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 Association executives are not just interested in issues beyond the esoteric scope of the organizations they serve, when it comes to Social Responsibility, their proactive stance has worldwide parameters. The ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership, whose membership includes more than 22,000 association executives, meeting planners and industry partners representing more than 11,000 organizations—including trade associations, individual membership societies, and voluntary organizations, across the United States and in 50 countries around the globe—report a growing enthusiasm for its first Global Summit on Social Responsibility, to be held April 30-May 2, 2008.

"We are viewing this Global Summit as a tremendous opportunity for associations to take a leadership role in planning their future," said Susan Sarfati, CAE, president and CEO of The Center for Association Leadership and executive vice president of ASAE.

The Summit is intended to advance the case for social responsibility as a business model and strategic imperative on an international scale. The Summit, organizers hope, will generate guiding principles for associations looking to define and integrate Social Responsibility into their everyday operations. Although the specifics of the Summit are still being finalized, participants in the Summit are expected to identify the unique competencies that associations bring to the table and how those competencies can be effectively leveraged to help society.

"More than a buzz word, social responsibility is really evolving into smart business," said ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. "There are obvious benefits to associations consciously practicing social responsibility in a consistent, organized fashion. The Summit will help us identify what's already working and what's feasible in our community, so that we are setting both a short- and a long-term agenda for our profession."

United by an enthusiasm for planning our future and effecting positive change, hundreds of association industry stakeholders have already signed up for what is the first event of this kind. By mid-February, nearly 250 association professionals and industry partners were already registered to attend the Global Summit host site at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C. The Summit will be one of the first major meetings to be held after the venue’s opening. One of the most highly anticipated new meeting venues in the Mid-Atlantic region, the Gaylord National, located in Prince George’s County, Maryland (less than 10 miles from Washington D.C. features 1,500 guestrooms, more than 400,000 square feet of meeting/exhibition space and 74 breakout rooms.

Additional hundreds will interface with the Summit through dozens of connected sites across the world. Some of the confirmed connected sites in the U.S. will be at the offices or sponsored facility of the following organizations: Association Forum of Chicagoland, Chicago, Illinois; Connecticut Society of Association Executives, Marlborough, Connecticut; Florida Society of Association Executives /Tallahassee Society of Association Executives, Tallahassee, Florida; Georgia Society of Association Executives, Atlanta, Georgia; Midwest Society of Association Executives, St. Paul, Minnesota; Tennessee Society of Association Executives, Nashville, Tennessee; Texas Society of Association Executives, Austin, Texas; Visit Milwaukee /American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Washington Society of Association Executives, Seattle, Washington.

Other locations expected to be announced soon include: Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Cleveland, Ohio; New Orleans, Louisiana, New York, New York as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, Australia; Brussels, Belgium; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Bogotá, Columbia; London, England; Paris, France; Jakarta, Indonesia; Dublin, Ireland; Manila, Philippines; Singapore, Singapore; Barcelona, Spain; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"We feel very good already about the passion this topic evokes from our members, who have the power, expertise and collective resources to transform the world in a positive way," said Sarfati. "We really encourage more people to register for the Summit, because when it comes to outcomes from this Summit, the sky is truly the limit."

To learn more about ASAE & The Center's Global Summit on Social Responsibility visit: www.eshow2000.com/gssr/home.cfm;  to register online visit: www.asaecenter.org/globalsummitsr