Acronym

This isn’t about bar-b-que; it’s about the ASAE annual meeting in Chicago, just concluded. It was very good. I’m amazed at the insights and energies of all of our blogger’s daily postings. They’re great. For myself, however, I decided to wait and let the experiences simmer to see what sort of recollections emerge. I’ve long ago learned that I will experience ho-hum sessions (days, even) and then discover an exhilarating session (or day) that makes the trip worthwhile. That’s the way it was again this year. Here’s an early post-mortem on the bones:

Venue: McCormick Center’s new west building is an architect’s delight with all of the requisite gee-gaws. It’s modern, pleasant, and spacious and has great views to the lake. It also rivals Opryland, as the second venue I’ve experienced that spans three time zones. A colleague described it as larger than Rhode Island. Did I mention it sprawls? Travel time from one session to another could easily be 20 minutes, non-stop. Grade: B-

General Sessions: Covered the gamut, from inspiring personal stories to an association-specific ASAE initiative--social responsibility (see separate comment). It was all good, but bigger picture stuff--nothing directly and immediately applicable to association management, Grade: B

Thought Leader Sessions: Some good, some not so good. Too many to participate in everything I desired. Picking and choosing meant the inevitable excellent sessions contrasted with ho-hummers. The blog postings highlight many of the really exciting ones. Grade: B+

Learning Labs: See Thought Leader Sessions. Ungovernance by Jeff DeCagna was excellent—Grade A. Overall Lab Grade: C (despite considerable due diligence, I made some unfortunately bad choices). The blogs point out that there were many outstanding Labs that I missed.

Exhibitions: Dominated by the hospitality industry exhibits by 3 or 4 to 1, but with some highly interesting association-specific booths. Food was same every day—no variety, except by visiting hospitality industry booths (hint: who served Philly cheesesteak?). Grade: B-

Social: Great opportunities.to meet and mingle. I missed the opening reception for dinner with friends in the North Loop and found the best salmon of my life. Navy Pier and Northerly Island evenings were terrific. Natalie Cole is not to be missed. Grade: A+

Social Responsibility: (Putting on Curmudgeon’s hat) ASAE announced a new social responsibility initiative involving one of the general session presenters. Presentation was not well delivered and the audience was left to ponder based on their personal values and priorities about the subject. Will it return value to ASAE members and their organizations? Grade: Jury still out. Stay tuned.

Overall: My personal expense to attend was well in excess of $2,000—a not cheap event. Was it worth it? Yes—great work by all involved to plan and deliver the event. Staff grade: A+ Worth a repeat next year. Overall Grade: B+

What’s your scorecard say?