Wow, Mads, good stuff. I’m planning a “reflections on ASAE” post for T4P as soon as I can get to it, and, sad to say (because most people know I’m a pretty big booster for ASAE), I found more bad than good this year. I know that some of it was because I wasn’t feeling LA (which is totes not ASAE’s fault), but most of it was that the conference was just a disappointment. An expensive disappointment.

I think the most profound thing in all the smart, helpful, relevant ideas above is this: “We’re doing it for the love. All we’d like in return is a little love back once in a while. We’re feeling our love is unrequited, and if you’re not careful, one day we’ll take mom’s advice and go find other fish in the sea.”

Hey I’m honored to be the closer! You make soooo many good points. I want to throw the challenge though back to us. We have the ability to change this. We can take what was good (peeps, the informal gatherings, some cool rocking on the exhibit floor, parties, really good sessions (yep there were a few), cool stuff like DELP and YAE, some very powerful council meetings at the start, and rock in St Louis. Let’s do it!

One other note though – I don’t think all of ASAE is out of touch with members. I think the general sessions were. Some of the aspects of the conference were. But I think there are some really cool parts of ASAE that are in touch. I attended the AOTF meeting for example – very cool stuff happening there.

Maddie, my friend, I disagree with you on several points.
1) If you don’t like being asked for money, I get it, but it’s a personal reaction, not an organizational shortcoming. Foundations and corporations are less likely to throw money at efforts that aren’t well-supported by their key stakeholders (that’s us).
2) Precisely why were those speakers old school? Because they were older? (Maybe I’m sensitive because I have gray hair, but I did get value out of their talks.)
3) It’s ungenerous to slam the virtual conference because it may not have been perfect the first time out. IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT! From my perspective, the virtual attendees were embraced visibly and often. As for the price – again, that’s a personal reaction. The market votes with its feet.
4) I didn’t particularly like the 9-part video series, either. But that’s just my opinion. And this has NOTHING to do with the appropriation of my blog title!!! – I’m a Creative Commons kind of guy.
5) DELP: It was a very big part of the closing session. Remember?
6) Education sessions: Yes, there were only six time periods, especially if you (not me) think the general sessions were a waste. But the only possible improvement would been to add two more time periods on Tuesday afternoon. It would have been interesting to take a side bet on the attendance numbers for Tuesday afternoon sessions. I wonder if the decision to have Tuesday afternoon more free-form originated from member feedback ….
7) I’m not sure what “embracing” member-generated activity would look like, except for more visibility in the official publications. But, careful what you wish for. More of an “embrace” could have been suffocating.
I’m not sure about the “Power of A,” either. But we’re not the intended audience. Perhaps it’s not your style, but that doesn’t make it bad. The only way we’ll know if it’s good is if it produces results.
9) Next time, I’d like to see your good and bad comments together in a single post. (Personal preference, granted.) But without such balance, it really does come across to me as the rant you didn’t want this to be.
10.) So in the spirit of balance:
a.) I agree with you on the GIVE award thing. Great idea; next time it needs to be better executed to the finish.
b.) The Foundation mission statement really is weak. No one talks like that.
c.) Home run on the award winners. Hope it’s the last time that happens.
d.) The “Decision to” series could have lasted one too many – but I didn’t read it, so I don’t feel qualified to comment.
e.) The online engagement lounge *was* way out there. It’s better placed in the hub of the activity. Not that this matters at all, but since I always walked in from the Marriott side, it was the FIRST thing I saw!
f.) I suspect (and hope) John wished he could take back that crack about his salary the moment he said it. It took me a moment to appreciate the faux pas. But there’s still time for him to clean it up.
g) You didn’t mention this, so I will. I sure wish more speakers would say YES to being recorded. It’s not community-like to deny people access to your session after the fact, simply because there were good sessions running at the same time. There were TWO sessions I liked running on Sunday that I couldn’;t attend, only because I was hosting my own.
There you go … disagree AND agree. Thanks for stirring the pot!

I know we talked about many of these things while we were all still in LA, but needless to say I agree with many points made here.

The point, really, is this: we are a family…the association world is a close-knit one that is expanding internationally. I feel passionate about finding a way to support that community and will continue to come to ASAE Annual because I love the spirit of the people there, the exchange of good ideas, and the chance for building relationships with people I already admire and respect.

So, maybe what we are asking for is more of that? I know looking at crowdsourcing content for a meeting is dangerous because sometimes people don’t know what’s good for them, but it does offer up an opportunity for people to feel that they have been heard.

Maddie, thanks for having the guts to lay all of this out there. Many of us who have a lot of people watching what we say and do get nervous as those follower numbers increase. You wonder, “Could this cost me a job down the line?”or “Is this going to turn off potential opportunities?”

This is the truth – this is what people are talking about.

I am on the Foundation Development Committee and we met for the first time in person at the Annual Meeting. Many of us had questions about the new Foundation and while I know the intention is good from what I heard at the meeting, it is obvious that there is simply not enough information out there about what the money is being used for among other things).

