Conference Circuit: ASAE’s Big Annual Event

The 2014 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Nashville, Tennessee, is right around the corner. But what are you going to do when you’re not attending the conference? The city has a plethora of options to keep your schedule booked for days on end, it’s just a matter of gathering your agenda before ASAE events fill your entire docket.

To walk off all of that rich Southern food, explore the city’s green spaces, which ranked among the nation’s best in a recent USA Today report  (opens in a new tab). Just a few blocks from the Music City Center is the Music City Walk of Fame Park  (opens in a new tab), which is appropriately beside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum  (opens in a new tab), both of which are perfect spots for some pre- or post-conference exploration. And north of the Music City Center is the Tennessee State Capitol, which looks over Victory Park and the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

And for the less musically inclined, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts  (opens in a new tab) offers a more introspective slate of surrealist  (opens in a new tab) and animated  (opens in a new tab) exhibitions.

For more ideas on what to do when you’re not engaged with ASAE’s conference, Association pro Deirdre Reid has been keeping a running tally of culinary options  (opens in a new tab), along with a peek into the city’s vibrant spirits scene  (opens in a new tab).

The Week Ahead

August 10-16: We’ll go out on a limb and guess the Society of American Archivists will keep a pretty good record of goings-on at its annual meeting in Washington, DC  (opens in a new tab). Given the record-high attendance, it looks like the group’s “Making Your Case to Attend  (opens in a new tab)” suggestions worked like a charm.

August 7-10: As if there were any question whether there’s truly an association for everything, the National Flute Association will hold its 42nd annual meeting  (opens in a new tab) in Chicago.

August 10-14: The 248th (yes, 248th!) American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition  (opens in a new tab) is set to begin in San Francisco, and to make the vast number of events, workshops, and locations more digestible for attendees, organizers are sending Prof. Molenium, ACS’ mascot  (opens in a new tab), around the conference grounds to encourage attendees to relax, participate in giveaways, engage with the community, and, of course, take selfies.

Down the Line

September 25-27: As more and more associations get into the content game, it’s important to make sure you’re learning from the best creators of online content around: the journalistic community. This year’s annual Online News Association conference and award ceremony  (opens in a new tab) will take place in Chicago, but as one would expect, given the attendees, there will be plenty of ways to follow the buildup and execution of the event. Already the association has Facebook  (opens in a new tab), Twitter  (opens in a new tab), YouTube  (opens in a new tab), and Tumblr  (opens in a new tab), just to name a few.

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