At its 1998 Annual Conference and Exposition, held in late January in Indianapolis, the Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA) attracted a record 1,301 attendees. But that is only one of the association's successes this year. At the conference, Executive Director DeWayne Woodring, CMP, CEM, outlined some of RCMA's other accomplishments.

Membership stands at 2,773, an all-time high. Planner membership increased by 11.6 percent in the past year. And those new members paid the same low dues--$50--as RCMA's first members did 16 years ago. Not only did this annual conference break attendance records, but the exposition floor sold out in just one-and-a-half days, and therefore hundreds of exhibitors were wait-listed.

"The religious market is growing," said Woodring in his annual State of the Association address at the conference. "There is increasing awareness that the religious market is one of major significance, and cities are realizing the moral and economic impact of religious events."