Tuesday Buzz: ASAE Takes Great Ideas to Hong Kong

As you probably already know, great ideas have great reach.

So, too, does ASAE’s Great Ideas conference. Two weeks after the hallmark annual event wrapped up in Orlando, the conference got a second wind halfway around the world. The first Great Ideas Asia-Pacific Conference  (opens in a new tab), which took place in Hong Kong this week, brought fascinating insights—and some of the association world’s smartest minds—to the region.

The event drew association pros from around the world, including executives from throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Many of the attendees came from Hong Kong, China, Korea, and Australia.

The 175 attendees—two-thirds of whom were association execs—generally focused on executive management and administration issues. For half of the attendees, it was their first ASAE event ever.

Turkish coffee to get started thanks to Dubai Association Centre #IdeasAP15  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/puORX0AV63  (opens in a new tab)

— Jason Rowe (@jas_rowe) March 24, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

For those traveling long distances, there were opportunities to recover from jet lag—such as drinking Turkish coffee, which was on the menu on Tuesday.

#IdeasAP15  (opens in a new tab) how fun! pic.twitter.com/prRWLrWWBN  (opens in a new tab)

— Dorothy (@PurpleHeartD) March 23, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

And, of course, there was some local culture on display during the event.

Did you make it to Hong Kong? If so, what was your favorite part of the Great Ideas Asia-Pacific Conference?

Why You Should Own Your Domain Names

Campaign 404: http://t.co/lkqJw1qgcA  (opens in a new tab) is not ready for 2016 http://t.co/0DF7zqvqUi  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/HUme1e8ABe  (opens in a new tab)

— Mashable (@mashable) March 23, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

You might have heard yesterday that Ted Cruz is running for president—the first big name to officially throw his hat into the ring.

Whether you’re fan or foe, finding info about Cruz’s presidential campaign may be difficult. It turns out he doesn’t own a couple of web domains  (opens in a new tab) that you’d assume were his. One domain, TedCruz.com  (opens in a new tab), features content supporting President Obama and  immigration reform, while another, TedCruzForAmerica.com  (opens in a new tab), is a redirect to Healthcare.Gov. Cruz had to put his web presence on a less-appetizing dot-org domain  (opens in a new tab).

Domains can get expensive, but when your brand is everything, not owning the ones specifically relevant to your interests can prove damaging.

The lesson? Be less like Ted Cruz and more like Taylor Swift, who has been purchasing domain names  (opens in a new tab) that could hurt her reputation if they were in the wrong hands.

Other Links of Note

Workload driving you crazy? Don’t let it. Over at the Crew blog, Belle Beth Cooper offers tips on how to stop “workload paralysis.”  (opens in a new tab)

To get members to vote in your board election, make sure that they’re getting reminders, notes Votenet’s Jenn Barton  (opens in a new tab).

We’ve reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, which means that now’s a good time to think about lists of 16 things. MemberClicks’ Callie Walker has a great one about things that are killing your member engagement  (opens in a new tab).

Welcoming attendees: Anthony Lau, Hong Kong Tourism Board; ASAE Board Chair Susan K. Neely, CAE; and ASAE CEO John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE. (ASAE photo)