 Record breaking attendance and an upbeat atmosphere marked the 2007 Annual Meeting & Exposition of the ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. This annual convention, held in August at McCormick Place, Chicago, had more than 7,000 attendees and has been declare the organization’s largest meeting ever.
"The fact that our meeting continues to grow in leaps and bounds reflects the incremental value attendees find in the educational offerings, networking opportunities and overall experience," said John H. Graham IV, CAE, President & CEO, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
Total attendance reached 7,058 (3,755 association executives and 2,350 exhibitors), breaking two longstanding  records in the categories of total attendance and association executives. Previously, the record for a total attendance of 6,221 was set in San Diego in 1999, and the record for largest association executive attendance of 3,438 was set in Washington, DC in 1995. The last time ASAE & The Center's annual meeting took place in Chicago was in July 1997 and drew over 5,400 total attendees.
 "Chicago has been a terrific host city, making sure attendees experienced superb service over the four days, said Graham. "From the positive feedback we already received on our four major initiatives in FY08—social responsibility, philanthropy, international and diversity—attendees are eagerly awaiting next year's meeting in San Diego."
One the most exciting and topical events at the convention was the General Session: "An International Perspective, A Voice at Home," with Bob Woodruff, which featured ABC war correspondent Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee and Ann Compton, ABC News White House Correspondent. 
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 The organization’s new fundraiser, Food & Wine Classic—which replaced the Club Energy and the Partnership Dinner—was reported to be a success, attracting more than 1,900 attendees and raising $250,000 to benefit The Center's educational programming. In addition, the Silent Auction raised $177,279 through nearly 1,000 bids on 170 prizes.
Additionally, the "Associations Solutions Marketplace" expo hall sold-out at 885 booths—a nine percent  increase over last year's meeting in Boston. "As if these numbers aren't outstanding enough, we also welcomed our largest international delegation to date, as 223 attendees came from Aruba, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Zambia," said Susan Sarfati, CAE, President & CEO, The Center for Association Leadership and Executive Vice President, ASAE. "While we continue to focus on issues and challenges facing associations in the United States, it's quite remarkable that organizations in other countries also turn to us as 'the' center for business intelligence." |
