GSAE takes the health and safety of our members and attendees seriously. Given the fluid nature of this evolving situation, we urge everyone to utilize reliable sources of information. Click on the "Learn More" link for a compilation of resources courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WHO, our colleagues at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership, and other sources we have deemed both up to date and relevant. 
 
At this time, GSAE is not planning to cancel any of our scheduled spring meetings, including the 2020 Annual Meeting, May 27-29, in Savannah. However, we may postpone a few additional small events that may otherwise have occurred this quarter. 

Register today!

*If you plan to donate to the Annual Meeting Gift Card Pull, bring your donated card to the April Luncheon for a chance to win a prize!

Laura Camacho, PhD, PMP
Corporate Strategist | Trainer | Culture Fixer
Topic: The Conversations that Make or Break Your Culture

Schedule
10:30 am - 11:30 am - Member Orientation
11:30 am - 12:00 pm - Networking Reception
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - Luncheon and Keynote 
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm - Meetings SIG Roundtable

Cost
GSAE Members - $39 Early Bird ($49 after April 10)
Guests - $49 Early Bird ($59 after April 10)

Thank you to our sponsor: Jekyll Island Authority Convention & Visitors Bureau		Thank you to our host: Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia		Thank you to our AV sponsor:  PRG

Annual meeting registration is open! 

• May 27-29 at the Hyatt Regency Savannah
• Up to 11 CAE hours with a pre-con workshop (9 without)
• Use this downloadable form to register multiple people from the same organization.

Registration Pricing:

• Registration for GSAE association executive member or other state, local or regional SAE member - $399
• Registration for GSAE corporate supplier member - $659-$2,909
• Registration for additional attendee from same organization - $299

Reserve your hotel room!
Overflow Properties:
Andaz Savannah - Book now
Rate is $199 before taxes and fees

The Alida Hotel - Book now
Rate is $189 before taxes and fees 

*The Hyatt Regency Savannah is currently sold out.

Congratulations to MemberClicks who was ranked sixth in Capterra's Top 20 Membership Management solutions. Read more.

 MemberClicks was also recognized for the fourth consecutive year as a Top Workplace in Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Read more.

Congratulations to Karen Donatelli and the entire Omni Hotel at The Battery Atlanta sales team for being awarded Omni's Sales Team of the Year.

Erin Whitsitt, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, is pleased to announce the opening of the new Robert A.M. Stern Architects-designed West Beach Conference Center. Offering 24,000 square feet of pre-event and meeting space, including the 10,000-square-foot Carolina Ballroom (divisible by air-walls into six smaller units) and eleven breakout rooms, the West Beach Conference Center raises Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s meetings bar higher than ever. Read more.

Wild Dunes Resort has plans to expand with the Sweetgrass Inn, a 153-room hotel encompassing four acres. The Inn is slated to be completed in 2021 and will feature an 8,000-square-foot grand ballroom with pre-function and terrace space and a 3,000-square-foot rooftop ballroom featuring a 6,000-square-foot terrace with stunning panoramic ocean views. Read more.

The Marriott Savannah Riverfront is newly redesigned with 391 reinvented guest rooms, 23 indoor and outdoor event spaces for up to 1,600 guests, and a redesigned atrium. Read more.

Congratulations to Michele Moker with Omni Richmond for being recognized as Omni's Salesperson of the Year!

Congratulations to Sharon Hopkins who is the new General Manager at Tru by Hilton.

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for upcoming events, including Meetings SIG Networking Reception on March 19, Wine and Webinars on March 25, Communications SIG Reception on April 2, webinars and more.

Learn more.

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.

• March 18: Essential Elements of Association Management: Membership Recruitment & Retention 
• March 25: The Missing Link to Building Member Loyalty
• April 22: The Board's Duty of Foresight in The Turbulent Twenties
• April 29: Tips & Tools for Eye-Catching Marketing  
• May 14: Essential Elements of Association Management: Legal Considerations in Association Management

Donating to the silent auction is a great way to show your support and raise funds to help continue GSAE’s mission of advancing the profession of association management and enhancing the professionalism of association executives. We're asking all GSAE members and friends for support of the Silent Auction this year. Any donation of any size will be most appreciated and welcomed - we can even package smaller donations together to create a fabulous gift basket or experience!

Making an Encore Appearance at the 2020 Annual Meeting: The wildly popular Gift Card Pull! Consider donating a $20-$100 gift card from any national chain (Target, Whole Foods, Amazon, iTunes, TJ Maxx, etc.). Attendees can purchase as many "pulls" as they’d like - with a guaranteed win every time! Gift cards will be drawn throughout the conference. *Bring your donated gift card to the April 15 GSAE Luncheon to be entered into a drawing!*

• Begins July 15 before the summer luncheon, then meets via ZOOM through September
• $89 for GSAE members
• Includes Review session and Mock CAE Exam
• Based on ASAE's Study Guide
• Alternate CAE courses are available at the member price in partnership with Michigan Society of Association Executives

Learn more and register.

