Continuing on last week’s column on the Tourism New Zealand-hosted Asian association familiarization (“famil”) tour program from May 25 to 30, 2019, the second leg of our trip took us to the vibrant harbour city of Auckland and surrounding areas. Auckland is the most populous urban area in the country with a population of around 1.6 million… Read More Auckland: Inspiring Esprit de Corps

Tourism New Zealand, the tourism marketing body of New Zealand, played host to an eight-person Asian association familiarization tour from May 25 to May 30. The “famil,” as the program was called for short, took us to Christchurch and Auckland and nearby surrounding areas to visit conference venues, accommodation options and tourist attractions. The aim… Read More Christchurch: Community and connection

I was going over my old office files during the weekend when I came upon a set of transparency presentation materials. Remember these filmy, clear sheets of cellulose acetate that you write on or print over texts or graphics and lay over an overhead projector? For the younger generation, you probably do not know what… Read More ‘3 Ps’ of a successful secretariat

Associations hold events and related activities in their own country, and in some cases, bid for or host international events for their affiliated overseas associations or federations. These events are collectively referred to as MICE (for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions). Traditionally, these association events are taken within the context of tourism, e.g., tourist arrivals,… Read More The ‘beyond tourism’ benefits of association events

My organization, the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), through a project with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP), recently conducted a survey among members of the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) to develop a training program on sustainable finance. Associations often conduct surveys, but… Read More Association survey basics

There are all kinds of tasks that once were the domain of humans but can now be done by machines. Enter the chatbots! According to Technopedia, a chatbot, also known as artificial conversational entity (ACE), chat robot, talk bot, chatterbot or chatterbox, is an artificial-intelligence (AI) program that simulates interactive human conversation by using key… Read More Chatbots for associations?

One of the most important emerging trends now in association meetings and education is the virtual conference: a cost-effective solution to increase reach and drive member engagement. I was recently in one, as part of a panel of speakers for SURGE, a free virtual conference assembling association professionals from around the world to have productive… Read More Virtual conference for associations