Amazing post, Mads, and well worth the wait! Speak on!

Hi,
I started writing my response offline a couple hours ago, when you had ten responses. After taking a dinner break, there are now 15 responses, so you’ve obviously hit a nerve – you definitely did with me. In my humble opinion (IMHO in online-speak), ASAE’s Mojo has been waning for well over a decade. I followed the annual meeting this week mainly be Twitter and, having done that, have no regrets about not going to LA. The Young Association Profession (YAP) session sounds like it might have been interesting, but since at age 55 I’m not a YAP (maybe I’m a Middle-Aged Association Professional – no, that acronym sounds too much like a “mop†; let’s not say a Senior Association Professional – that’s not a flattering acronym either; how about White-Haired Association Professional – well, MAYBE that works), I may not have fit in too well.

The last time I attended an ASAE meeting was probably a dozen years ago as an exhibitor, during a time I was working as a consultant. Now I’m an association executive again, but why do I continue my membership, if not for the meetings? I find the magazine sometimes interesting and the listservs are also sometimes interesting or useful. I’m also required to be an ASAE member to qualify for one of my organization’s business insurance policies. But from my experiences in recent years, I haven’t felt that ASAE cares any more. I can cite two personal experiences:

1. Perhaps 2-3 years ago, I read an article in the ASAE magazine on a subject about which I had some comments. I wrote an email to the Editor within a few days of receiving the issue. I never heard anything back. I thought I’d at least get an email reply, if not the letter published in the magazine.

2. About 12-18 months ago, I got an email from ASAE reminding me about the deadline for submitting an idea for a talk at a Technology Conference. I wrote back asking them when and where the conference was, as that information was missing from the email. I realize I could have gone on the website and found the information, but the point I was trying to make, at least in part, was that I thought such basic information should be included in an email to potential speakers. I never got a reply to that email either. It wasn’t an idle request, as I have done a few presentations at ASAE technology conferences and annual meetings. Needless to say, though, if they couldn’t bother to correspond with me, or write a decent email in the first place – well, I haven’t done a presentation at one of their meetings recently.

I saw a tweet today that mentioned the possibility of starting an un-ASAE parallel annual event. Maybe it’s time for a whole new organization. Related to that, I see Deirdre Reid’s comment here that ASAE should visit some of the SAEs. A few years back, I was getting ready to join the Greater Washington (as in metropolitan Washington, DC) Society of Association Executives (GWSAE –I’m pretty sure that’s an initialism, not an acronym) when suddenly, they were swallowed-up by ASAE. So, if I were an SAE, I’d be at least a bit wary of ASAE. That said, I think I might get more value out of a locally focused organization than the National.

Maddie… I agree with much of what you said in terms of the creativity and innovation surrounding ASAE’s production of an event. The question always is… “So what do we do with that?”

I have been on one of the most active SAE Annual Conference Planning Committee the last 3-years and we have injected a level of energy into our meeting second to none. That being said, we still see people throwing polarizing comments at the conference. Its is a big challenge to make 500 people happy, much less 6,000.

I feel if you go into an event “looking” for things to go wrong, you will find it.

Our association’s member surplus has grown 465% in 5 years in part because of one simple plan when attending any conference including ASAE… Find these each day:

1 New Idea
1 Thing I’m Going To Do Differently When I Return on Monday
1 Contact Who is Going To Help Me Make Change

I achieved my quota of 3 new ideas, 3 new actions for Monday and 3 new people to help make change. I feel my investment will net me and my association well over what I paid for conference irregardless of the issues that certainly need to be dealt with. Diamonds in the rough are everywhere.. even at ASAE Conference. You have to be looking for them everywhere.

I always say that, “if you have too may AH-HA Moments at a conference”, what the heck have you been doing the previous 12 months. Innovators don’t wait for a conference to transform themselves or their associations. Sometimes not learning anything “significantly new” means you are leading in the area of innovation.

Because I feel the same way you do about many of the comments you made, I’m choosing to make change with my actions and join their new Innovation Team.

Change happens when great minds get in a room and create. Not by people sitting on the sideline and point fingers at the people in the room who are doing something. I do applaud you for stepping out and speaking your heart.

The question is… “what actions will everyone take to help make change?” Not coming to conference is NOT an OPTION…..

I thought the food was pretty good. Other than that I agree with the sentiment, but probably not the depth of emotion in your post.

I hadn’t been to an ASAE meeting since Chicago (my hometown). Comparing the two meetings, I came away from LA with fewer burning insights. My main focus for this meeting was learning and I learned less. Sure there were a couple of good moments, but it was surrounded by mediocrity and could have been so much better.

Much of the criticism of the meeting seems very personal and opinions are like…well noses…everyone’s got one. But a clear theme that resonates with my experience is this disconnect between ASAE and the members/attendees.

The meeting seemed focused on ASAE and not the members. It focused on governance and not mission.

