Goodbye to Great Ideas, Hello to Something Else

Will saying goodbye to some older ASAE programs make room for growth? That seems to be the plan. 

ASAE’s outgoing CEO Susan Robertson announced several new initiatives and a farewell to two of its signature conferences Tuesday at a press conference held in conjunction with ASAE’s 2021 Annual Meeting & Exposition.

“One is the Great Ideas Conference, another is XDP. But what’s important here is that it really creates the space that we need to do new things and to really support the strategic plan. And it also gives us a little bit of flexibility to meet the needs of our members and to shift and change things as our environment changes,” Robertson said.

In response to a question from Association Chat, Robertson said ASAE will be doubling down on their online learning collections.

“We realize that for two reasons, one is accessibility and people not necessarily wanting to travel and be face to face with groups of people in order to learn.”

“You know, not everyone has a budget that they control,” Robertson said. “Not everyone has a budget at this point that they haven’t cut back. [The online learning collections] are the most economical and expedient ways that we can offer learning and experience to association professionals at all levels.”

The association will be hoping to entice members with new offerings, focusing on aspiring c-suite executives and a cohort program for new association CEOs. In addition, new initiatives integrating ASAE Foundation research and online learning will be delivered to members in 2022.

Things will look different.

“There’s another new and renewed purpose in the online course collection. We’re taking a deeper dive in really blowing the doors off of that program,” Robertson said.

 “We really try to affect the career path of association executives as they move through our community and our profession,” she said.


Watch for more articles coming from the ASAE 2021 Annual Meeting & Exposition.

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