ASAE received a letter from a member of the millennial generation, Brynn Grumstrup Slate, in response to an article they published about millennials. An excerpt:
As an engaged ASAE member and a member of the Millennial generation, I appreciated the column “Preparing for the Millennial Tsunami” in the May issue of Associations Now. The article would have been even more effective, however, if it had integrated the voice of a Millennial in addition to the experienced views of Bruce Butterfield and Susan Fox and shared a first person perspective on the work habits and career goals of this emerging group.
I’m right there with you, Brynn. The same thing always made me uncomfortable as a Gen X’er myself. There are still speakers and authors talking about how to work with Gen X even though some of us are now over 40 years old. They should start having sessions on “How to work FOR Gen X” soon. 🙂
My suggestion for Brynn and other Millenials (and any other generation for that matter) who feel cut out: start your own blog or other web site and express yourself. Formal publications are easily routed around these days.
Ben Martin had nothing to do with this post but I’m linking to him anyway.
C. David Gammel, CAE 
That’s because we’re down like that, D-Gamm.
For those who haven’t done so already, I’d recommend offering to write for those formal publications, too! If you’ve got a topic you’re passionate about, I bet you can get an editor excited about it as well.
If you’re not a writer, you can look for other ways to get involved with them. For instance, Associations Now has a “writer’s resource pool” that any member can join; even if you’re not personally interested in writing, you can offer feedback and ideas related to upcoming articles, or volunteer to be interviewed about a particular topic. We had a similar (although smaller) group that supported the magazine at my last association as well. It’s a big help to the editors of the publication, since it gives them a variety of member perspectives, and it gives you the opportunity to be involved in the development of the publication.
(Oh, and thanks for linking to the post on Acronym! I appreciate you adding to this discussion.)
You are welcome. Kudos to you for publishing the letter and listening!
Blogs are fun and clearly powerful, but there’s a reason those formal publications are formal. Well, ok, 2 reasons. First, they are reviewed and edited, so we know they have a certain level of respect and authority (I’m a child of the ’60’s so don’t get the idea I’m actually promoting authority!) Second, and more relevant here especially as it relates to association business, they tend to be more widely read. ASAE’s acronym blog has averaged only 12 original posts per month since February, and the most comments any post has received is 7. Matt Drudge and Paris Hilton may get lots of hits, but I’m guessing a lot more people would have read and thought about Brynn Slate’s letter if it were published in Associations Now rather than relegated to the blog. Sorry to sound negative. I do love the blogs, but we need to make sure we’re getting enough readership to make them a source of power (to the people!)
There is no reason ASAE can’t still publish the letter in the magazine. I believe Lisa posted it to the blog to get it out there much sooner than it could appear in print.
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