MSAE

Several of us from MAAR went to the 52nd Annual Meeting & Technology EXPO of the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE) on Thursday, May 22. MSAE, as stated on their website, "offers cost-effective education and resources specifically targeted to association executives. MSAE is a full-service organization devoted exclusively to the promotion, advancement and the development of association professionals and the organizations they serve."

If you think about it, that sounds kind of kooky, doesn't it? A sort of association for associations. What's their parent organization, the Conglomeration of Societies of Association Executives? An association for associations that serve associations?

Well, I'm happy to report that this was a pretty fabulous meeting put on by a tightly run organization that sticks to its objectives very well. MSAE really stuck to their expo theme of "Release Your Inner Geek" all day long, from the Keynote Speaker, Don Raleigh, President of Evolve Systems, to putting most of the day's presentation materials on a jump drive for later reference (and less paper!), to a fast and furious set of roundtables dedicated to all manner of tech topics, to a skeptic-busting presentation on the physiology of marketing by Dr. Jerry Teplitz.

Our own Bill Gertz, Vice President of Public Affairs, served as MSAE Board of Directors Chair for the last year, and it was great to see him in action, even if it kind of felt like he was cheating on us MAARtians.

You wouldn't think that a loose association of association workers who spend their working hours thinking about things like real estate (MAAR), forestry (Minnesota Forest Industries), trucking (Minnesota Trucking Association) and all things Norwegian (Sons of Norway) would have so much in common, but we do. Because we're all in our respective positions at associations for the purpose of organizing, promoting and serving our industries and industry professionals.

To that end, we all want the best information on how to manage our businesses better via marketing, publications, data management, surveying, communications and technology. Technology, specifically, was a primary reason we were there.

We learned some great new stuff that we'll be implementing over the next couple of years, some of it immediately.

And, woo hoo, we won an award for technology—namely an award for this here blog, The Skinny.

Our blog is a relative newcomer, but we're proud of the immediate bang it has made in the Twin Cities housing market and perhaps beyond. Thanks for taking the time to stop in and read what we have to say.