The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) annual meeting brought over 5,100 attendees to Atlanta this week and almost 3,000 were association executives. “That’s the largest association executive attendance in five years which is great news for ASAE. It’s the highest number of association executives since 2008,” says John Graham IV, CAE, president and CEO of ASAE.
Over 1,800 exhibitors were in attendance and the expo had 692 booths representing 409 companies. According to Graham, the buyer to seller ration was 62 to 38.
One quarter of the registrants were attending ASAE annual meeting for the first time, and two-thirds of the attendees had never been to Atlanta. “That is all upside for us for us,” says William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The meeting itself is bringing $20 million in economic impact to the city and we’re expecting future meetings booked from the event to total $500 million.”
Historically, roughly 20 percent of the association executives attending our annual meeting book an event in the host city within five years,” says Graham. “Last year we were in Dallas and our attendees have booked $100 million in meetings in the city in just in the past 12 months. So the investment that a city makes in hosting ASAE pays off, as it does for our members as well.”
ASAE rolled out a new education format called “Snap Learning” at the show. In 30-minute learning sessions that offered attendees quick learning opportunities outside of the traditional session offerings. The new format was sponsored by Business Events Canada. “This format offered attendees information on a number of different topics in very quick and focused manner,” says Graham. “It’s been very successful from the feedback we’ve received.”