Wednesday, December 9 at 12 noon
Register today for the virtual livestream of the Awards Show for free.
*In-person registration has reached capacity.

GSAE recognizes excellence by offering a variety of awards to individuals, which will be presented during the Holiday Luncheon. Congratulations to this year's Award Recipients. Thank you for all your contributions to our success! 

Congratulations to GSAE's 2020 Award Recipients
Clifford M. Clarke Award - Jim Fowler, CAE
Alan R. Johnson Award - Mary J. Wheatley, IOM, CAE
Sharon Hunt Emerging Leader Award - Shan Haugabrook
Peggy Seigler Corporate Member of the Year Award - Maria Trammell
Stephen Styron Award - Amy Clark
Stephen Styron Award - Lori K. Spear, CAE
Skelton-Massey Award - Kelly J. McLendon, CAE
Chair's Award - Jennifer Thompson

Thank you to our host: Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia	Thank you to the voice of GSAE: Tom Branch, Lava Post Production	Thank you to our AV sponsor: PSAV

We need you to make our holiday silent auction a success! We understand that it may not be feasible for you to donate in quite the way you have in the past. However, every donation, no matter what, helps us reach our goal. 

The Silent Auction will again be virtual with mobile bidding, thanks to our friend Tony Rissley, Expo Auctions, and is a great way to showcase your property, product or service. Donating to the silent auction helps raise funds to continue GSAE's mission of advancing the profession of association management and enhancing the professionalism of association executives. 

WINE TOSS: We are planning on bringing back the wine toss again this year! Please consider donating a bottle(s) of wine, liquor and/or beer for the GSAE Wine Toss. Attendees will purchase rings to toss - whatever they ring, they win!

Please submit your donation form today. Thank you for your support!

The Atlanta Community Food Bank plays a vital role in our community, even more so in today's environment. Every $1 helps provide enough food for four meals. In conjunction with our annual holiday luncheon, we'll be accepting monetary contributions to the ACFB. Donate here.
*Donate before Thursday, December 10, 2020 and be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization (EIN/tax ID number 58-1376648). Donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Learn more.

This year, GSAE offered more than 57 event-based hours in Georgia, 15 Shared Interest Group meetings and 9 social happy hours. The Pay the Pig Raffle raised more than $6,700 for the United Way of the Coastal Empire and attendees and sponsors raised $5,000 to support the GSAE Foundation's internship grant program.

Thank you to our volunteer leaders, attendees, and everyone who gave of their time and talents to support our community this year. 

We look forward to a brighter 2021 and hope to see you soon!

Happy Holidays,
Wendy & Jennie

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

GSAE has conducted a compensation and benefits survey biennially since 2013 through our partnership with Association Societies Alliance (ASA). Moving forward, this information will now be gathered through a 24/7/365 online platform, powered by Dynamic Benchmarking. 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!

The Atlanta Apartment Association (AAA) held its Annual Food-A-Thon on November 13, collecting donations for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. This year, AAA provided more than 6 million meals to families in need and have provided more than 120 million meals since they began hosting their Food-A-Thon over 30 years ago. Learn more.

Meeting Expectations has launched Meetings Accomplished, a free, publicly available resource that captures key data on meetings that have safely and successfully taken place. The details can be filtered to make an informed evaluation, as well as to make the case to organizations considering whether to move forward with an in-person event. You are invited to use this resource and add your meetings to the list. Learn more.

A $6 million dollar renovation at Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center has just been completed offering newly designed accommodations. All rooms feature a cool, contemporary décor, rich wood furnishings, bright pops of Georgia Tech yellows and blues, and views of the Tech campus or Midtown Skyline. Come see for yourself and sink into a plush bed layered with premium linens and watch your favorite show on a high-definition 49” flat-screen TV or just gaze out at Midtown Atlanta’s vibrant streetscape. Take care of business at the dedicated work area or check in with the office using our complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access. Customized group offers are now available! The property's award-winning service was recently recognized with J.D. Power "Best Guest Satisfaction Among Third-Party Management Companies” for 2020. Congratulations to Sheryl Ehlers and the entire team!

Georgia Aquarium's new Shark! Predators of the Deep exhibit is now open. You can purchase discounted tickets using your Club Fish discount (must be logged in to access). Need a mental break for your virtual conference attendees? The Georgia Aquarium also offers virtual tours to provide a perfect respite for your folks to recharge and refresh. Contact Nadja Pitts for more information. 

Lisa Tennison, Group Sales Account Manager, is back to work at the Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island and has exciting news to share about the Sonesta Brand. Earlier this month, Sonesta acquired an additional 99 properties adding to its existing portfolio of Hotels, Resorts and Extended Stay properties. Spreading into new markets worldwide, Sonesta has even greater opportunities for its guests. Learn more or contact Lisa for details.

NexTech AR Solutions, a leading provider of virtual and augmented reality (AR) experience technologies and services for virtual and hybrid eCommerce, education, conferences and events, has acquired Map Dynamics. NexTech intends to sell its AR solutions to Map Dynamics' customers and offer a self-service, no touch option on top of its InfernoAR white glove service. As part of the acquisition NexTech will be hiring all the Map Dynamics talents. Learn more and watch an interview with NexTech AR's CEO on the acquisition. 

When you’re ready to venture out of town for a fall weekend getaway, an ATHventure awaits. From nature walks to patio talks, Athens offers ample opportunities for socially distant spaces.

ConventionSouth has announced the recipients of their Annual Readers’ Choice Awards. More than 8,000 readers and fans voted to name the elite list of the top 380 meeting sites and destinations in the South. Congratulations to all the winners, including more than 40 GSAE members! View recipients.

