I had an opportunity to attend ASAE’s Springtime Meeting this past April. The keynote speaker, Don Neal, Founder & CEO of 360 Live Media, delivered an awesome presentation. The session title was “What Business Are You Really In?”
Don suggested that if you changed the lens in which you look at things, you begin to see things very differently and all new things are possible. So while walking into the session, attendees may have responded to the question by sharing they were in theeducation, advocacy, thought leadership, community building business; these same attendees certainly didn’t leave the session with the same thought! Don suggested that association professions look at associations and meetings through a different lens and consider the option of associations being in the “inspiration business.”
The audience of association professionals and meeting planners were challenged when asked if they were just delivering “Better Sameness” to their association members. This statement was followed by the suggestion that “most association conventions are very conventional.” WOW, both of these observations really resonated with me and made me reflect on my day life working with my association that is struggling to fill the “conventional” exhibit hall and reach targeted registration numbers.
Three big changes (TRENDS) were attributed to the current state of meetings and exhibit halls:
- Audiences – there are now five generations attending association events and they all have different expectations; how these generations embrace or expect to use technology at events spans a wide spectrum.
- Alternatives – association meetings that were previously the main source of continuing education credits are faced with so much competition, including lots of free alternatives.
- Experiences Economy – attendees aren’t looking for just professional education. They are looking for an experience.
This information really just set the stage for the big announcement related to the future of ASAE’s 40-year old Springtime Annual Meeting. Who knew that I had just attended the very last event of its kind at ASAE?
The new event that ASAE will host next year in place of Springtime is the XDP – Experience Design Project. The meeting will be VERY different and was even stated would not be perfect the first time it was offered.
In summary, association leaders need to continue to monitor and embrace the big global trends that clearly are going to have an impact on the conventional way some associations do business. Is your association prepared to accept the opportunities that the trends will offer?
