ASAE 2011 – Annual Meeting: Center for Association Leadership

This was a HOT conference in more ways than one. With the temperatures in the 90s and the humidity in the 80% range, we were all glad to be inside the air conditioned America's Center in St. Louis. Despite the air conditioned convention center, it was still HOT inside.

During the conference there were plenty of HOT topics, including social media, membership engagement and at the top of the list - Cloud Computing. The "How Cloud Computing Can Help Your Association Service, Retain and Grow Membership" session was well attended and gave everyone in the audience a basic understanding of the value of cloud-based computing and the services that they can take advantage of to grow and retain their membership. I noticed several people who attended that session on Sunday, August 7th came by the Intacct booth in the exposition hall on Monday, wanting to know more about Cloud Computing and giving us the opportunity to discuss the hottest cloud-based financial and accounting solution for Nonprofits. Many of these organizations are looking to replace their current on-premises financial systems with cloud computing solutions that can offer them the automated control, flexibility and business visibility to efficiently run their organizations.

Speaking of running their organizations more efficiently, I also attended the "Get to Know the Top Five HOTTEST Association Technologies" session. It was so popular I had to sit on the floor because they ran out of space for everyone. Guess what was #1 on the list? Cloud Computing. The audience learned how cloud computing technologies are changing the way associations do business. Like the above Sunday session, the speakers focused on demystifying the five hottest technologies and conveying the benefits of each in layman's terms. Hallelujah – let's keep it simple. Most importantly, all three speakers made the same point about cloud computing – let it transform your association to make your operations more cost-effective and provide you the opportunity to grow your organization with hot innovative solutions.
I am sure next year's ASAE 2012 will be just as HOT – Dallas in August – in more ways than one!!