WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ASAE held its 2012 CIO Summit and Technology Conference & Expo, December 4-6, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center with 1,179 total participants, which is the second highest attended conference in its seven year history. The largest conference was in January 2008. Participants took part in more than 40 high-level practical education sessions, a two-day Expo Hall, and the Technology Town Hall Meeting.

Here's the final attendance breakdown of this year's conference: Execs (Assn Execs, Consultants, CIO Summit & Tech Conf) 637, Exhibitors (Exhibiting Booth Staff, Artisans) 371, and OTHER (Industry Partners, CIO Summit Only, Press, Speakers, Staff, and Vendors) 171. The ratio of buyers and sellers at this year's meeting was 63 percent buyers (association staff) to 37 percent sellers (industry partners), which is a strong ratio.

"With the Technology Conference & Expo, association professionals are trying to stay on top of the trends impacting the community," said ASAE President & CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. "Participants discussed new ways to connect with their members, the notion of big data and what that means for associations, and strategies on how to move their organization to the next level." 

During the CIO Summit, Gartner Research identified the top 10 tech trends for 2013.  Of these trends, association CIOs identified Strategic Big Data, Actionable Analytics, Hybrid IT and the Cloud, and Mobile Apps and HTML5 as the trends most affecting associations.

Brian Solis, the Opening General Session speaker, provided a new vision of business and how to stay connected with your audience through new touchpoints. He emphasized that people are collaborating in different ways, associations need to embrace a world of adaptation, and the rise of the connected consumer called Generation C. He also discussed the five moments of truth and how that can work in your favor.

During the Closing General Session, Dion Hinchcliffe examined how social media is the dominant form of communication and provided examples of how organizations increased their bottom line by using social media tools. Mobile is the key data point and global data will be a huge challenge for organizations. He advised attendees if they choose to be inactive in this space, then a new intermediary will form a presence and it will be the primary place where your members will engage, and not with your organization.

The 2013 Technology Conference will take place December 3-5, 2013 at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

ASAE thanks the following Alliance Partners for continued support of the association community:

Strategic Partners
Canadian Tourism Commission
Detroit Metro CVB
Fort Worth CVB
Mexico Tourism Board
MultiView, Inc.
Reno Tahoe USA
TMA Resources

Corporate Partners
Affinity Center International
Atlanta CVB
Visit Baltimore
Boxwood
CliftonLarsonAllen
Dallas CVB
GEICO
Omaha CVB
Visit Salt Lake
Tourism Toronto
Washington State Group

Event Partners
BrightKey
The Broadmoor
Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB
Hong Kong Tourism Board
Johnson Lambert & Co.
Litle & Co.
New Orleans CVB and New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Omni Hotels & Resorts 
PBD Worldwide
Puerto Rico Convention Bureau
Richmond Metro CVB

About ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership
ASAE is a membership organization of more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners representing 10,000 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in nearly 50 countries around the world. With support of the ASAE Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity, ASAE is the premier source of learning, knowledge and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession, and provides resources, education, ideas and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association and nonprofit community. For more information about ASAE, visit www.asaecenter.org.

SOURCE American Society of Association Executives