ASAE Concludes First-Ever Hybrid 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting
WASHINGTON— ASAE wrapped up an ambitious, first-ever hybrid 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting this week with nearly 3,200 association professionals, consultants and industry partners exercising personal choice in how they accessed the content and solutions they need to keep their organizations relevant and positioned for success in a changing business environment.
Registrants for the 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting accessed learning content and business solutions through the Intrado virtual platform, as well as through additional, half-day ASAE Community Pop-UPs that took place face-to-face in 10 cities across the nation. More than 500 attendees participated in the in-person Pop-UPs, hosted by the Atlanta CVB; Visit Charlotte; Choose Chicago; Destination Cleveland; Experience Columbus; Visit Dallas; Destination DC; Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB: Discover The Palm Beaches; and Discover Puerto Rico.
The final attendance breakdown included 2,438 association professionals and consultants, 517 industry partners, 242 speakers and 89 others including press, vendors and staff. The ratio of buyer to sellers was 84 percent buyers to 16 percent sellers.
“ASAE is proud to have debuted a meeting model for its 2021 Annual Meeting that was all about creating more choices for our members, partners and other stakeholders,” said ASAE President and CEO Susan Robertson, CAE. “With the uncertainty of COVID-19 and its variants, we’ve learned to be very adaptive and creative in how we present our learning and networking opportunities. Hopefully the 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting can serve as a model for other associations working in the midst of this uncertainty and change to serve their members and advance their own industries and professions.”
Kicking off the 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting on Monday was author, activist and comedian Baratunde Thurston, who discussed “How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time.” Thurston is an Emmy-nominated host who has produced for The Daily Show, advised the Obama White House and written the New York Times bestseller How to Be Black. The closing keynote speaker yesterday was Michele Sullivan, a Fortune 100 business executive, author, motivational speaker and strategic business advisor, who shared her insights on “Turning Obstacles into Advantages.” Sullivan, a former president of Caterpillar Foundation, is the author of the book Looking Up: How a Different Perspective Turns Obstacles into Advantages.
Given the challenges of interacting via a virtual platform, ASAE also worked to create new opportunities for industry partners to connect with existing and potential clients. There were 122 Industry Partner companies that participated in various exclusive engagement opportunities during the 2021 ASAE Annual Meeting, including thought leadership and visibility packages as well as pathway tracks, game changer and keynote hosts, and via the Community Pop-UPs. The Association Solution Demos featured 40 product and service presentations from 33 companies providing tangible solutions and the latest technologies to increase productivity. A total of 10 Association Solution Chats featured engaging and relevant morning conversations from expert industry partners. Association Exchange conversations showcased the benefits of a strong partner-client relationship to carry associations to new heights. The new repurposed Association Solutions Marketplace featuring nine business-focused kiosks for attendees to collect resources, share ideas, and chat based on job function or interest.
ASAE also used the Annual Meeting platform to recognize and celebrate its Individual Honors Award recipients, Fellows class of 2021, new CAEs and DELP class of 2020-2022.
All learning lab sessions, Association Solution Demos, Solution Chats, Association Exchanges and Partner Playground sessions will be available to attendees on-demand through September 17.
The 2022 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition will be held August 20-23, 2022 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN.
ASAE thanks the following Alliance Partners for their continued support of the association community:
Strategic Partners
Atlanta CVB
Destination Canada Business Events
Choose Chicago
Experience Columbus
Community Brands
Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB
Naylor Association Solutions
Discover Puerto Rico
Corporate Partners
aarwinMEP
Visit Austin
Caesars Entertainment
Destination Cleveland
Visit Dallas
DelCor Technology Solutions
Fonteva
Louisville Tourism
Visit Omaha
Visit Reno Tahoe
Visit Salt Lake
Event Partners
Affinipay
Bostrom
Feathr
Higher Logic
Manifest
Maritz Global Events
Mighty Citizen
OpenWater
The Palm Beaches
Personify
Truist Bank
Virginia Beach CVB
Global Partners
Dubai Association Centre
Singapore Tourism Board
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Vest, CAE, 202-626-2798, cvest@asaecenter.org
About ASAE
ASAE is a membership organization of more than 48,000 association executives and industry partners representing 7,400 organizations. Since it was established 100 years ago, its members have and continue to lead, manage, and work in or partner with organizations in more than a dozen association management disciplines, from executive management to finance to technology. With the support of the ASAE Research Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity, ASAE is the premier source of learning, knowledge, and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession and provides resources, education, ideas, and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association and nonprofit community. Visit ASAE at asaecenter.org.