Greetings ASAE Community,

Please find a few important updates from ASAE in the past few weeks:

 

Thank You to ASAE’s Volunteer Leaders

A defining characteristic of association professionals is their willingness to give back and share what they know with others. This month, we recognize National Volunteer Month by thanking the more than 1,200 volunteers who help make ASAE and its culture so special. Every day, our volunteers impact the association community by sharing their time, perspectives and knowledge with others. They act as subject matter experts for ASAE’s learning programs; they write articles for Associations Now; they share their experiences and expertise in Collaborate; and they participate in webinars and other programs on the topics most important to ASAE members.

April is also when ASAE’s Call for Volunteers is open for council and committees. From April 1 through April 30, I hope you will consider joining your colleagues as a volunteer leader. Again, thank you so much for everything you do for our community!

 

ASAE’s 2024 Legislative Fly-In Focuses on Workforce Development

ASAE thanks the 100 association professionals from across the country who came to our nation’s capital earlier this month for ASAE’s annual Legislative Fly-In to build support for a pro-association, pro-credentialing workforce development bill. ASAE fly-in participants represented 21 states and DC, and had 113 meetings on Capitol Hill during the event.

The bipartisan, bicameral Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act would expand qualified expenses under 529 savings plans to include postsecondary training and credentialing programs, such as licenses and voluntary certifications offered by many associations. The bill has been gaining traction over the past year – the House version has 128 bipartisan cosponsors, up from zero when it was introduced in March 2023; the Senate bill has 22 bipartisan cosponsors. U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA), who leads the bill in the House, helped educate fly-in attendees about his bill during an education session on March 5, speaking alongside Jay Karen, CAE, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association and an ASAE Board member. Read more about this year’s Legislative Fly-In.

 

ASAE Launching Association Governance Institute

Good governance is critical to ensuring associations achieve their mission-related goals and maintain transparency and trust with their stakeholders. This summer, ASAE will launch the Association Governance Institute (AGI), a new initiative dedicated to promoting excellence in governance practices for associations.

Through education, research and collaboration, AGI is designed to empower board members, CEOs and their staff to navigate the complexities of governance effectively. ASAE is launching AGI with the assistance of Paul Pomerantz, FACHE, FASAE, who recently retired as chief executive officer of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Pomerantz will serve as Managing Director of AGI.

Pomerantz joins Mark Graham, ASAE Business Services Vice President, who is bringing comprehensive research, content, data, and tools to AGI, including board assessments, CEO assessments and executive compensation consulting. For more information about the Association Governance Institute, contact Mark at mgraham@asaecenter.org.

 

ASAE Collaborating with Destinations International

ASAE and Destinations International (DI) recently announced a collaborative agreement to address current challenges impacting the business events industry.

ASAE’s collaboration with DI will leverage the strengths of both organizations to initially focus on the issues of event crisis management and event accessibility. The ASAE and DI teams are formalizing actionable elements of the agreement, but ASAE and DI will work toward the eventual development of guidelines for associations and destinations to consider around those prioritized topics.

ASAE is excited to work with the DI team on issues that are keeping association event organizers and their destination partners awake at night, such as how to plan for the unexpected at large-scale events and how to make meetings and events accessible to all attendees. Industry organizations interested in joining the ASAE-DI collaboration should contact Amy Hissrich, MA, CAE, ASAE’s vice president, international affairs, at ahissrich@asaecenter.org.

 

New Scholarship Opportunity for Young Professionals

Aligned with ASAE’s strategic focus on workforce development, the ASAE Research Foundation has launched a new Future Leaders Professional Development Scholarship for this year that will support the career advancement of young association professionals.

In Fiscal Year 2024, the Future Leaders Professional Development Scholarship will award three deserving recipients with complimentary registration and $3,000 each to cover travel and hotel expenses for any in-person ASAE event. In addition, all scholarship recipients will be matched with experienced association leaders for individual mentoring sessions. The scholarship program is limited to young professionals, defined by ASAE as professionals 35 years old or younger who work at trade or professional associations, philanthropic organizations or association management companies (AMCs). Applicants must also be current members of ASAE. 

I personally supported this Future Leaders Professional Development Scholarship as a founding donor and I want to thank our other founding donors, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP and Destination Cleveland, for their support. Find out more about this scholarship and apply on ASAE’s site.

 

ASAE’s ReadyMe Program Relaunches

ASAE’s innovative ReadyMe Program has relaunched with significant enhancements for association professionals looking to expand their leadership capacity in association management.

Following a successful beta cohort that began in 2022 and stretched over an 18-month period, ASAE incorporated participant feedback in designing the second iteration of ReadyMe with all-new, interactive educational modules focused on essential skills development; a four-month, engaging cohort experience; and content and activities created for association professionals by association professionals, instructional design experts and content SMEs.

The ASAE Research Foundation will once again utilize the John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund in 2024 to provide scholarships to deserving applicants pursuing professional and personal development through ASAE’s ReadyMe Program. For more information about ASAE’s ReadyMe Program, consult the Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Gearing Up for MMC + Tech Conference 2024

ASAE invites association professionals to step into the future at the 2024 Marketing, Membership, Communications + Tech Conference, taking place May 30-31, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

ASAE’s MMC + Tech Conference 2024 has all of the expert-led, actionable learning that association professionals need to take their marketing, membership and communications strategies to new heights, plus an added focus on the indispensable role of technology in association management. The two-day MMC + Tech Conference includes education sessions tailored to the specific needs of marcomm, membership and tech professionals and opportunities to network and connect with peers, industry experts and potential collaborators. Early Bird registration rates for MMC + Tech are offered through April 5, 2024. We really hope to see you at MMC + Tech this year! Check out the full schedule and register on our MMC + Tech site.

As always, thank you for your engagement with ASAE and please reach out with any questions.

 

Warm regards,

Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE

President and CEO