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Meetings & Conventions Magazine Multimedia Editor Michael C. Lowe goes on site at ASAE's CSR activity during the association's annual meeting in St. Louis. This year, ASAE partnered with Stray Rescue, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates stray dogs. “Innovation” and “Competitive Advantage” – how often are these terms thrown around in any and every business setting? We expect it in San Jose. We expect it in Manhattan, but in St. Louis…really? At ASAE’s recent annual meeting, that’s exactly what we heard. Multiple educational and breakout sessions spoke to these topics, but the one that truly nailed it was the closing session by Peter Sheahan. Yep, it's another post about Joe Gerstandt's awesome How to Fly Your Freak Flag session as #ASAE11. One of the exercises consisted of Joe reading a variety of statements and asking us to stand up, purely voluntarily and only if we wanted to share that information about ourselves, when any statement that was true about us was read. Some of them were fairly obvious, about gender and race/ethnicity. Some were less obvious, like being raised in a rural community or by a single parent. 
Without a doubt, the best session I attended at #ASAE11 was Joe Gerstandt's How to Fly Your Freak Flag. [...] His basic point is that the pressure on humans to conform to whatever group we're in is enormous, but conformity makes us “radically incomplete.” Most of us who attended the ASAE Annual Meeting were awed. Almost everything was spectacular. There will always be criticisms of one kind or another, but overall, it was a great meeting (see, we're still talking about it!). Unfortunately, many attendees now want to emulate the ASAE event in their associations. That won't always work. As promised last week, here’s my recap of Northern Illinois University Association Resource Center’s session “Engage Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Members and Leaders” from ASAE 2011. 
The blogosphere’s reaction to last year’s ASAE conference was mixed. Many people, including myself, were hesitant about attending another unless changes were made to improve the learning experience. After hearing reports about this year’s conference, I’ve moved back into the positive camp. 
Exactly one week after ASAE’s annual meeting, the line that’s sticking with me came from the final keynote speaker, Peter Sheahan: “Nine times out of 10, it’s the unsexy stuff where innovation happens.” 
I was bummed to miss ASAE2011, but from what I saw on Twitter and Blogs, I really missed out. This past Monday, I facilitated a session at ASAE11 in St Louis called: Light Your Members on Fire: People 2.0. ... We explored finding an association’s niche in social media but more importantly, how to talk to that niche. We then dove into developing and nuturing relationships by getting to know more about our audience – what makes them tick. 
At the closing keynote a few days later, business consultant and author Peter Sheahan told his audience of association executives that members' expectations are "going toward narrative and way from facts." He said: "You're in the business of storytelling far more than you're in the business of fact-telling." 
The year-old ASAE Foundation raised more than $250K during the ASAE Annual Meeting in St. Louis last week, primarily through tickets to The Classic, its food and wine gala. The association of associations also brought in funds for another good cause: Stray Rescue of St. Louis. ASAE members worked on volunteer projects and raised $16,500 for the organization ... 
Here's an assortment of tips and thoughts that I picked up on Twitter during the ASAE 2011 Conference ... that I did not attend in person. |
It was great to be a part of the fun, the excitement and the energy in the association industry at the conference earlier this month. St. Louis put out the red carpet (really!) and the city buzzed with liveliness. ... At the conference I had the opportunity to talk with and meet with so many wonderful people. Here are a few thoughts I walked away from the time together in St. Louis ... Linda Chreno ... attended the recent (and very fun) ASAE Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO, where she spoke on web marketing for smaller associations. As we all did, she also attended a great session presented by Mark Anderson, Kristin Clark, Joan Eisenstodt and Jeffrey Cufaude. Here is her take on that important session... 
Attending ASAE Annual is a big deal for me. ASAE is my professional home and I have made many wonderful friends through ASAE, many friends whom I meet up with at Annual. Sure, sure...now that I work as a consultant for DelCor, there is some awareness of meeting potential clients at Annual, but let's be clear. I attended Annual before I "went to the dark side" and the meeting is always going to be more like a summer camp for association folks like me. As most of you already know, the ASAE Annual Meeting and Expo 2011 was held in St. Louis August 6-9. ASAE offered an abundance of industry related education sessions as well as the camaraderie of networking with about 5,400 association professionals. This event was a huge success for both St. Louis and the association community. Several SLSAE members shared of some ideas they took from the ASAE meeting. 
Last week we exhibited at the ASAE 2011 Annual Show in St. Louis, MO and had the opportunity to meet many great associations and partners, and listen to inspiring and motivating speakers like Tina Brown and Peter Sheehan. In his closing speech, Peter Sheehan touched upon a subject that is of great interest to me: the intersection of neuroscience, behaviors and business. 
At the end of a professional development event, you have a choice: Let the program spirit fizzle out, or follow through on all (or at least some) of the commitments you made, stretching the value of the program. I choose the latter! 
Good old fashioned Midwestern hospitality was on display throughout the recent ASAE Annual Meeting in St. Louis, as the city rolled out the red carpet for what was billed as the “Super Bowl of Conventions” in the local media. Attendance totaled 5,341. 
The core of the association model is still as powerful as it was 80 years ago. Associations who are experiencing exciting growth in their associations are making constant advancements in their association components as well as reengineering themselves... Do you assess your events after they’re over? ... Here are some thoughts from John S. Parke, facilitator of the “Business of Meetings: Meeting, Event and Tradeshow Assessments” session at ASAE’s Annual Meeting: 
Last week Maddie and I had our first public conversation about the Humanize book at the ASAE Annual Meeting in St. Louis. We did an unofficial session in their “flash learning lounge” with about 15 people during the last time slot at the conference. It was really fun, I must say, to be talking about it. 
In my mildly post-tour depressive state I find myself compelled to share my thoughts on ASAE11 if for no other reason than I think I need to in order to process everything and clear my head for real life and back to work. Like many, I travel a fair way to be with ASAE annual meeting every year and if I don’t get some of this out of my head now I will be in a foetal position mess on the flight home. The ASAE Annual Meeting and Exposition was held in St. Louis and was attended by nearly 5,000 association executives, affiliate members and vendors to the association community. As Circle Club members, AH has the opportunity each year to send several members of our team to continue their education. So, what better way for Marica to experience the association community then to have her attend as well? It was decided she would go and go she went, off to St. Louis, Missouri! |
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