Held Aug. 3-6 in Atlanta, the conference's first day featured officials from China and Dubai touting global association business

A diver sporting a sign in a tank at the Georgia Aquarium advertises the 2013 ASAE annual meeting, held Aug. 3-6 in Atlanta. The event's opening night party was held at the aquarium. Photo: ASAE

ATLANTA - ASAE kicked off its annual meeting here this weekend with a blow-out party Saturday night, followed by a more serious day of work sessions on Sunday in which various challenges facing associations were discussed.

The conference is being held Aug. 3-6. The opening night event kicked off at 7:30 p.m. Pemberton Place, where conference-goers ate, drank, and mingled inside the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola building. Shortly after 9 p.m., attendees watched the Go-Gos, female pop icons from the 1980s, perform an hour-long set.

The next morning, at the conference's opening session, ASAE CEO John Graham listed a few of the large-scale issues that many associations are now dealing with. One is the implementation of the new health care law. Another is the rise of mobile technology, which associations must keep in mind when redesigning websites and developing social media tools.

"The easier and more intuitive we can make it for members to create their own experiences via mobile devices, the more relevant in our members' lives we'll become," Graham said.

And budget cuts and sequestration have resulted in fewer appearances by government officials at association meetings, which is a continuing problem, Graham said. "Government employees were—and are—being heavily restricted, or even prohibited, from traveling or attending association conferences and meetings," Graham said. "This is putting an economic chokehold on some associations."

An Atlanta welcome—and sales pitch

Preliminary estimates indicate that association executive attendance is higher at this year's meeting than last year, while the number of exhibitors in attendance is slightly below last year, according to ASAE aides. More details on attendance figures are expected to be released at a press conference here on Monday.

Attendance at last year`s meeting in Dallas included 2,780 executives, 1,861 exhibitors, and 1,369 others (guests, spouses, volunteers, etc.) for a grand total of 6,010. The 6,010 total was the highest for ASAE since 2007, when their meeting in Chicago drew a record 6,442.

Atlanta last hosted the ASAE annual meeting back in 1992, and city officials, clearly pleased to have landed the event (and the revenue it generates) again, are actively courting association representatives for future convention business. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, speaking at the opening session, said that "associations are vital" to the city's economy, as they account for 75 percent of Atlanta's convention business. (Indeed, after the opening party on Saturday night, many conference-goers returned to their hotel rooms to find that their turn-down service included a welcome letter from the Mayor, as well as two local staples, peach cobbler and iced tea.)

The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau also showed a short comedic promotional film during the opening session; in the film, secret agents tasked with scoping out Atlanta fall in love with the local attractions and decide to quit their mission and become fill-time tourists in the city.

The international component

This year's meeting also includes a significant international presence. Roughly 185 international attendees have come to the conference this year, representing more than 30 countries, according to ASAE.

The pool of international attendees includes representatives from China and Dubai, who are touting potential opportunities for U.S. associations in their respective areas.

Liu Youqian, CEO of the Federation of China Trade Associations & Chambers of Commerce, presented a briefing (though a translator) at an afternoon education session on upcoming regulatory changes regarding associations in China. The changes will mean a less cumbersome registration process, a more competitive and market-driven environment for associations, and less heavy-handed government intervention.

"It's going to be very beneficial for all of you," he said (through a translator) to those attending the session.

Representatives of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, and the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, are also attending the meeting. Although the Dubai aides are not holding their own education session, they are meeting with some attendees and explaining recent legislative changes that will make it easier for U.S. associations to register in Dubai.

The changes should be of particular interest to U.S. groups who would like to engage in Middle East and African markets, the Dubai representatives told CEO Update.

In addition, on Aug. 3, a few hours before the meeting officially opened that evening, the ASAE Board approved a new research initiative called the Global Management Series. The multi-year initiative is designed to provide resources aimed at helping associations expand into international markets and broaden the reach of their memberships.

Domestic management issues

Like all ASAE annual meetings, the bread-and-butter of the Atlanta conference is discussion of association management topics, and many sessions on the first day delved into various issues.

However, one speaker who approached association management from a different angle was Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

Cain, the keynote speaker of the opening session, said research has shown that one-third to one-half of the U.S. population are introverts. That large percentage can be surprising, she said, It is important for associations to value the natural strengths of introverts in their organization, such as their ability to use quiet persistence to solve problems and flesh out the important nuances of issues.

Famous introverts like Mahatma Gandhi and Warren Buffett have proven to have excellent leadership skills, Cain said: "The most charismatic are not always the best leaders." Association should keep this in mind when deciding who to promote to high management positions.

And when it comes to another aspect of association management —CEO performance evaluations—the "360" review, which incorporates feedback from the board of directors, as well as staffers working under the CEO, seems to be gaining popularity as an effective tool, according to participants at an education session on evaluating CEOs.

Often, the 360 review is not used to determine a CEO's compensation increase. But, it can be a very valuable tool for the CEO's future development as a better manager, said Paul Pomerantz, CEO of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, who spoke at the session.

Pomerantz said feedback from his senior staff has proven to be "very helpful," if not always easy to hear at first.

"My staff has always had the ability to be brutally honest," he said.

For more coverage of the ASAE's annual meeting, see the next print issue of CEO Update.