Several of the items on the list could directly or even indirectly impact non-profit associations:
#2 Airline Subscriptions – United has already started an annual subscription for checked luggage. It shall be interesting to see how many other airlines create similar type subscription plans in the future.
#5 Bacon Everywhere – association meeting planners, keep this in mind as you are planning those receptions!
#7 Buycotting – oh how many industries this could potentially affect.
#11 Electronic Library – I’m still waiting for the CAE study materials to be available. I would gladly start a boycott if someone could make this happen.
#12 Foursquare – I’ve not explored the Foursquare community yet so I’m not sure if this is possible. Does anyone know if it can be used to invite others to an association event? Could an association use Foursquare to help promote a meet-up at a certain venue?
#13 Greening the Palate – again meeting planners, this is something to keep your eye on.
#14 Hand-Me-Ups – as this begins happening more of our older members will become more technologically enabled.
#15 Handwriting – does this mean that handwritten thank-you cards will once again be in vogue?
#18 Lifestreaming – for those associations that haven’t gotten onboard with blogs or Twitter yet, you are soon going to be further behind the times.
#19 Local, Nonprofit Online Newspapers – if legislation is passed allowing newspapers to gain nonprofit status will some associations have more competition?
#21 Mobile Money – it is hard to imagine that we will soon be able to send money via our cell phones but it looks like this could become a reality. So, how does an association get prepared to receive this type of payment?
#22 Mobile Ticketing – like Mobile Money, how does an association prepare for this new technology?
#23 More Virtual Currencies – again with the technology changes…
#25 Organic Fast Food – those who are health conscious will be able to eat a little healthier while traveling. I wonder how soon before these restaurants start appearing in airports?
#26 Paying for Online Content – this could definitely benefit associations as there would be less competition with companies that are giving valuable information for free.
#34 Slow Communications – while this may definitely have some benefits I’m not sure how well it will go over.
#36 Trip Bundling – will marketing for the annual meeting take on a different look as trip bundling becomes more popular?
#38 TV/Web Integration – I’m not really sure if this will have an impact on associations but what if you run across some interesting tweets of what your association president is watching on TV???
“…the remote control IBM is developing that automatically blogs or Tweets what the user is watching.”
Finally, what are your thoughts on these trends? How many do you think will start to have an impact on associations in 2010?
