Acronym

Exhibitors at Annual Meeting have their finger on the pulse of the industry. The inquiries they hear on the tradeshow floor can give you a good sense of the worries and ideas that are top of mind for association execs.

Three exhibitors were kind enough to speak with me about what they were hearing and thinking about in response to their clients' concerns:

1. Michelle Boucher at the CommPartners booth told me that they see associations taking a look at the future of virtual events. In particular, CommPartners is interested in how you keep participants engaged for a longer period of time with an event taking place in the virtual space, and with pricing for virtual events.

2. Colette Trohan, CPP-T, PRP, of agreatmeeting.com, says that "efficient use of time" is a key concern for the people she's speaking with. Execs are looking for ways to do more with less, and that includes finding ways to speed up and streamline their board and committee meetings.

3. Duncan McCreery of Memberclicks says that engaging members is top of mind--how to show them the value of membership, how to keep them coming back for more, and how to provide such a great experience that they tell their friends about it. Associations that have lost membership are looking to regrow it, and he sees a lot of execs willing to re-examine their time-tested membership strategies and try new approaches.