Gulf Coast Groups Hold Conference
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 10/2/2006
Association executives in states most affected by Hurricane Katrina will gather for the first time ever to hash out issues they now have in common.
With the help of the American Society of Assn. Executives & the Center, organizations from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are sponsoring the Tri-State Conference, to be held Oct. 4–6 at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Sandestin, Fla. It will include a tradeshow that is expected to attract more than 60 exhibitors offering meeting space, technology, printing services, and computer software and hardware.
The Alabama Council of Assn. Executives, Mississippi Society of Assn. Executives and Louisiana Society of Assn. Executives all had displaced members and canceled programs because of the hurricane and its aftermath, according to LSAE Executive Director Barry Brantley. The conference was designed by leaders of the three state groups and ASAE, which contacted potential speakers on the groups' behalf and asked them to donate their fees to the impacted communities. Brantley said all the speakers agreed to do so. ASAE subsidized the speakers' travel expenses.
Educational topics will include the impact and importance of associations in America, creating web sites and public relations materials, and bridging the generation gap.
