Signature January/February 2015 - 21

A SEASIDE VIEW ON THE INTERNET OF THINGS
Gary Rubin, a former chief publishing executive with the Society for Human
Resource Management and Association Media & Publishing board president,
was always my go-to guy for anything publishing-related that required intuitive
reasoning. Now retired and sailing the world with his wife, I managed to catch
up with him off the coast of St. Martin. We got disconnected a couple of times,
but here's what he had to say about the Internet of Things.
Signature: How will a world of uber-connectivity impact associations?
Rubin: With so much information generated by other sources now, some associations have become content consumers and are no longer content creators. To
break through and get people's attention, the key used to be to produce more
relevant stuff. Maybe now, to be relevant, associations should produce less stuff.
In my experience, most stuff that associations think is breathlessly important
really isn't - association publishers live it 24 hours a day, and they've got a
magazine to fill. If everything is important, then nothing becomes important. So
the really important stuff gets lost in the member's waterfall of content.
Signature: How can association content break through now?

Bob Silverstein, principal of Ad Sales
Experts, and a 30-year veteran of the
association publishing industry. "They
are in the content delivery business.
Actually, they have been for sometime.
The Internet of Things is just organizing what's already there."
Silverstein points out that the current,
soon-to-be-old association model of
information delivery is to put content
distribution on a schedule: Publish a
magazine once a month, produce an
e-newsletter once a week, post to the
blog every few days, and perhaps deliver
material with a longer shelf life at faceto-face events once or twice a year. "But
the Internet of Things has created the
tools our audiences need to receive information all of the time, and it will no
longer be provided on our schedules - it
must be available for use on our readers'
schedules," he says.
"I have always viewed the Internet as
a monster that must constantly be fed,
and what it eats is content - content
that is fresh, relevant, and engaging is
what keeps the audiences' loyalty and
assures that they come back to us for
more," he continues. "The interconnectivity between people and the smart tools
we now own means associations must

Rubin: It's all about tempo. In school, we used to have two bells: the first one was
a long staccato between periods. The other one was the alarm bell. It didn't ring
often, but when it did, it got our attention, and we knew we had to do something.
Associations are confused about the two bells. Their members have gotten
numb. They need to hone their concept of what's news, what's important, and
how to cover it and deliver it. You can't ring the fire bell all the time.
Signature: Will the increase in connectivity - which also means the information
flow from competitive sources will be even greater - put the association publishing
model in trouble?
Rubin: The association model is already in trouble. Associations are about community and context. Associations should not primarily be providers of content.
You need a lot of resources to produce good content, but there's so much content
out there that is free or cheap. The tools are ubiquitous. People no longer join an
association for the magazine or newsletter because information is too easy to get.
One good thing we have going for us is that these content marketers are really
focused on selling goods, whereas associations are focused on serving members.
Signature: How can associations compete?
Rubin: The magic is in understanding how to take the tools - magazines, apps,
e-newsletters, social media, video - and blend them together in ways that parlay
the success of the association.
I would ask: What's the key thing affecting our industry? What are your biggest
value opportunities? Ideally, you want to be identifying these things a year out
so you have time to prepare. And then you help your members by taking them
through this journey of content. It's got to be multi-platform, and the content has
to fit together and not duplicate each other.
Signature: So what would be your strategy as an association publisher on the eve of
the Internet of Things?
Rubin: Associations need to build teams within their organizations and start working
on what the Internet of Things means to them and their members. They need to
be preparing for it now. My philosophy has always been: Panic early and avoid the
rush. Don't wait until the squall is on top of you before acting. - C. Kalogeridis

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 16

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signature January/February 2015