Standing Room Only

No, the Annual Conference isn’t sold out. Yet. But you should know that in 1997, the last time the AILA Annual Conference came to Orlando, the conference sold out! A little birdie with a lot of institutional memory told me that attendance hit the 3,000 mark before the early-bird deadline. AILA made an announcement that no on-site registrations would be accepted. When the conference location was booked, five years prior, AILA didn’t anticipate its upcoming growth spurt. That year, the conference was limited to AILA members and members’ paralegals. Non-members were out of luck! As you can imagine, that ticked a lot of people off.

Speaking of “Sold Out,” I recently read that the Hong Kong Disney Theme Park was sold out for eight days straight. Angry families stormed the Disney gates and tossed their children over the fences. You don’t believe me? Check this out.

So what’s the moral of the story? Don’t let this happen to you. The early-bird registration deadline of May 3rd is fast approaching!

Okay, we probably do have enough room to accommodate more than 3,000 this year, but after hearing about our last blockbuster conference in Orlando, would you really contemplate throwing your paralegal over the AILA registration desk to secure a spot?

Where Can You Have Fun, Honor a Terrific Lawyer, and Raise Money for AILF?

At the Tony Cook Memorial Golf Tournament in Orlando!


Posted by AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center Director, Reid Trautz!

The Tony Cook Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, June 15 at 8:00 am at the Hawk’s Landing Golf Course, which is on the Orlando Marriott property. The cost will be $150 per person. Fee includes course access, cart rental, gift bags, and prizes for longest drive and closest to the hole (male and female). Any proceeds will be donated to the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF). All inquiries and registrations should be sent to John Ovink at john@ovinkcalolaw.us or call 813-936-9313. You must register and submit payment no later than May 15, 2007.

About Hawk’s Landing: Hawk’s Landing Golf Club spans over 220 acres of lush grounds at Orlando's premier Resort, Orlando World Center Marriott Resort. The 18-hole championship golf course was designed by noted golf architect Robert Cupp III to create the perfect setting for challenging golf and a scenic blend of native Florida wildlife and tropical vegetation. Soaring queen palms, sand pines and southern magnolias combine with fresh beds of flowering azaleas and fragrant jasmine to provide the perfect respite from your busy schedule. Callaway Golf rental equipment is available for an additional charge.

Annual Conference Stats: When Numbers Happen to Right-Brain Thinkers

INTRODUCING.... this week's guest blogger, Becky Rice, AILA Director of Marketing!

Hello AILA members! I am your guest blogger this week, Becky Rice. I am the Director of Marketing at AILA.

Each year we survey members who attend the Annual Conference to find out what you liked, what you didn’t and what we need to improve upon. And boy, do you tell us! We also survey those members who did not attend to find out why, and to determine what their educational needs are and how AILA can help them satisfy those needs outside of AILA’s Annual Conference. Again, you are not a shy bunch about sharing your comments!

As a creative, right-brain thinker I know first-hand – dissecting, digesting and analyzing numbers can be a big drag. But undaunted we go, on to the numbers … and possibly some more things you might not have known about AILA’s Annual Conference.

**83.9% of those who registered for the 2006 Annual Conference did so online – either using our online registration system or going to InfoNet to download the form and mail or fax it in. Online registrations have averaged 77.8% for the past four years so we made it easy to register online by providing a direct link on all our promotions http://www.aila.org/acregistration.

**1,195 people registered for the 2006 Annual Conference during the week prior to the early- bird deadline. Yes, our fax machine gets a workout and begs for mercy. Our Accounting Department works tirelessly entering all those registrations. This year’s early-bird deadline is May 3 - just a few weeks away. Register now and give our beloved fax machine and carpal tunnel-susceptible accounting staff a break!

**The three top-rated networking events at Annual Conference are the Grand Opening Gala on Wednesday (39%), the Presidents Reception (34%) on Thursday and the Saturday Night Party (28%). No doubt about it – networking is a key ingredient in the Annual Conference mix. Oh yes… and AILA members love to party!

**Of the 2,511 members who attended in 2006, 56% indicated they planned to attend the 2007 Annual Conference in Orlando. 12.8% said no thanks, mostly due to the hot weather in June and because the destination has too many vacationers. Nonsense! All the hotels have air-conditioned rooms. And who doesn’t love seeing someone dressed in a striped shirt, plaid shorts, black socks, and loafers?

**Members always ask for 4-star, affordable hotels. Everyone’s definition of “affordable” is different, and service, security and comfort do have a price. For Orlando, we negotiated 6 years ago for the special rates AILA members can get by booking through our Housing Bureau through May 22, 2007. Compared to quotes on some internet travel sites, the rates are up to $100 less by booking through AILA. Come to Orlando and enjoy your stay at one of the three hotels – the Orlando World Center Marriott (for those looking to be close to the conference action), the Caribe Royale Orlando (all suites option for those who are bringing family – they have an awesome pool with waterslide and waterfall and a special kiddie pool with fountains!), or Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (look, some people just love the mouse-ear thing!). Have no fear about not being at the Marriott. AILA will provide FREE shuttle transportation to/from the Marriott from the Caribe Royale Orlando and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Wednesday – Saturday during the conference.

**Which chapters can brag about highest attendance at the 2006 Annual Conference in San Antonio? Host chapter Texas led the way with 47.4%, followed by Arizona (41.5%), Missouri/Kansas (38.5%), Carolinas (38.1%), and Pittsburgh (36.7%). Big props to Missouri/Kansas which has been in the top five for the past three years! Will our Florida Chapters rise to the challenge in 2007? So far, we have only 8% registered.....hmmm….

**Of those members who do not attend the 2006 Annual Conference, 44% are solo practitioners and 34% are in small practices. With little to no staff back at the office to keep things running, they tell us they have a tough time getting away from work. However, over half (52%) of those that did not attend indicated they have participated in an AILA educational event – Chapter Conference, AILA National CLE or AILA Audio/Web Seminar – in the past year. AILA still is the best source around for practice information!

**The exhibit and sponsorship revenue AILA receives from the vendors in attendance allows us to keep the cost of the registration from increasing too dramatically each year. In 2007 alone, we would have to add another $33.51 to each registration fee if we didn’t have revenue from exhibits and sponsorships. Please visit the vendors in the Exhibit Hall and thank them for supporting AILA and taking some of the load off of you!

Any other numbers or stats about the AILA Conference you’d like to know about? Send me an email (brice@aila.org). I’ll see what we have in our survey results archives and post answers on the blog to any questions I receive.