Virginia's First Green Golf Event
Another notable happening at ASAE's springtime celebration was the ASAE Foundation's 30th Annual Springtime DC Invitational Golf and Tennis Tournament at Landsdowne Resort. The event — which doubled in size from last year with 156 golfers, 20 golf clinic participants and 13 tennis clinic participants — was the first full-field Certified Green Golf Tournament in Virginia. During the event, ASAE used biodegradable cups and plates on the course, refrained from using plastic water bottles and provided all attendees with a reusable water bottle. The end result: ASAE achieved an 85 percent landfill avoidance and recycling rate.
More than 3,500 association and meeting professionals gathered in Washington, D.C., last week to attend two of its events, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) announced yesterday: the Association International Conference, which took place May 1-3, and the Springtime Expo, held May 2-4.
According to ASAE, the Association International Conference enjoyed a 25 percent increase in attendance, with 220 attendees and 39 exhibitors. The Springtime Expo, meanwhile, hosted 1,845 attendees and 1,673 exhibitors, the latter of which represented 472 companies and occupied 582 booths.
This year was the first time that the Association International Conference — an event for U.S. associations that want to expand internationally — was juxtaposed with the Springtime Expo, ASAE's annual meetings-industry marketplace, which this year included an "international pavilion" dedicated to international meetings in honor of the Association International Conference. The pairing, the organization said, was perfect.
"We always strive to enhance our members' experience with each of our meetings," said ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham IV. "One of the many additions to this year's show was moving the International Conference prior to Springtime and the creation of the international pavilion to help educate meeting professionals and attendees about the opportunities internationally. It was very successful, and we hope to continue to increase the number of exhibitors as well as attendees at next year's event."