Congratulations to Kamilah Greene and her husband who welcomed a baby boy, Amir James Greene, on August 15. Baby and mom are healthy and happy!

We are pleased to announce the following slate of officers and GSAE Board of Directors members for 2021. Please note that this term of office, unless otherwise noted, will run for 2 years from January 1, 2021-December 31, 2022. 

CHAIR (automatic): Mary Wheatley, IOM, CAE
CHAIR-ELECT (automatic): Ashley Goodin, CAE
TREASURER: Mike Pennington, CAE
PAST CHAIR (automatic): Joel Peacock 

BEGINNING two-year terms on the Board:
Amy Kane, CAE 
Robin Lane, CAE 
Jason Moss 
Kevin Perry
CORPORATE MEMBER: Erin Hall, CAE      

COMPLETING terms on the Board in December 2021:                     
Jason Cline, CAE 
Kelly McLendon, CAE 
John Roch, CAE 
Val Smith, CAE
CORPORATE MEMBER: Jennifer Thompson 

The Nominating Committee endorses the slate for the 2021 GSAE Foundation Board of Trustees:
PAST Chair (automatic) - Jim Fowler, CAE 
CHAIR (automatic) - Tangela Monroe, CAE 
CHAIR-ELECT (automatic) - Tara Morrison, CAE, CMP 
TREASURER - Julia Boyd, CAE 
BOARD REPRESENTATIVE - Ashley Goodin, CAE 

Our thanks to our board members who will complete their terms this year. They will be recognized during the December 9 GSAE Business Meeting. They are Gene Stinson, CAE, PCED, CEcD, HLM; Leigh Beakley; Kamilah Greene; and Heather Hunt.                                      

Respectfully submitted, the 2021 GSAE Nominating Committee: Gene Stinson, CAE, PCED, CEcD, HLM; Joel Peacock; Mary Wheatley, IOM, CAE; Kara Bastarache, CAE; Julia Boyd, CAE; Shan Haugabrook; Tara Morrison, CAE, CMP; and Jacob Wilder, CAE.

• Hybrid - December 9 Holiday Luncheon, Awards Show, Silent Auction & Annual Business Meeting at Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia
• Zoom - December 16 Member Orientation
• Zoom - December 17 Pajama Brigade Virtual Happy Hour
• Zoom - December 18 Supplier Council: Finding a Job during COVID-19 and a Disruptive 2020
• Zoom - January 27 Tech Showcase Part II
• Register for all events via the GSAE calendar

Please contact us ASAP if your organization would like to sponsor events in December.

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.

Additional upcoming webinars:

• December 8 - Ethics and Inclusion in Challenging Times - qualifies for the 1 hour required ethics course for CAE renewals
• December 22 - The Curiosity of Change
• January 6 - Ally or Adversary? The Three Secrets to Cultivating Winning Relationships

Our COVID-19 resource page and Pajama Brigade resource page are available to our community. Resources include a GSAE in-person meetings tool kit and sample questions list to work through with a facility. We encourage our hotels, facilities, and CVBs to access these resources too. We are all partners in keeping our attendees and visitors safe and using data-based decision-making practices. 

Want to see what's happening with our members? Explore our Take 5 page. It includes the latest updates from our corporate supplier members plus virtual tours of all your favorite locations.

Recordings of our virtual meetings are available on our GSAE1917 YouTube Channel through GSAEtv.

As a reminder:

1. GSAE does not contract with third-party companies to sell our mailing list or member data. Please disregard any such fraudulent company solicitations. If you would like to rent GSAE's mailing list legitimately, you may access the contract on our forms page. We do not release your email address as part of the mailing list rental agreement - ever, per Board policy.
2. GSAE staff or officers will never ask you to transfer funds to a staffer, volunteer leader or member for any reason. If one of our leaders is actually traveling and runs into a spot of bother, they will contact a family member - not us, and not you.
3. While we may ask you to log in to your profile to register for an event or update your contact information, we will not ask you to send your social security number, bank account information, or credit card information directly to us. Electronic and paper invoices will direct you to our secure PCI-compliant payment page or to our fax number.
4. If you have any questions about the validity of a message from GSAE - from staff, our officers, our website or our enewsletter provider - please don't hesitate to contact us directly.

ASAE recently launched a new survey to collect data on financial and staff impact, event cancellation insurance, labor and demographics. These data will support their final push in 2020 and their initial advocacy surge in 2021. These data are invaluable for messaging in Congress, and we are extremely grateful for your patience and thoughtful responses. Learn more.

On Thursday, December 10 at 1 pm EST, MemberClicks will be hosting a webinar featuring a panelist discussion on initiatives they've launched to grow their membership, increase revenue, drive member engagement, and more. Panelists include:

• Kim McQueen with the American Association of Dental Office Management
• Vish Kalambur with the Association Management Center in Chicago
• Denise Hoolhorst with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

This webinar is worth 1 CAE credit, if you attend live. Register here.

American Associations Day is the only legislative fly-in where association professionals like you can connect with Congressional offices and share your story on important association issues. This year our issues will be the value of association meetings to the economy and society along with association tax issues.

This unique opportunity allows you, as an association professional, to create connections with policy-makers that will not only advance the association industry, but your own organization as well. Join the ASAE Board reception and network with leaders in our field. Learn more.

In light of COVID-19, the CAE Commission has made a few adjustments for those renewing their CAE in 2020:

• The renewal deadline has been extended from December 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
• The cap on self-study has been lifted. All 40 credits needed for renewal may be taken through any amount of live and/or approved self-study courses.
• The early-renewal discount will be extended to completed renewals submitted through March 31, 2021. The discounted renewal fee is $275 for ASAE members and $425 for nonmembers.

These additional options apply only to the renewal cycle for those originally due to renew by December 2020. Learn more.