We make association leaders think.
Cynthia D'Amour is the founder of the Chapter Leaders Playground and a leadership strategist with People Power Unlimited. She's the author of several books including How to Turn Generation Me into Active Members of Your Association and Go Team Go! Leading Today's Volunteers to Victory. Cynthia is a frequent speaker for ASAE and at leadership conferences.
Seriously.
I was having a quiet dinner.
Yummy Mexican.
Wonderful salsa.
A meringue in my mouth.
Then the drones arrived.
Two twin boys.
Maybe four years old.
Gleefully began their reign of terror.
Their mother was clueless.
Focused on ordering food.
She let the boys run loose.
And they did – screaming all the way!
Jumping from booth to booth…
Competing as only brothers can.
To suck the salt [...]
Beats me.
I’m at a seminar this weekend.
Focused on framing sponsorships in new ways.
I’m excited about the content.
And look forward to trying it out.
The audience is interesting…
Lots of passionate people.
With big ideas.
Looking to make a difference.
And then there’s the book lady…
At first glance, she’s nice looking.
Until you notice she has her book covers hanging on [...]
Literally.
Yesterday I had to walk through a revolving door to get into the airport.
It was a big revolving door.
Only two sections.
Each could hold several people at one time.
I rolled into my section.
As a team we moved forward.
All focused on making our flights.
And the door stopped.
We shuffled our feet.
There was an UGH or two.
And then [...]
Leave me alone.
Yesterday I flew home from Tampa.
Got settled in the plane.
Man next to me started the social chat.
I shared I do leadership development.
He started to talk about himself…
His job.
A woman he knows who does what I do.
And about Oscar night.
He launched into a description of his favorite movie.
I gave all the clues that [...]
March 8th, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
I won!
Last night I was comfy in my chair.
Good book in hand.
Adoring dog snoring near by.
All was well.
Until I heard the scuffling noise…
Scratch, scratch, shuffle, scratch.
Some critter was invading my house.
No way was he going to stay.
I knew exactly what to do.
I ran for the kitchen.
Grabbed the oil of peppermint.
And doused a few pieces [...]
UGH.
My computer is playing tricks on me.
It’s connected to a big screen.
And has decided to amplify everything.
I mean everything.
Working on my computer is a challenge.
All the fonts are 24 point – or more.
Normal screens shots don’t work.
I only see a tiny piece of the big picture.
As a big picture person, this is driving me [...]
March 3rd, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
Do you trust me?
My answer?
No.
I like you lots.
And it’s still no.
Got a promotion today for a conference.
The focus is something I might be interested in.
The registration fee about $1,000.
Probably $2,000 with travel.
I go to the site for details and find only program titles.
Some are sort of snappy, but…
No speakers identified.
No learning objectives.
How am I [...]
February 26th, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
Inbox treasures.
The second and third email bugged me.
Same basic content.
Same call to action.
Same lack of interest from me.
Here’s the third email “John” sent me.
I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion, but I wanted to confirm you’d received my previous message. My company, XYZ, helps other companies turn paper documents into digital data to lower costs [...]
It’s all about me.
Yesterday we grabbed lunch with a friend.
Decided to try a new restaurant.
Just opened.
No reviews yet.
The place was pretty empty.
We were greeted by the manager.
He offered a booth up front.
Told him we wanted a table.
He took us to the table in front of the kitchen window.
It wasn’t one of those fun, watch-the-kitchen [...]
February 22nd, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
At Disneyland.
I spent this week speaking at Disneyland.
Came in a day early.
As a snow precaution.
And to check out the park – my first time.
Disneyland is a pretty neat place.
A wealth of history.
Fascinating service.
And fun rides.
Also a ton of lines.
Long lines.
That may take more than an hour.
For an ride that may take less than five [...]
Is alive and well.
Yesterday I flew from Detroit to LA.
Five hours cooped up.
With two big talkers in front of me.
They talked nonstop.
Usually I can ignore those folks.
However forgot my ear plugs.
So was forced to listen.
And listen and listen.
I learned many things…
Their boss is an idiot.
John is stealing from the company.
Their call center needs to [...]
We did it our way.
Commercial pressure says Valentine’s Day needs to be special.
Roses.
Jewelry.
Good wine and more.
James and I are not big into doing what we are supposed to do.
Instead we planned dinner and a movie.
Then shifted to lunch and a movie.
Then ran out of time.
Buzzed by Taco Bell for a quick bite before the [...]
February 14th, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
What do you think?
I’m still not sure how to be…
Ticked off?
Laughing my head off?
Sick to my stomach?
On Tuesday afternoon, I got the munchies.
We have a “Cynthia space” in our cupboard.
I keep healthy snacks there.
That won’t give me a sugar crash.
I noticed some new cookies.
James had gone shopping while I was gone.
They looked good.
And were in [...]
1 + 1 = 3?
It’s been a snowy kind of week.
DC is getting blasted with a second major storm.
Government has shut down again.
Folks still digging out from round one.
Ann Arbor got about 8 inches of snow last night.
Schools all closed.
By 7:30 AM the snow plows were on our streets.
We just have the driveway to [...]
Who knew?
I spent an extra night in Westchester, NY thanks to the blizzard.
In a nice area.
Next to big shopping.
An okay place to be stuck.
Surrounded by chain restaurants.
Morton’s
Outback
Cheesecake Factory and more!
I could have been in any major city.
Fine.
But not as fun.
As finding the local flavor.
I asked the bellhop for help.
At first he tried to send [...]
February 8th, 2010 | Cynthia D'Amour | Comments | Continued
hi i read... and email lists is the single biggest mistake in membership recruitment. In any given outreach Video quality is good, I feel this much better to read, and we all can view your expressions. ... Any ...
Posterous rocks! :-) 
thaaaaanks http://forum.r1o1.com/ Thanks, Elizabeth! Glad you're getting something out of the series.