The American Society of Association Executives drew more than 6,000 attendees—nearly 3,700 of them association executives—to Chicago in mid-August for the organization's annual meeting and exposition. Direct economic impact of the event on the host city exceeded $20 million. Across the more than 120 educational sessions at the ASAE event, career services and online learning were the two most popular areas of attendee interest. In a few cases, meeting staff had to direct attendees from full breakout rooms to overflow rooms in order to take in the sessions via video feeds. With the annual meeting and exposition complete, ASAE turns its focus towards its Experience Design Project (XDP) conference in May 2019—for which attending meeting planners can choose after the event whether or not to pay the registration fee, based on the quality of their learning experience. The two-day event helps association-event planners create better experiences for their audiences. After that, the next ASAE annual meeting and exposition will take place August 10–13, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. And come 2020, ASAE will celebrate its centennial by releasing research reports on the many beneficial impacts associations have on society.
