Young Association Professionals (YAP) yapstar.org

I would let them use the logo, provided they clarify somewhere on the page that they aren't associated with the ASHA yet.  As long as the page remains positive in your direction, you really have nothing to lose from it - and may even get some exposure while you're at it!

I think the key here is that they need to state that they are not representatives of ASHA, but that ASHA is the professional organization associated with their degree program.  The members of the group may not even know that they're doing anything wrong - if you bring it to their attention in a professional yet courteous way, the problem may resolve itself.

I agree.  Embrace it.  Contact the folks who set it up and ask them how you can help them.  Say you noticed that they were using your logo and linking to you and you were wondering why.  What is it that ASHA offers that would be the reason they would link and what can you do to help them?

Since the members of this group will eventually become members of your organization, I'd also join the group if it's open membership.  Do identify yourself as ASHA staff, but otherwise be a lurker who maybe pipes in to make sure correct information is being posted about ASHA and its programs.  Don't get into discussions regarding opinions of the organization, though (other than to maybe say you'll pass on concrete suggestions for improvement).

Also, you might suggest that, rather than using the front page of ASHA for the group's website, they use the student's portion of your website instead (or whatever page would be appropriate for someone wanting to become an SLP).

You might also see if there is some alternative artwork you could provide for the logo.

Hey Maggie,

I would create a slightly different version of your logo with something like "Proud Supporter of" in front of it.  That's what we've done at RIMS and then we ask all our "partners" to use it with a link to our site.  This way it indicates they are not "RIMS" but are a supporter of RIMS which more accurately reflects what they are trying to do.

I like what Matt says about "enbracing" this as an opportunity for exposure but I would argue that there are risks involved??? Keep in mind that you have a duty to defend your trademark and not doing so, can come back and haunt you - i'm not an attorney though, so not too sure on this area.

In the mean time, make sure you create a group on facebook and all the other major platforms to ensure nobody else gets your name/acronym.  Remember, you can always create a group and hide it (make it invite only etc).

Great discussion, and lots of good advice. Here's an anecdote of the wrong way to do it. (Names and companies have been changed to protect the guilty.)

ABC company notices an unofficial Facebook group using their logo. They're about to start their own Facebook page, so one part of the company contacts the Facebook group owner about working together. The Facebook group owner is so pleased, they offer to simply turn the Facebook group (and 1000 members) over to the company.

In the meantime, a different part of the company sends an e-mail to the page owner. "Please cease and desist use of our logo or we will take legal action."

Poof. The Facebook group owner deletes the page and loses the 1000 members. It's like a Scrabble/Scrabulous nightmare. Then they start a new page "ABC Company Sux"

I really like Andy's suggestion of sending them a "Proud Supporters of" logo. Couple that with offers to help them, free content they can use and more. Then join and listen and you've built yourself an asset without lifting a finger.

Hey Maggie,

I think i'm going to use this at the ASAE "Secret Session" at the conference - hopefully you'll be around.  I'm really on the fence with it and would love to discuss with others to get their perspective.  I'll post this situation to the panelists and see what they say.

Thanks for reaching out.

Cheers,

Andy

Hey--thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of "proud supporter of" or something like that.

FB terms of use says "You may not post, transmit, or share User Content on the Site or Service that you did not create or that you do not have permission to post. "--which I guess applies directly to this.

The problem is, of course, compounded by the fact that, officially, we don't yet have a social media strategy and aren't doing anything in that arena....officially, that is ;) In the meantime, we've started a Twitterfeed, which already has 35 followers and more coming each day; a LinkedIn group; a Facebook page for one of our campaigns (Listen to Your Buds--check it out--it's really cute!), etc. etc.

Association social media use definitely seems to be a case for "act now and apologize later"...everyone is skeptical until they see the results and suddenly they're all for it.

Hey--thanks Andy. Unfortunately I won't be there but I'll be following on twitter and reading the blog.

Lots of good ideas expressed so far.  The only thing I would add is that you think about offering comp student membership to the FB group or at least its leadership to actually bring them into ASHA.

I like Andy's idea around the logo, but I would take it one step further.  If I were on staff at ASHA, I'd offer to sponsor a contest for the group to design a logo for themselves.  No artistic ability required...just something rough that conveys the general direction.  Then the group could vote on it and ASHA could have it designed.  Perhaps offer everyone who enters the contest a free membership or some other benefit and a prize to the winner. 

This is a huge opportunity for continued engagement, so it's really important to keep the conversation positive across the board.  The more you focus on how you can help them succeed, the more likely you are to achieve the outcome you most want.  Encourage those who want to reflexively push the group to "cease and desist" to remember that these people can be your ambassadors and evangelists if you do this right, or they can be your worst nightmare if you mishandle it.  Your choices will influence that outcome.

Thanks so much for all the great feedback. I'm meeting with the director of our affiliate student association this morning so will also get her input. @Elizabeth and @Lindy--I was thinking the same thing about possibly offering the members of the FB group the opportunity to join our student association at a reduced rate, or abandon their page in favor of joining the active student association FB page.

I haven't checked yet--will be doing it this am--whether or not any/all of these students on the unofficial page are already members. I would imagine that at least some, if not the majority, are, so in the end this might end up being the vehicle for gaining a big clump of new participants in the student association's social media efforts, if not even a bunch of new members.

I'll be sure to report back on the final outcome--whether this turned out to be a great thing or a bad thing or just not even a thing ;)

Wow--I just realized there are 1,889 members of that rogue FB group! So much for looking them all up in the database....

Maggie, you've just received a valuable lesson in the power of social technologies.  Nearly 2,000 members of a Facebook group that you only just discovered...imagine that. 

I realize that you're kind of mildly kidding, but I would advise you to be careful in using terms such as "rogue" even in jest.  Language matters and when words with negative connotations are attached to perfectly legitimate and even desirable forms of self-organization, it reinforces inaccurate assumptions and undermines the opportunity for genuine collaboration.

Jeff--you're totally preaching to the choir--I have no doubt that social technologies are extremely powerful and will only become more so as time goes on. This is a perfect example: ASHA exists to support SLPs (and audiologists). Today's students are tomorrow's members. While the member demographic may now be such that the need for a social media strategy is debatable, there is no question that in a few years when that demographic changes and these 2,000+ students are ASHA members, it will be extremely important to have a well-established social media strategy in place.

If you really think about it it's kind of scary--social media could, in theory, eventually come to replace a lot of the benefits associations offer. Maybe that's kind of a drastic scenario, but maybe not. Say your members now belong to your association to stay on top of new developments in their respective fields, to collaborate with colleagues and exchange information, and to network for professional opportunities. They can already do that through social networking and it's only going to become easier and more universally accepted as time goes on. Say chapters are a source of income for your association; what happens when those people decide they don't want to pay dues because they can set up the same community on Facebook and arrange meetings, etc? Ditto needing to belong for the job boards--they have LinkedIn and their own social networks. Breaking news in the field? They'll be tweeting about it and keeping each other informed. Not to go crazy or anything--and maybe I'm just a pessimist and a cynic--but this is the kind of stuff I think about. (should I be embarrassed to admit that? Maybe I need to get a hobby? ;) )

And lol about rogue--I was quoting someone else.

Awesome discussion! I feel a blog post coming on...

Only point I'd like to add, I agree @andy that there are risks involved with not defending the trademark. But I'm wondering if it's getting to be time that we took more risks as organizations. I know, it's easy for me to say. It's not MY trademark. So I put it out more as a question than an answer. What if our current notion of what is "risky" is out of alignment with the world? It's like a discussion I was in a while back about the "risks" of investing a lot in training your staff. Nervous managers would say "what if we spend all this money training our people and then they leave!?" and my favorite response is "what if you DON'T train them and they stay?"

I feel like the very idea that these groups are "rogue" or even, Maggie, your eloquent scenario where social media "replaces" what the association offers--these reflect a strongly "control" based mindset that I think is becoming less and less effective.

@ Jamie - OK, that is frappin' brillant - "what if you DON'T train them and they stay?"

The tech world has managed to figure this out very adequately in an industry in which expensive training is a requirement and turnover is high - you vest your training just like your 401K.  Leave in 6 months?  You owe us back 1/2 the cost of your training.

So what's my point?  Maybe it's time to pick our heads up and look outside the association world to steal creative ideas from what other industries are doing.

As an outside observer (former journalist, now conference speaker) I've long thought this would happen and more as you probably did too.  Feeling cheeky one day, I wrote a quick post about it, "How an Online Social Network Could Steal Association Members"
http://sayitbetter.typepad.com/say_it_better/2007/10/how-an-online-s.html

Also check out MeCo and MiForum - two well-moderated groups of meeting planners and others in the meeting industry (like me) - Kare, MovingFromMeToWe