub.