The American Association of Association Executives in Washington, D.C., which is sometimes called the association of associations, estimates there are more than 100,000 organizations in the United States representing all types of industries, professions, hobbies and points of view.
“There’s an association for everything,” said Ken Sommer, AAAE’s spokesman. “It starts way back with America and our founding. People discovered that when they join with other people, they can accomplish more than by going out on their own.”
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As a result, AAAE has some rather interesting groups on its membership roll. Many of the more interesting member groups are classified as hobby groups, as opposed to trade or professional associations.
Among the more intriguing AAAE members are: the National Ornamental Goldfish Growers Association, which has six members who breed ornamental goldfish; the American Mushroom Institute, which wants to increase consumption of cultivated mushrooms; the Association of Corporate Environmental Officers; the North American Tiddlywinks Association; and the Cigar Smoking Golfers Association.
An $83 billion a year convention and meeting industry is the result of this American drive to join a group, according to one economic impact study cited by Sommer.
Event professionals define conventions as gatherings where people with common interests get together, but don’t necessarily have exhibits, explained Nicholas Langella, general manager of the Rhode Island Convention Center. Trade shows, however, always have exhibits, because they are designed to help people in an industry display their products and draw new customers to their business, he explained.
Another common event is the gate show, in which the general public is invited, then pay an admission fee at the gate, Langella added. Examples of a gate show include RICC’s annual February flower show, a Star Trek fan convention, or even a sports memorabilia show.
The Convention Center handles about 55 to 60 conventions and trade shows a year, and 23 gate shows, according to Langella.
1993 and 1994, there were approximately 375,980 meetings, expositions and seminars planned in the United States, according to Sommer. The meeting and convention industry ranks as the 23rd largest contributor to the United States’ gross national product.
“What this all means is that people just love to get together and meet, do business, and swap ideas and talk about mutual concerns with people of similar interests,” Sommer said.
This means everyone, he said, from members of the American Bowling Congress and high tech executives to journalists and Star Trek fans.
Actually the major focus of most professional associations is to provide training and information on the latest trends, Sommer added.
“Ninety-five percent of all associations have education at the core of their missions– that is really how America’s workforce keeps up with the latest skills necessary to do their jobs,” he said.
And gone is the image of a convention as a week where officemates escape their families, drink too much, and bring debauchery to new heights.
“That’s kind of an old fashioned perspective. Really in the ’90s conventions are considered serious business,” Sommer said. “They’re sending you for the educational value, so really the notion that conventions are fun and frivolous and big parties is not the case any more today, it’s too expensive.”
Even evening events and dinners “are geared toward networking,” he explained.
And in this ever health conscious society, golf, tennis and morning jogging sessions are replacing pub crawls as the recreational activity of choice, according to a recent survey of meeting and event planners conducted by the AAAE.
