An interesting question posed by Association Meeting’s editor in the May edition of AM Extra e-newsletter brought in a flood of e-mail: How does the commoditization of hotels rooms (attendees going for the lowest price) affect group room blocks?

The answers ranged from chopping blocks by 30 percent, to increasing registration fees to cover meeting space rental, to begging–pardon me, asking–attendees to honor the group rate since that’s what pays the freight for the meeting.

What’s it doing for you these days, association planners?

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The votes are in, and this time, there’s no need to count chads, hanging or otherwise. The Greater Washington Society of Association Executives yesterday voted overwhelmingly to move ahead with the merger of GWSAE, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the ASAE Foundation, and The Center for Association Leadership. Now there’s just two independent entities – ASAE and The Center for Association Leadership – that will also be interdependent through a governance structure that links the two organizations.

That it was given the thumbs-up by 78 percent of the voting members makes it pretty obvious this was an idea whose time had come. Let the wild rumpus begin!

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