Association launches groundbreaking social networking platform for members

I see press releases daily from associations announcing the launch of social networks for their members. This is a good thing. The recent announcement of a social networking platform for members by the Medical Group Managers Association (MGMA) caught my eye.

As reported in Healthcare IT News
MGMA launches social networking platform
Healthcare IT News
By Richard Pizzi, Contributing Editor 10/22/08


SAN DIEGO - The Medical Group Management Association announced the launch of a new social networking community for its members at the group's annual conference this week.

William F. Jessee, MD, president and CEO of the MGMA, said members consistently rank networking with other members as their primary reason for belonging to the organization. Given that interest, the MGMA has looked for ways to enhance and centralize networking technology, he said, and creating the new online community seemed a natural decision.

What struck me was Jessee's reference to member feedback stating the PRIMARY REASON for belonging to the association was networking with other members. My initial response was "Well, Duh!" But let's give them some credit for doing the research to validate this fundamental principle of the value of associations and acting on it. There are still a lot of associations that are locked in the old model of association as the controlling center of the universe. Better to be the eye of the hurricane formed by the coordinated force of the surrounding membership.