Nearly 5,000 attend Nashville event

Association professionals attending ASAE's first in-person annual meeting since 2019 got the kind of welcome only Nashville, Tenn., can offer.

Pandemic or no, pedestrians mobbed Broadway, the country-music capital's honky-tonk strip, with drinks and loud music pouring from the bars within earshot of the Music City Center convention facility. Thousands more attended a Tennessee Titans preseason football game nearby on the convention's opening Saturday night.

Inside the convention center, ASAE22 attendees welcomed the chance to network and learn with each other for the first time since they last gathered before the pandemic in Columbus, Ohio. More than 100 educational sessions covered topics such as board governance, global operations, nondues revenue and fostering diversity, equity and inclusion. Activities spanned four days, from Aug. 20-23.

ASAE CEO Michelle Mason said at a Monday press conference that 4,912 people registered to attend in person, including association executives, exhibitors and others, including consultants and media. That compares to total attendance of 5,476 in Columbus. Yet Mason said the number of association executives registered for Nashville—2,699—was the highest since ASAE met in Chicago in 2018.

"To put that in perspective, Chicago is the second largest market for associations," Mason told reporters. "So we're really excited about that number."

The enthusiasm was shared by attendees, though they took note of peers who did not attend.

"It is fabulous to be back with everyone," said Debra McGuire, executive director of the International Association of Assessing Officers. "And I wish that more of our folks who used to come to these events would also be able to come back. I'm comfortable coming back but some aren't. I do miss many friends here that I that I've known.

"I hope that next year in Atlanta we can bring more of us together again," she said. "It's absolutely the best forum to bring all of us together in the association and nonprofit sector to share ideas, innovate, and to also be able to commiserate sometimes about the changes and the opportunities that are coming," she said.

McGuire's comment echoed the theme of the meeting: Disruption = Opportunity. That was reinforced by keynote speakers Safi Bahcall, an author and biotech entrepreneur, and venture capitalist Marcus Whitney, founder of the first Black health care venture capital fund in the country. Failure is an inevitable result of attempting to innovate, they said.

"You've got to make friends with failure," Whitney said in his Monday morning address. "That's how you know you're on your hero's journey."

Mason told reporters at the press conference that ASAE's decision not to offer concurrent virtual options for the meeting was "very intentional."

"We are 100% in person," she said. However, she noted that some content from the meeting will be available online after the annual event concludes. Take a Byte ASAE22 features 18 on-demand educational sessions at a price of $399 for members and $499 for nonmembers.

In-person attendance at the Nashville meeting cost $1,199 ($999 for those who registered by April 22) for U.S. association professionals who are ASAE members. The nonmember price was $1,499 ($1,399 early bird).

Mason said that despite rampant inflation, ASAE held those prices steady at their 2019 levels. Meeting attendees were overheard on the show floor discussing the higher costs of holding their own shows.

"The cost of doing business clearly has increased," Mason said. "And so for us, it's really important for us to watch our expenses. We were very committed to not increase the registration fee.

"But as we think through this we also recognize (that) as we emerge, members are expecting experiences. And that's why we partner with our (Nashville event) partners so that we can continue to deliver on our experience," she said. "Members can receive the value of us watching our bottom line, because they have one to watch as well."

The meeting ended Tuesday with the installation of new board leadership for the upcoming fiscal year. As previously announced, Lakisha Ann Woods, CEO of the American Institute of Architects, will step up to chair September 1.