The Power of A

Of the many professional benefits to attending American Associations Day, one of the most important for association professionals is the ability to create relationships with members of Congress and their staff from your state.  The meetings that an attendee has with lawmakers and their staff can be the beginning of an important partnership between offices to work on mutual issues of interest, both association management issues and your own association’s issues.

However, the fly-in is particularly advantageous to associations located in smaller states as it allows them more time to create a relationship with their Congressional delegation.  Susan Bitter Smith, CAE, is the Executive Director of the Arizona- New Mexico Cable Telecommunications Association and an annual fly-in attendee.  When she was asked why she values attending American Associations Day, this was her response:

I am a veteran of the ASAE DC Fly-In.  I continue to come because it truly is vitally important for a Member of Congress and Congressional staff to put faces to the names that sign e-mails and letters to them on issues     Arizona and New Mexico do not have a large numbers in their Congressional delegation so I may actually get an opportunity to see the elected Member when they are back home. The people I don’t get to see at home are the members of the Washington staff and they are truly key in getting our concerns across. In this day of instant communication via technology (certainly important to my Association members!) I still believe eye to eye communication has the most value!  The only way to do that is to take time out and make the trip to D.C.!

Association executives, staff, and volunteer leaders can make those important connections at American Associations Day, March 23-24 2010.  Please take a moment to register for the event and apply for a scholarship, view the schedule of events, and even download a guide to why you should attend the event.