I have a client who sends an every other week email newsletter, nicely formatted and designed, simply called “Staff News.” And surprise, surprise, it’s news about what’s going on with the staff at the association.

The format of the newsletter includes events, reminders, announcements, “out and about,” and birthdays. The entire newsletter takes about two minutes to read (I’m on the distribution list) but is chock-full of information, information that would likely be otherwise lost in the day-to-day shuffle.

As an “outsider” I love this newsletter, because it keeps me up-to-date on what’s going on inside my client’s office. But if I were a staff person, I would love this newsletter, too, because it’s so informative and easy to read.

We all know that communication is one of the leading challenges in any organization. What are you doing to address that challenge? This simple newsletter is one nice approach.

Admittedly, I’m not much of a social media maven. I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and maybe a couple of others, but I don’t actively “work” these sites. I know some think this is the wave of the future, but I’m not seeing much business return at this point.

Having said that, I was a bit surprised by what I saw today. I ordered some shoes at zappos.com, and at the end of the order process, the screen actually asked me if I wanted to write a note on Facebook about my purchase. It even gave me suggestions about what to write (e.g., “I just bought these awesome shoes at Zappos.”).

Now, I’m impressed that Zappos has built this step into their sales process. It probably costs them next to nothing, and it’s good viral marketing. But I gotta tell you, my first response was, “Who the hell cares about the shoes I just bought?”

Then again, my reaction may explain exactly why I don’t spend much time on Facebook.

And for the record, I’m a big Zappos fan.

I’ve posted a new article on my website, entitled “Establishing a Contact Tracking Policy.”

Of course, if you’re already on my announcements list, you would have received notice of this new article right in your email box.

Not signed up yet? Sign up here.

I’ve posted a new article on my website, entitled “Business Intelligence: What it Means for Membership and Marketing.”

Of course, if you’re already on my announcements list, you would have received notice of this new article right in your email box. Not signed up yet? Sign up here.

I'll be taking a rest from blogging during the week of July 4th. My typically brilliant posts on data management will resume on Monday, July 9th.

For those of you in the US, have a happy Fourth of July! (I suppose those of you outside of the US can have a happy Fourth of July, too, but with fewer fireworks. )