Association Executive Book Shelf

Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad by Brett Martin
(© 2013 The Penguin Press)

Review by Raphael Badagliacca

What can a book about how the new wave of television series in recent years has revolutionized the medium possibly have to say to the leaders of associations?

Among the many insights Brett Martin gives us about the inner workings of what he calls a revolution, is the simple observation that Hill Street Blues was the first weekly television show to reference an event that happened in a previous episode a few weeks before. By the time we get to series like Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Mad Men casual references in Season 5 are made to events that took place in Season 2 and the audience makes the connection.

The economic justification for plots with this kind of self-referential complexity was that purchases of DVD sets and reruns outstripped the income generated by first runs of these shows. Plots needed enough richness to drive fans to want to own the discs and watch the episodes more than once. Rich content also created communities. 

Associations and other non-profit organizations are already built around a single focus. The more compelling the content on their most accessible medium -- their websites -- the greater chance of creating active communities of return visitors, like those who can't get enough of their favorite television series.

Notably what I've been calling television series are watched today, of course, by large swatches of audience minus the television. So make your content rich, compelling, and accessible on every kind of device, especially for the younger audiences you seek.

Pitch, Tweet, or engage on the Street by Kara Alaimo

(© 2017, Taylor & Francis)

Review by Raphael Badagliacca

This is a learned, encyclopedic, practical guide to managing communications in the modern world. It subtitle is: “How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication.” Its author, Kara Alaimo, held a position as a communicator at the United Nations during the Obama administration. She is currently an Assistant Professor and Chair in the Journalism Department at Hofstra University.

This scope of this book is too large and detailed to be covered in one book review. Primarily, it provides deep insights as to how, when and in what format to best communicate your message in different parts of the world under changing circumstances.

For the space allowed here and the purposes of this column, I choose to put the focus on one chapter, entitled “Global Media and Social Networks.” Here’s a representative sentence: “Don’t just post content: ask your followers questions and respond to their content.”

To make the focus even narrower, it would be wise for leaders of associations interested in increasing engagement through their websites to note these statistics that Alaimo quotes on the subject of video.

She quotes studies that report posting videos increases engagement by 100%, and that after watching videos, consumers are 85% more likely to make a purchase.

This book is a valuable resource for any organization with a message to communicate, especially those who would benefit from effective, global reach.

Raphael Badagliacca is a Business Development Executive at ASI (Advanced Solutions International).