Acronym

The following is a guest post from Linda Chreno, CAE, with Marketing General.

The ASAE Annual Conference has always been an event that I looked forward to with anticipation and excitement. As an association professional for the past 20+ years, I have always found the education, networking, exhibit hall, and social events to be what I needed and wanted to improve my skills and knowledge about the association management profession.

This year, however, I attended as someone "not" employed by an association - but rather a very recently hired employee of Marketing General Incorporated, one of ASAE's industry supporters and partners. How would my colleagues treat me now that I was someone from the "dark side?" Would other exhibitors welcome me or feel I was just a competitor for the association executive's attention? Would the ASAE Annual Conference experience still be a rewarding experience for me?

I am happy to say that this was one of my all time best ASAE Annual Conference experiences. From an educational perspective, I attended sessions to gain knowledge - knowledge that I could share with others to improve their association's performance and to help with the executive's skill set. This year, I was able to learn about how an association executive viewed the "sales" word, how my leisure reading could help me with my work life, and how there are free or low cost tools that can help with productivity. When I was an association executive, I always wished that more vendors would learn more about our profession - now I can walk the talk that I always felt was an important attribute for vendors and consultants.

The Exhibit Hall was an exciting experience. I was able to learn what the newest services and exciting venues were available to the association community - and meet the exhibitors who were there to help. The social events were fun, and St. Louis definitely went above and beyond to welcome and entertain us.

The association community was as warm and welcoming as always. My friends and colleagues shared with me as they have in the past - their successes, their opportunities, and their challenges. There is no "dark side" -- just a different perspective or viewpoint. The association community is definitely my home - and I love being part of this vital community. I look forward to my future interactions with association professionals in my new role with Marketing General Inc.