ICYMI: ASAE Annual, Aug. 12-15, 2017

August 31, 2017

Tyler Davidson

ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition, held Aug. 12-15 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, drew more than 4,600 association professionals for its weighty lineup of education, networking and an exhibit floor that is the envy of many other meetings industry associations, but a major social issue that affects association members provided the major highlight.

President & CEO John Graham IV said that ASAE had received information that Texas’ controversial “bathroom bill,” officially known as Senate Bill 3, which aims to restrict transgender people’s access to certain public restrooms, would likely not pass in the Texas legislature.

“We’ve received information that [the bill] is not going to leave committee, so it will not go to conference in the Senate, so that is good,” Graham said, adding that the state’s legislature still had a few days to reverse course, which it did not. “We do not believe that anybody can be denied public accommodation. We will continue to fight against any legislation in any state that tries to do that.”

ASAE’s 2017 annual drew approximately 2,484 association executives, 1,758 exhibitors and 395 companies represented in 676 booths. Check out the Toronto section in our October issue for a full accounting.

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com