Associations Congress 18 October 2016
Meet the association congress man
AEM talks to Damian Hutt , executive director of the Association of Association Executives ( AAE )
When did you first launch your Associations Congress project and how has it grown ? We launched in 2007 and developed the Associations Congresses each year , and have now expanded our remit to include a portfolio of events internationally . In terms of the UK , we are celebrating our 10th year in 2016 . The UK congress has grown from 40 attendees in 2007 to 400 this year . We expect it to continue to grow substantially as associations recognise the benefit of sharing best practice and case studies between different sectors .
What were the early challenges , successes , and what are the top challenges today ? Although there are similarities between associations , they can vary tremendously in size , type , sector and challenges faced . In order to provide for these , we have had to include a very broad range of topics relevant to multiple functions within associations .
In terms of successes , the development of tailored content streams has been a real winner , delivering real value to delegates and members by offering up material appropriate to different functions , such as CEO , events managers , membership etc . This would not have been possible without a skilled team and I have been fortunate enough to have colleagues who were prepared to support us as we grew , even though at first we couldn ’ t afford them all-year around . Given what I have learned along the way , I would summarise my top tips as follows :
• Employ the best programme developers you can afford to research what your members ’ greatest challenges are
• Focus on identifying case studies that solve problems raised , in the context of quality , sales and profit
• Don ’ t be led astray by a programme committee - verify what your committee suggests by research with your members
• Limit the proportion of the programme that focuses on addressing non-expressed needs to no more than 20 %
• Ensure that your members are the delegates and they are potential buyers of services from your target exhibitors ; and that these suppliers pay a premium to access the event
• Use a proper CRM sales tool and trained sales people
• Make sure you create sponsor packages that add value to the delegates ’ experience .
How did you bring your former work and experience to bear on the associations congress project ? Is it all about networking ? Networking and contacts are of course valuable and I certainly had some great contacts to get me started , which has been critical . Having worked as an event organiser and marketer of service providers within events since 1992 , I was able to leverage 25 years ’ experience to help get things off the ground . I brought the skill and experience of developing congresses , contacts with the association community and experience of managing associations and their events from my time at Informa plc .
Did association meetings suffer as much as corporate events during the recession and how are they faring now ? Associations never suffered so much . Corporates tend to be more fickle , slashing whole events programmes as companies ’ revenues fall by single digit percentages . In my view , corporates don ’ t fully understand their event ROI ; they have never got to the bottom of how their events contribute to sales and profit , so they are quicker to make the decision to cut them !
Associations do see a reduction in the number of smaller events and attendance levels , but the main conferences and events are at the heart of member networking , the greatest physical presence an association has .
Events provide such a huge educational value for associations that members don ’ t forsake them . Members are more likely to still go to their association ’ s conferences and not others .
Continuous Professional Development is still a requirement for professional bodies and many points are earned at conferences .
There is no denying that much of the conference industry , commercial , publications and associations , has seen an across-the-board reduction in attendance of high single digits . Delegate fees have been under pressure and consequently costs and services reduced . This is cyclical ; it ‘ cuts out the fat ’ so to speak . Ultimately this trend produces better value for the delegate . Each time around this drives efficiencies in use of technology , but I believe the ultimate tech for conference organisers is still many years away .