Brad Minton, Director of Sales, is thrilled to share that the Georgia World Congress Center Authority has selected the new Signature Hilton Brand for their headquarters hotel. Transformations to the world's largest LEED Gold-certified convention campus are underway in downtown Atlanta, as a part of GWCCA's Vision 2020. Along with the new hotel, significant developments to the greenest convention, sports and entertainment destination in the world include:

• A multiuse expansion hall creating more than 1 million GSF of contiguous exhibit space (nearly 1.5 million overall)
• The state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the city's largest special-events venue and home of Super Bowl LIII
• A $27 million re-envisioning of Atlanta's iconic Centennial Olympic Park

John Steffes, Association Sales Manager, Sonesta Gwinnett Place - Atlanta, is delighted to introduce Executive Chef Kevin Davis, who brings his culinary expertise to the hotel’s signature restaurants, ArtBar and Grapevine, as well as all special events held at the hotel. Chef Kevin brings more than 15 years of culinary experience to Sonesta. He has extensive prior culinary experience with Wyndham Worldwide Hotels & Resorts, beginning his career at Wyndham Baltimore Harbor Hotel in 2001.

Be among the first to book a meeting at the highly anticipated Expanded Wild Dunes Resort in 2021. The new Rooftop Meeting Venue expansion includes an 8,000 sq. ft. grand ballroom, a 3,000 sq. ft. rooftop ballroom event venue featuring a 6,000 sq. ft. terrace with stunning ocean views. With the new 153-room hotel, the resort will now offer a total of 400 guestrooms and suites in addition to 240 vactaion rental homes and condos. From now until June 30, 2019, receive our most valuable starting rates! Contact Will Anthony, National Sales Manager, or call (833) 502-8907 for details.

GSAE’s CAE Study Group will meet this summer via Zoom and in person. You must complete the CAE Study Group registration form to participate. The schedule will include the following dates: July 10 (in-person, prior to GSAE Summer Luncheon), July 19, July 26, August 2 (possibly in-person), August 16, August 23 and August 30; review session will be scheduled for September/October and a mock exam will be held Friday, November 1 (in person). Cost is $79 for GSAE and SAE members. Each session is eligible for CAE hours based on instruction time.

The class uses ASAE's CAE Study Guide, Kathleen M. Edwards, CAE, Executive Editor; price is $82. The guide includes an official CAE Practice Exam.

A SIG-apalooza is a collection of small Shared Interest Group (SIG) meetings. The SIGs are member-led groups organized around areas of interest. They offer a forum for peer-to-peer learning in a small group atmosphere. The SIGs are a great way for association executives and other nonprofit leaders to learn from colleagues about the issues relevant to them. Join us on July 10 at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown for the 2nd Annual GSAE SIG-apalooza Summer Luncheon!

• CAEs After Dark
• Communications SIG
• Emerging Professionals SIG
• Government Relations SIG
• Meetings SIG
• Small Association Staff SIG
• Fundraising/Development Professionals SIG
• Pajama Brigade SIG
• Tech Ninjas

Live webinars are worth 1 CAE hour. Did you know? More than 94 CAE-qualifying recorded webinars are available 24/7 on our GSAE website. 

• May 9 - Go from Worrier to Warrior. Practical and Fun Stress Reduction
• May 23 - Cross-Generational Member Engagement
• June 18 - Using Digital Analytics to Drive Your Association
• June 26 - The Non-Obvious Solution to the Employee Engagement Equation
• July 23 - Event Contract Negotiations
• August 7 - Who Is Afraid of the Big Bad Camera?

The GSAE Foundation is proud to partner with the University of Georgia on their Emerging Leaders Program. The program seeks to provide paid internship opportunities to first generation college students and students from diverse racial and economic backgrounds. These interns who will spend 8 to 11 weeks interning in the nonprofit sector or local or state government offices in Georgia. This is an incredible opportunity to gain experience in the areas of public policy, public services, public safety, and public well-being in the State of Georgia. Please reach out to Wendy over the summer if your organization would like to hire one of these interns.