Any organization in Georgia that employs at least one GSAE member may apply. The applications are due May 1 and will be judged on the quality of the internship experience described in the application rather than on the qualifications of the student who will fill the internship. It is the responsibility of the organization to recruit a qualified student to fill the internship, but this may be done after the GSAE Foundation announces which applications will be funded.

Watch this video and visit gsae.org/internship-grants to learn more about the internship grant program. And, please consider making a donation to the GSAE Foundation.

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 will spend 8 to 11 weeks 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 Adam Paige, Internship and Recruiting Coordinator, UGA School of Public & International Affairs, if your organization would like to hire one of these interns for an upcoming semester. You may connect with him at apaige@uga.edu or (706) 542-2924.

• April 15 Quarterly Luncheon at Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, sponsored by Jekyll Island Authority
• May 27-29 Annual Meeting at Hyatt Regency Savannah
• July 15 Summer Luncheon at Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Decatur Downtown/Emory sponsored by Louisville Tourism
• September 16 Quarterly Luncheon, The Abit Massey Lecture Series, at American Hotel, a DoubleTree by Hilton, sponsored by Visit Savannah
• November 11 Quarterly Luncheon at Atlanta Marriott Northwest
• December 9 Holiday Luncheon, Awards Show, Silent Auction & Annual Business Meeting

Please contact us ASAP if your property would like to host a luncheon and show off your meeting space in 2020!

Gain access to the only 24/7/365 online compensation benchmarking tool designed exclusively for executives of professional, trade and service-centric associations/nonprofits.

• Compare your organization's key operational metrics to others across the industry
• Evaluate valuable KPI's, including salaries, benefits, positions/departments, and more!
• Generate customized reports to inform decisions and keep your organization competitive

Since 2005, Georgia Society of Association Executives (GSAE) has been a member of Association Societies Alliance (ASA), an association for executives of state, local and regional societies of association executives (SAEs) across the country.

Through ISAE's partnership with ASA, GSAE has conducted a compensation and benefits survey biennially since 2013. Moving forward, this information will now be gathered through a 24/7/365 online platform, powered by Dynamic Benchmarking. By extension of GSAE's membership with ASA, the Real-Time Compensation Benchmarking tool is available to all GSAE members.

Entering data will always be free. For the first year (2020), generating customizable reports will also be free to all users. Effective January 1, 2021, users will be able to access reports through an annual subscription discounted for GSAE members.

Get started now!

• Starting in 2020, anyone renewing their CAE will be required to fulfill one of their 40 credits with an ethics-focused credit. 
• A new exam content outline will be available in March 2020 and will first be used for the December 2020 exam.
• The exam will transition to a computer based testing format, anticipating the switch to be in place for the May 2020 exam. This does not mean that candidates will receive results immediately. After the exam, questions will be statistically analyzed to identify any hidden flaws and how that question should be scored. Results are expected to be mailed to candidates approximately 6 weeks after the testing window closes.
• There will now be a two week window to take the exam every May and December, with the test being administered at scheduled test sites and at Scantron testing centers.

Learn more.

The theme this year is InTECHgration. Three keynote speakers will discuss how to increase your online presence with the integration of technology and social media to enhance your exposure and grow revenue. After the speakers, several tech savvy exhibitors will participate in a Tech Playground where you can learn the latest and greatest in events and technology followed by a networking happy hour all with the Braves Stadium as the backdrop of this event.

Special member rate extended to GSAE members!

• Register for the 2020 Tech Summit as a Non-Member Attendee.
• When promoted, enter the proper promo code, TechSummit-GSAE and a $20 discount will be applied to the registration (the $20 is the difference between the non-member and member rate)

Learn more and register.

The Tax Exempt Association Group will meet March 31 at Maggiano's in Buckhead for their monthly meeting: "How to Prepare a Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for Your Nonprofit" with Brian T. Muia, Jones and Kolb. The cost per person is $25. RSVP by noon on March 26 to Molly Amos at mca@joneskolb.com or (404) 262-7920. 

Join us Thursday, April 14, 2020 for Atlanta's 5th annual Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) celebration. This event brings together leaders from across the meetings and events industry to showcase the real impact that business meetings, conferences, conventions, incentive travel, trade shows and exhibitions have on people, business and communities.

Learn more and register.

Join our technology partner, MemberClicks, April 22-24 at The W Atlanta Midtown for a three-day learning event for association professionals, complete with educational breakouts, hands-on training (if you’re using one of their membership management systems), and networking opportunities galore. A few of their staff members will be attending so they can better serve you in the years to come!

$150 discount available for GSAE member association executives (#luckycrickets, y'all are). Log into your profile and click on Member Offers or contact our office anytime. 

Learn more and register.

One full day of non-dues revenue leadership, ideas, case studies, demos and tons of fun - including beer at lunch and a Tennessee Whiskey Tasting Experience. If you're thinking traditional methods of non-dues, think again! Only game changers are allowed through these doors. 

$100 discount available for GSAE member association executives (#luckycrickets, y'all are). Log into your profile and click on Member Offers or contact our office anytime. 

Learn more and register.