ASAE partnership announced for IMEX America

Continuing to bring top-notch partnerships into the IMEX America fold, show organizers have announced a partnership with ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership. IMEX America is America’s new worldwide exhibition for the incentive travel, meetings and events industry debuting October 11-13 in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo and Venetian/Palazzo.

As an IMEX partner, ASAE, together with ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association), will deliver the education for IMEX America’s Association Day, which will provide free of charge tailored education and networking specifically for association meeting planners and executives.

The program includes a themed session on ‘Reshaping an Association’s Value Proposition in a Transnational World’ by Glenn Tecker, chairman and co-CEO of Tecker International; plus a special three hour ‘Deep Dive’ session exploring the ‘shifting landscape of business models and membership in an uncertain future’. The Deep Dive will be led by Susan Robertson, executive vice president of ASAE. She will be joined by Scott Steen, executive director of American Forests Association and Jay Younger, managing partner and chief consultant at McKinley Marketing Inc.

ASAE’s role in IMEX America’s Association Day will be central in creating a stimulating program of education, peer-to-peer learning and networking for association executives. The program will be dedicated to the issues, expertise and new developments that are most important to these professionals. Association Day will take place on October 10, 2011 as part of “Smart Monday” – a day of cutting edge industry education and co-located learning events being held in Las Vegas the day before IMEX America opens. Following IMEX America’s Association Day will be IMEX America Association Evening – a valuable opportunity for association executives to network with key IMEX exhibitors and partners before the show has opened.

“ASAE is a powerhouse in the associations and events world and we are delighted to have them in the driver’s seat of our Association Day program,” said Ray Bloom, IMEX Chairman. “Their reputation for being a go-to organization for high level educational resources, tools and industry insights will serve all attendees well – and their members attending as hosted buyers and beyond will add a critical dimension to the IMEX America buzz and, importantly, our business value.”

Additionally, as part of their IMEX America partnership, ASAE will also seek to bring a significant number of its members to the IMEX America show as hosted buyers. These special guests will come from a strong ASAE membership of 22,000 US and global executives representing over 11,000 leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations.

The IMEX hosted buyer model has been established over the past nine years in Europe at IMEX in Frankfurt and will be a new, exciting model for North American attendees at IMEX America. It ensures delivery of more than 2,000 of America and the world’s top-spending meetings, incentives and association buyers – the largest-ever hosted buyer gathering at a US tradeshow.

About 80 percent of these buyers will be from the US and all will place business both in domestic and international markets. The remaining 20 percent will come from the rest of the world, with a special interest in buying in the US. Together, these buyers create an extremely powerful draw for the show’s exhibitors.

“ASAE is the leader in providing high value and high level of education content for the association community,” said ASAE president and CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. “We look forward to providing a robust slate of educational sessions focused on the association and nonprofit community for the Association Day portion of IMEX America. We are pleased to be a part of IMEX America’s debut in the US, and to providing a terrific experience for the ASAE Hosted Buyer group.”