IABC launches new network for members

Unlike the splashy social networks launched last year, IABC’s new eXchange tool will initially be used mostly for association management

On Monday evening, IABC sent an e-mail to members announcing its long-awaited social networking site.

Well, actually, it’s not a social networking site—it’s more like a social-networking-ish expansion of the iabc.com standby features, the MemberSpeak forum and member profiles. And actually, it’s not even a launch, but rather an all-member beta test.

The reaction to the new eXchange network will largely depend on whether IABC members judge it by what it is—or, instead, by what it is not.

After MyRagan.com and Melcrum’s Communicators Network launched late last spring there was gnashing of teeth among some IABC members, who accused the association of having missed the boat and letting these for-profit publishers gain first-mover advantage in the social networking space.