Supplier News:
YourMembership has become a strategic partner of ASAE for three years in its Alliance Partnership Program. The partnership includes a collaboration to create new learning initiatives aimed at senior association leaders and technology officers.
MCI Middle East has been awarded with the 2016 Superbrand title for the third year running by the Superbrands Council in the United Arab Emirates. Superbrands is widely recognized as the worldwide independent authority and arbiter of branding excellence, which operates in 85 countries globally. MCI Middle East is based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and delivers a range of services including professional congress organization, association management, meetings and events.
R. Norris Orms will join search firm Vetted Solutions, working in its association, nonprofit, hospitality and destination marketing communities, and based in Chicago. Norris currently is COO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. He has held leadership roles in ASAE. He will transition to Vetted Solutions over the next several months. Contact him at Norris.Orms@VettedSolutions.com or 312 577 7606. Read his complete professional bio here.
HiredRoad Solution is conducting two association related surveys, on marketing and technology, and digital marketing.
Kathy Heneghan to hotel manager, Hilton Chicago. She has been the hotel’s catering and events director, events director and executive assistant manager. The 1,544-room hotel is completing a top-to-bottom renovation.
National Restaurant Association, National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, American Bar Association, West Virginia Association of Counties, Associated Builders and Contractors, American Postal Workers Union, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, Democracy Initiative, Every Voice Center, Food & Water Watch, Franciscan Action Network, Greenpeace, NAACP, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Student Debt Crisis, U.S. PIRG, Virginia Society of Association Executives, Lowell Aplebaum, Power of A Awards, Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, Cannabis Business Alliance, Meeting Professionals International, Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum, Karen Chupka, Sam Lippman, Deborah Sexton, Catherine Hunter, Melanie Shanfield, SmithBucklin, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, R. Norris Orms, Vetted Solutions and more, including Supplier News
Congratulations:
Catherine Hunter and Melanie Shanfield of SmithBucklin were honored by International Association of Exhibitions and Events with the 20 Under 30 award at the IAEE annual meeting in Baltimore in December. Hunter provides event services to the International DB2 Users Group and the Organization Development Network, among other SmithBucklin association clients. Hunter also volunteers as an executive committee member for the Special Olympics Illinois Chicago Young Professionals Board. Shanfield provides conference and annual meeting services to the Physician Hospitals of America and the Business-Higher Education Forum, and she is exhibit hall manager for the Regional Airline Association's annual convention, among other event-related services she provides to other association clients. She also serves as a volunteer event chair for the Relay for Life of the Beltway, a D.C. charity supporting the American Cancer Society.
Association News:
National Restaurant Association acquired of the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, which provides credentials in a variety of food safety disciplines.
NRFSP’s programs includeFe ood Safety Manager program, Food Safety Manager Certification (domestic and international), HACCP Manager Certification and Food Handler Training Certificate - accredited by the American National Standards Institute. National Restaurant Association will continue to offer the ServSafe program.
American Bar Association, by resolution of its House of Delegates, is urging the Supreme Court to “record and make available video recordings of its oral arguments.” The court has a longstanding policy of prohibiting video transmission of public argument sessions. The justices are free to reject ABA’s resolution. Previous policy statements issued by the bar group have encouraged the Supreme Court to explore lifting the ban.
West Virginia Association of Counties executive director Patti Hamilton came out in opposition to the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, at the annual Conference of Counties this week. After counties were successfully sued by people over religious claims, she contends the bill could lead to a flood of such suits. The WVAC board did not take a position. If passed, the law would provide a defense from people who were substantially burdened, or likely to be burdened, by state action and their political subdivisions, which could potentially lead to lawsuits if someone felt that their religious freedom was being violated by county, state or city policy, including nondiscrimination ordinances.
Associated Builders and Contractors supports a letter sent to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Howard Shelanski by 13 state attorneys general opposing the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed Persuader Advice Exemption Rule. ABC legislative affairs VP Kristen Swearingen said, “As proposed, the persuader rule would greatly limit the ability of employers to obtain advice from labor relations experts by narrowing the longstanding ‘advice’ exemption. The proposal will have a particularly onerous impact on small businesses, most of which do not employ in-house counsel, and will greatly limit the ability of employees to obtain balanced information about union representation.” ABC has opposed the persuader rule since it was first proposed in 2011.
More than 100 groups are organizing Democracy Awakening, a mobilization in D.C. scheduled on April 16-18, to press for reform proposals focused on restoring and expanding voting rights protections, and curbing the influence of wealthy interests and corporations on elections. Lead organizations include the American Postal Workers Union, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, Democracy Initiative, Every Voice Center, Food & Water Watch, Franciscan Action Network, Greenpeace, NAACP, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Student Debt Crisis and U.S. PIRG. Click here for a list of endorsing organizations.
Virginia Society of Association Executives March Monthly Seminar will be on 8:30-11 a.m. March 4 at the Embassy Suites Richmond Hotel. This interactive seminar will discuss the volunteer lifecycle, pitfalls to avoid, and sustainable volunteer programs. Attendees will leave the session with a better understanding of how to lead and create amazing experiences for their volunteers. Content leader will be Lowell Aplebaum, CAE, COO of American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, and a past Young & Aspiring Association Professional.
Deadline for ASAE’s 2016 Power of A Awards is April 30. The Power of A Awards highlight the association community’s most valuable contributions to society on the local, national and global level. If you are named a Summit Award winner, your association will be formally recognized this October at ASAE’s annual Summit Awards Dinner. Details: Mary Kate Cunningham, mcunningham@asaecenter.org.
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society executive director Joy Braunstein resigned amid a Change.org petition calling for her resignation or removal. Braunstein allegedly offered $1,000 to a breeder to purchase a collie puppy. “It is the height of hypocrisy to be the face of an organization that promotes adoption and combats overpopulation while purchasing a dog from a breeder,” wrote the anonymous creator of the petition on Change.org. After news of the collie adoption surfaced, board members placed Braunstein on paid administrative leave. Braunstein had been executive director since January 2015.
Cannabis Business Alliance reports the cannabis industry sales for 2015 in Colorado was more than $996 million, an increase of more than 42 percent over the previous year. Colorado’s legal cannabis industry in has put the state in the black, with tax revenues and fees for 2015 topping $135 million.
Meeting Professionals International selected Granada, Spain, for the 2017 European Meetings & Events Conference, March 5-7. MPI last hosted a conference in Spain in 2010 in Malaga. To register interest and receive updates on next year’s conference, click here.
Eleven “A List” executive presenters and panelists are confirmed for the 15th annual Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum, June 1 at the JW Marriott in Washington. Attendance is limited to 200 CEOs, executives directors, presidents, and VPs from associations and for-profit organizers. Among the speakers and panelists are Karen Chupka, SVP, Consumer Technology Association, who will share the wisdom that has taken the CES show to the top in the opening keynote address; Sam Lippman, president, Lippman Connects, will use research from Exhibit Surveys and best practices from Attendee Acquisition Roundtables on how to find, attract and retain quality attendee; and Deborah Sexton, CEO, Professional Convention Management Association, on a panel discussion about New Event Realities. For complete information on the sessions, click here.