You might have had a pink piggy bank when you were a kid. But did you manage to stuff it with $12,000 – and then give every penny away? Through their signature “Pay the Pig” fundraiser, the Georgia Society of Executives (GSAE) has raised more than $12,000 since 2015 for charities beloved by the cities that host their annual meeting. “Pay the Pig is about getting everyone engaged and giving back, and the price point is low enough that it’s easy to get people to participate,” Lori K. Spear, CAE said. “It’s accessible and affordable.” Read more (and see fun pictures)...

The Westin Poinsett Hotel and Visit Greenville, SC have nominated The Frazee Dream Center, a free preschool, after school and summer program for under-resourced children in downtown Greenville, to receive the money raised from Pay the Pig in 2019.

• July 10 Summer Luncheon at Renaissance Atlanta Midtown - sponsorship opportunity available!
• September 18 Quarterly Luncheon, The Abit Massey Lecture Series featuring GSAE past president Cynthia Mills, FASAE,CAE, CMC, CPC, CCRC, sponsored by Discover Dunwoody - hosting opportunity available!
• *Date Change: Thursday, November 7 Quarterly Luncheon & Tech Showcase, sponsored by Richmond Regional Tourism - hosting opportunity available!
• December 11 Holiday Luncheon, Awards Show, Silent Auction & Annual Business Meeting - hosting and sponsorship opportunities available!

Please contact us ASAP if your property would like to host or sponsor a luncheon in 2019!

If you need to lead discussions about the future of your industry or profession with volunteer leaders or staff, this is the resource for you. Looking Forward™ 2019 is the association sector's most recent, relevant and useful environmental scan of the association strategy environment.

For more information and to get your copy of the 38 page, in-depth report - Click HERE. Use the code GEORGIA for 25% off any purchase.

Looking Forward™ is the association sector’s leading environmental scan. The 8th Edition of the report is based on data collected from nearly 400 trade and professional association CEO’s and other senior executives. These leaders represent thousands of association members from more than 20 industry and professional sectors. It examines relevant differences between trade and professional associations. It highlights differences by association scope – from local to global.

For the first time ever, Looking Forward™ 2019 includes insights by association CEO’s into the strategies they believe will be critical to success. Looking Forward™ 2019 also incorporates a 6-year meta-study looking at changes in the association business environment over time. You may also be interested in our Futures Curriculum. This is a set of three, 1-hour webinars where we provide our interpretation of the results. Click HERE to access the Futures Curriculum. Again, use the code GEORGIA for 25% off.

BONUS: Join founder and president Dean West, FASAE as he walks you through the trend results, explains how they will impact your organization, and discusses solutions you can implement (or at least start discussing with your board and staff) at the GSAE Annual Meeting May 29-31 in Greenville, SC.

The ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition is where thousands of association professionals and industry partners gather to exchange time, resources, strategies, solutions, and more. Over three days of learning, growing, and finding inspiration, attendees are equipped with a year’s worth of support in their daily responsibilities as leaders in the association industry. August 10-13, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Visit asaecenter.org/AnnualMeeting for more details.

AENC, FSAE, GSAE, SCSAE, TNSAE and VSAE are hosting an attendee reception at Barley's Brewing Co. on Monday, August 12 before The Classic. Drop by between 5:15 and 6:30 pm for the opportunity to connect with your Southern SAE peers and industry partners. Check out GSAE's online calendar for directions to the reception.

Thank you to our Southern SAE Reception Sponsors & Host:

$149 Members $199 Non-Members

This survey is conducted every two years by a group of state, local and regional societies of association executives with support from Whorton Marketing & Research.

• Nearly 1000 associations across the U.S. participated in this year’s survey, including members and non-members of 23 SAEs.
• Each SAE report features its own data, state-wide or for its region.
• The national study compares compensation across states for 39 positions.  

The full national and state reports present detailed compensation overall by budget and staff ranges, geographic scope and membership structure, and by state. Available in PDF format. Order online - GSAE members should sign in to your profile for the discounted rate.