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Brian, every one of the behaviors exhibited in your first list were personal decisions made by those individuals. The association that served the drinks bears no responsibility for those decisions.

I think your second set of questions is interesting and would be well worth pondering by association staff.

Wes

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Wes Trochlil
Effective Database Management, LLC

Author of "Put Your Data to Work: 52 Tips and Techniques for Effectively Managing Your Database," published by ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership and available from ASAE: http://tinyurl.com/dyw9y2

While I agree with Wes that individuals are responsible for their own decisions, I have for many years wondered about the atmosphere created at some professional events.

I like a drink (sometimes two or three) now and then, but I have always been "on the fence" when it comes to these things at professional functions, mostly because when we are young, we all make those eye-rolling, groan inducing mistakes with social drinking that we hopefully don't repeat.

However, I have seen a coworker encourage another coworker to keep drinking at a meeting event despite the fact she was already quite obviously drunk. I was brave enough at that point to step in and say "no, that's enough" but how many of us always feel comfortable being the "party pooper"?

When it comes to drinking at the office, I have always been against it. The workplace is not a bar and shouldn't be treated that way. In an age when bartenders have been successfully held liable for serving someone who then went out and wrecked their car, I always thought it was a liability risk for the organization. Could you imagine what an angry parent would do if "the boss" served "their baby" alcohol at work and then sent them on their way, only to get into an accident?

Ira Koretsky has a good rule for drinks at professional functions: stop at two. Unlike what happens in Vegas, what happens at professional events *will* follow you.

Even though I didn't attend Annual, I admit I was surprised to hear that a number of booths in the exhibit hall were serving alcohol. I would have thought that would be a liability or something--or at a minimum, a way of keeping people who choose not to drink for whatever reason from visiting a particular booth.

I don't drink (although I did when I was young and single) and I think associations that serve alcohol enable people to act inappropriately. Yes, it's their decision, but the organization helps them make that decision.

In fact, some people will brag about how much booze they can swallow and how they can work through a killer hangover in the office the next day.

Being a drunk is nothing to be proud of and associations should not encourage that culture.

From the number of times this post got retweeted and clicked on, I was a little surprised that there was not more comments. It appears no one wanted or cared to take a contrary view. Well, I, perhaps stupidly, don't shy from controversy, so here goes...

I was at a wedding this past weekend, and as part of the celebration, I had more than two or three glasses of wine. (It was fellow blogger Joe Rominiecki's wedding, so send some congrats along!) It was there, dork that I am, that I was thinking about how alcohol plays a role in our culture and how I thought it could be the basis for this comment. Consumption of alcohol as part of celebrations is ancient, and that's the tradition and culture you're talking about in the post. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. Yes, at many association functions, people drink to excess. I think it's good that people approach a meeting of their association as cause for celebration.

And that's not to say that there shouldn't be caveats. Drinking til you vomit or are so hungover you can't function the next day isn't cool. That's just common sense, right? Anybody talking about how much they consumed and how bad it made them feel is acting immaturely. And I admit I've been that immature person a time or two in the past. But I think you can have more than 2 or 3 drinks and still not go outside the bounds of common sense.

One other big caveat: we as a society have done a good job of educating people on the horrors of intoxicated driving, if not exactly eradicating it. While I think the responsibility rests with each of us as individuals, associations should be mindful of trying to ensure their members have alternatives. For example, ASAE and other associations I’ve worked for generally have shuttle buses going to hotels after the major receptions.

So drinks on the tradeshow floor? Open bars? These things don't bother me at association meetings. I think the camaraderie at association meetings is worth celebrating, and for thousands and thousands of years, celebrating and alcohol have been linked. I know they don't have to be linked, but I don't see a reason to try to forcefully sever it.

I held back on commenting on this one and was also surprised it got so little discussion ...

First off, let me state I am NOT a puritan. I do NOT see alchohol as an evil. I AM a big believer in personal responsibility and accountability for one's actions. I know literally thousands of individuals (both inside the association community and outside of it) who are entirely responsible in their alchohol consumption and other personal behavior.

But as a former, extremely heavy drinker who gave it up and has gone more than five years without touching the stuff (that was the right decision for me ... again, I am not trying to promote my personal choice as a model for others) I do have two observations to make:

1) Unless you are a non-drinker, you probably don't realize how totally association activities are built around offering alchohol and food. It is not a minor aspect. We don't meet each other in our offices, we meet for lunch. Or breakfast. Or drinks. It is unthinkable to organize any kind of meeting (both the formal and informal aspects) except to organize around food and drink. (The board's agenda might be chaoticly flexible, but we stop in time to make the buses that will take us to drinks and dinner. If there is not formal drinks or dinner planned, the immediate topic of discussion at adjournment centers on where/when we are going to congregate for drinks.

2) As the person who is often the only member of the group indulging, I can't say the conversation is as witty or deep as I remember the conversations being when I was drinking.

Despite being the sister of an acknowledged alcoholic, I usually don't have a problem with association events that offer alcohol, although I personally very rarely drink at those occasions. I just don't want to ever feel out of control, nor do I want to become sleepy, a common side effect of alcohol for me at least.

I do have a few caveats to alcohol service, though:
1) I wish associations didn't serve hard spirits, especially at receptions before a meal when people's stomachs are empty, and the liquor is more likely to go to their head (and mouth). I've been to many association events that serve murky alcoholic punches, hard lemonade, or fruity "specialty shots." All of those make judging your alcoholic intake much more challenging, and they often seem to be blamed for any resulting hangover. The effect is intensified when drinkers have had little or no food before indulging. What's wrong with just beer and wine? People seem to know how wine or beer will affect their systems, so I've seen fewer "accidental" drunkenness.

2) As a woman, I personally have felt much more anxious about the drinking question when I've been at association events that are very male-dominated. I served on the national board of one professional organization that was, at the time, 85% male. I dreaded those conference parties. I would have skipped them completely, but I was a young, married board member, and most of the guys were well-behaved. However, I always knew one or more of the members, often married, would start testing the ground with me, either subtly (in his mind) or blatantly. I even had to have security come to my hotel room once because a drunk member followed me back from a reception and wouldn't leave me alone. None of that is because I'm some seductress--I was just female and, to them, available. After a few years of this hassling, I solved the problem in part by dragging my husband to the organization's conferences, but alcohol abuse was definitely affecting my experience with the organization.

3)I'm an advocate for the "drink ticket" system. Everyone gets two "free drink" tickets. After that, the stuff costs--and make it expensive. I think more folks would stop drinking after two if they had to start paying themselves, especially since alcohol reimbursement often isn't included on permitted travel expense lists.

Other ideas?

Hello all,
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this topic, I too was hoping for more dialogue, but I'm glad I scrolled down one last time to check, and see even more thoughtful comments.

any other thoughts from folks are welcome...

I agree with Mark's comments about the true role of alcohol (and food) in events; I can't help but think that dry events would suffer in attendance and camaraderie. I really like Kristin's suggestions about drink vouchers and offering beer and wine rather than mystery cocktails!