AssociationOkie

I spent Friday through Tuesday of last week in Los Angeles attending the ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo. This is an event that I look forward to all year. It is my chance to immerse myself in my profession.

So in review how did it go?

In my opinion, it was a mixed bag. This years General Session Speakers were average at best. We started with Bill George, who focused on how bad things were in the association world today. While I appreciated his relaxed delivery, his message did not focus me for the days ahead.

The second General Session Speaker was Joy Behar (Best known for The View). She tried to be funny while ASAE tried to sell the new Brands (like them) and the Foundation (like it, but need more information than “Give”). In my opinion, two announcements that should have taken two to five minutes each, took wait to long. They lost a lot of their audience as the second day General Session drug along.

The Third Speaker was much better than the first two (although Behar was conducting a semi-scripted interview). Marshall Goldsmith talked about “Mojo: How to Get it, How to Keep it, How to Get it Back if You Lose it” I enjoyed this talk, and felt I gained some tips I can use from it.

The workshops and Thought Leader Sessions were hit and miss. Which is normal. You learn over the years who to go listen to. Jamie Notter, Maddie Grant, Jeff DeCagna, Don Dea, Lindy Dryer and Ben Martin are consistently good presenters, with information that I can use. That isn’t to say other presenters didn’t do a good job, but this group always delivers.

The parties, as always were unbelievable. Melissa Ethridge was phenomenal, and Cyndi Lauper has got a great voice for the Blues. The food at the parties was the weakest I have seen, but the music was great. I also went to the Austin CVB party, and the Austin folks are great. It was a blast.

For me, getting to meet great folks, who I felt like I knew from online activities, like Kiki Delcor,Deirdre Reid, and Cynthia D’Amour, as well as hanging out with social media gurus like Ben Martin, Jamie Notter, and Maddie Grant made the trip worth while.

Additionally, the twitter feed was great for following what was happening in other sessions, as well as keeping track of where the party was each night. #asae10

The ASAE staff were unfailingly attentive, and polite. I think all of us who work in the association world recognize the challenge they face. Putting together an event like this has got to be tough.

All that being said, I can’t imagine not attending. I skipped out on Toronto last year, and it drove me crazy trying to follow it from afar. I already have these on my calender:
St. Louis – August 6-9, 2011, Dallas – August 11-14, 2012 , Atlanta – August 3-6, 2013, Nashville – August 9-12, 2014 , Detroit – August 8-11 2015, Salt Lake – August 13-16, 2016, Toronto – August 12-15, 2017

So “Meet Me In St. Louie, Louie, meet me at the fair!”

This entry was posted on September 1, 2010 at 2:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.