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.
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