That's what one association was told by the hotel with whom it had a signed contract. It had been pushed aside for a more profitable customer.

Other organizations related similar instances in a discussion at the Executive Management Section on ASAE Collaborate. One of the aggrieved, in fact, suggested posting a "Wall of Shame" for associations to share horror stories about hotel mistreatment.

According to these association professionals, hotels are becoming more aggressive at requesting modifications (sometimes because they double-booked sleeping rooms) or simply making unilateral alterations to agreed upon arrangements. Associations are then forced to make last-minute changes and often have to absorb significant financial losses.

One colleague advised insisting on contract provisions that financially penalize hotels for such changes and to never accept verbal assurances that these types of situations will not occur. Meeting planners were also told to strongly resist when hotels want to change plans or dump the group.

Another strategy is to book events in venues where your association will be the biggest customer. Let the hotels try to cancel somebody else's meeting.

A colleague used to say that at Board meetings. Everybody thought she was a naysayer.

But she was actually asking a strategic question. She wanted to know who they thought cared about the issues being discussed. If nobody cared, she wanted to know, why were they promoting those programs and ideas?

Kivi Miller's post, "So What and Who Cares? " is a good reminder to ask those questions before taking action, because audience concerns often differ from those of association decision-makers.

Members and customers want services and products that meet THEIR needs. Media reporters want newsworthy stories (not necessarily those the associations think are newsworthy). Elected officials want to win re-election. Foundations want to fulfill their strategic objectives. Businesses want to grow their bottom lines.

If audiences don't receive what THEY want from associations, there's really no reason for them to care about the associations.

If members of your association committed fraud and engaged in illegal business practices, what would you do?

A. Tell them to stop.
B. Report them to law enforcement authorities.
C. Say nothing. You want to keep your job.
D. Help them, since it's your job to help your members become more successful.

Many organizations call it customer service. Others offer customer support. Some provide customer assistance. Or customer advocacy.

Delivering quality service to customers (and members) is what's most important. The title affixed to that process doesn't really matter.

Too often, people look for templates. They want to fill in the blanks on a worksheet to find the answers. Or, they want to install a software program that will magically reveal all the answers. Then, they believe, their problem(s) will be solved.

But things don't work that way.

There is usually more than one potential solution for every problem. And the same solution may not work every time - even in the same type of situation.

People need to employ good judgment to select the best solution for each problem.

That requires an understanding of the problem and possible solutions, a follow-up strategy taking into account the success or failure of the solution, and a plan to deal with the impact - positive or negative - on the affected audiences.

That's why we have discussions and debates about issues in our profession. That's why we constantly want to learn more about everything - and be able to question what we're learning. That's why we pay attention to the activities of our colleagues and borrow what we think will work for us (and pass on what we don't think will work).

So, instead of flipping to the back of the book to find the answers (they aren't there), spend time developing good judgment so you'll be better prepared to solve the many association problems you'll need to tackle. And don't expect success every time.

But it's a darn good tool to have in your arsenal.

Terrance Barkan, on ASAE Collaborate, and on various LinkedIn groups, wonders why association professionals are going to such great lengths to determine the effectiveness of social media before using it.

Perhaps that's because it has been hyped so much that decision-makers are hesitant to dump their other marketing vehicles and gamble on what they've been led to believe will be huge returns from social media.

Well, they shouldn't dump anything. Social media adds to the marketing mix, it doesn't replace everything in it. It provides opportunities for interaction that did not exist in the past.

For example, gobs of your members and prospects may be at a party in a place called Facebook (or another site). They've chosen to be there (you didn't tell them to be there) and they value the connections they are making there.

If you attend the party, too, you can talk with them, recruit them, and communicate in ways you think may be useful. Being there makes you more credible. You don't have to embrace the concept of the party site. You have to exploit it.

It's like mingling at a cocktail party or campaigning for votes at a crowded bus stop. You are fishing where the fishes are. And, very often, they are on social media sites.

So, add social media to your marketing strategy and get help from experts so you don't have to learn everything yourself.

Fit it into a plan that may already include direct mail, e-blasts, blogging, and other promotional activities. Keep your web site up-to-date and connect with your audiences where they are and in the way(s) they want to connect.

Take advantage of all the tools at your disposal, but don't rely on just one.

"The days of 'feel good' grants are over," says Michael Clevenger, of LaRabida Children's Hospital, in Chicago. "You have to demonstrate a need and results, not just say, 'We do good work.'"

Corporations and foundations have always felt that way but were usually loathe to admit it. Not anymore.

Funders are looking for creative, effective ways to maximize the impact of charitable dollars. Matching grants, challenge grants, employee volunteerism (instead of contributions for personnel), hiring of social service clients, and promises not to ask for money a second time, are often found to increase fund-raising. Some may lead to greater organizational self-sufficiency, too.

So put away the tin cup and start promoting your accomplishments, not your wishes.

Here are some suggestions for reducing email "unsubscribe" rates.

Thanks to Association Media & Publishing for pointing to it.

In the heady days of direct mail, my association printed "return mail requested" on special events brochures, enabling us to update addresses of prospects (members usually told us when they moved - prospects rarely did). We wanted to keep our lists clean.

So we'd mail items at bulk rate, pay the full postage to have undeliverable pieces returned, pay somebody to correct the addresses in the database, then mail the brochures to the correct addressees at full cost. After awhile, we decided it wasn't worth it.

It was cheaper to just keep mailing to people even if we knew they had moved. Half of the undeliverable mail had no forwarding addresses and we thought the new people who received the mail might also be likely prospects for our events.

With the advent of e-marketing, the cost of mailing to defunct addresses was minimal. It wasn't worth checking all the bounces and spam blockers to update email addresses. So we didn't bother.

Would it have been worth it to keep the list clean?

Don't do something like this.