Washington, DC – The highest-attended event in seven years was set this week when the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting & Exposition drew 5,975 delegates to Nashville August 9-12. Nearly one-fourth of the attendees said they were visiting Nashville for the first time.
The attendance breakdown included 3,159 executives, 1,897 exhibitor personnel and 919 others including guests, spouses and staff members, offering a buyer-to-seller ratio of 63 to 37. The expo featured 707 exhibit booths from 441 companies including technology and business providers as well as representatives from trade show destinations such as Las Vegas, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Denver, St. Louis, Dubai and South Korea. The group also raised $23,554 for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee during the event.
During the annual meeting, plans were unveiled for advocacy in 2015 on the issues of tax reform; the importance of government employee attendance at meetings; proposed reporting rules for nonprofit organizations; and support for the next phase of the national Meetings Mean Business program launched in 2009 by the U.S. Travel Association.
Prior to the start of the show, ASAE announced the winners of its 2014 Power of A Awards that were chosen from 100 entrants and will be recognized at ASAE’s Summit Awards October 1. The winners: the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; Society for Neuroscience; Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin; Professional Ski Instructors of America – American Association of Snowboard Instructors; and United Fresh Produce Association.
Next year’s Annual Show & Exposition is set for August 8-11 in Detroit. In 2016, the show will be held in Salt Lake City and in 2017 in Toronto.
Reach John Graham, President and CEO, ASAE at (202) 626-2741 or jgraham@asaecenter.org