All the suggested mechanical changes may or may not work. But, if the focus doesn’t shift to members and mission, it won’t matter.

Wow! That’s a lot of useful feedback for ASAE.

I’ve attended Chicago, Orlando, Philly, Minneapolis, and Chicago again (of course, I live here) and usually skip parts of the general sessions. I like the keynoters – I’ve heard Coretta Scott King, John Glenn, and others – but try to skip the ASAE promotional stuff. I don’t mind it, I know it’s necessary, but I just don’t want to listen to it. And I don’t care for the goofy entertainment, either.

I missed LA. It’s a big expense to go, so I generally attend once in each three year period – I can get nearly half my CAE recertification points for that. I’ll be at St. Louis next year.

I’ll watch to see what ASAE does with all this info.

There are some good points here that ASAE should keep in mind, but I have to push back on a few things. Here’s a quick ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’.

Agree – The keynote general session on Monday afternoon used to be the content on the opening general session. They just changed the date/time. This has long been an ASAE promo video as opposed to getting good information and celebrating award winners. It seems this general session is a classic ‘sacred cow’…. even though it needs drastic changing, doing so can be difficult internally for ASAE.

Disagree – John Graham’s answering of questions at the volunteer brunch. I’m a Gen-Xer and manage a 6 person staff and even I don’t know every detail of what’s happening within our association. Maybe I’m not Superman…I don’t know? On the contrary, I felt the questions were low-brow if aimed towards the CEO. And I truly mean no disrespect to the people asking questions as it takes guts to do so in that large of an audience. But he’s looking at the industry at such a larger level that he can’t be blamed for not knowing where the welcome parties for 1st time attendees are. This is an exaggerated level, but get an audience with President Obama and ask him why there’s a delay on funds for the proposed pedestrian bridge in your local area. If I have a chance to ask John Graham or President Obama a question, I know at what level of inquiry to ask them.

I’m also a CAE and disagree in several ways (too long to post here) to your portrayal of the exam as being able to pass if you think like a 60 year old white CSE.

I didn’t see nor was involved in the Flashdance scene, but I have heard in other settings that member generated activity is great exactly because that it’s not being overseen by Big Brother? If Big Brother gets involved too much, then more people would feel it’s not authentic, grassroots driven, member activity. I thought that was the purpose of it.

The volunteer brunch food was fine except for the eggplant main dish. The rest of the food was good for convention center fare, especially on the trade show floor.

Hi everyone,

I think there are a lot of great points here so I am not going to pile on, just express what I have learned over by attending the Annual Meeting for the last 4 years in a row.
1. There will be a lot of ASAE promotion designed to sell product and push the value of the association. Although I understand why this needs to be done I can now sniff out these opportunities and try my best not to be there for them.
2. The general sessions are largely something you can avoid. Having a general session followed by a large chunk of time with only the exhibit hall open makes it way too easy to decide to stay in bed and grab some extra shut eye. I would love to have access to actual education much earlier on the first day.
3. The Learning Labs at the meeting are very hit or miss. I can honestly say, and have told ASAE staff directly, that in Chicago I walked out of almost every Learning Lab I sat down for. They were either overcrowded, the content didn’t match the description, or the content was just weak so I felt I could benefit more elsewhere. This did not just happen in Chicago but I have had slightly better luck since then.
4. The Thought Leader Sessions are largely shows given by professional speakers and are not real heavy on actual tactics or strategies you can use when you get back to the office. Personally I like to walk out of a meeting or conference with lots of ideas that I can implement or at least ask my boss to consider.
5. I am basically going to fast during the day for 3 days because the food is usually put out way too early for me to eat and when I decide to eat most of the food is gone so it is hard to find something hot or fully stocked so I end up eating lots of protein bars that I now make sure I bring with me.
6. The networking is going to be awesome. Some of this is ASAE generated networking but the majority of it happens at self organized dinners, receptions, etc or at parties given by industry partners. I also make sure I can attend the YAP party, the GLBTA party, the Greater Washington Network reception and the Delcor/Syscom party and have a great time while meeting some awesome people. Unfortunately up until this year ASAE has had all of their functional networking receptions basically on top of each other so I end up spending 30-45 minutes at each one I feel I have to attend while missing a number of others because the schedule overlap is simply too great. I realize that having as large an audience as possible at the Food & Wine Classic is important to the fundraising efforts of ASAE and to the sponsors that give big bucks to get in front of the audience but it would be nice to see the functional receptions spread out over a few days so I could actually talk to the people that may not want to network at 11 or 12 at night which is when some of the other parties I mention really start rolling.

In general I think that the ASAE Annual Meeting is a good event. However if you are looking for it to not be self-promoting, have top-notch education at every session, have great food that is easily accessible and serves every participants needs equally then you will be disappointed. I have come to take the meeting for what I believe it is–a great opportunity to connect with lots of old friends, hopefully a bunch of new ones as well as ASAE staff that I don’t see on a regular basis while possibly learning a few new things that I can use in my consulting business.