The Korea Society of Association Executives (KSAE), the country’s association of professional association executives, and the Korean Economic Daily (KED) held the first association day event in Korea on June 27, 2019 at the MVL Hotel Grand Ballroom in Ilsan City.
The event was hosted by MCI Korea, an exhibition and convention agency and was sponsored by Goyang Convention Bureau, Korea Tourism Organization, ASAE Korea, aT Center, Seoul Tourism Foundation, Suwon Convention Center, Ulsan Exhibition Convention Center, and Incheon Tourism Organization.
About100 executives and employees of Korea’s leading associations and organizations participated in the meeting as they sought business and knowledge opportunities to help improve and grow not only their operations but also that of their members.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Hwang, Hee-gon, KSAE President, cited the more than 50,000 diverse associations and professional societies in Korea and the role they play as “connecting pins” in activities such as collecting opinions, exchanging programs, and supporting rights. He added however that they still lack awareness and mission dissemination, which was the main aim of the event.
In their presentations, Ms. Amy Hissrich, Vice President of Web Strategies and Communications at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), introduced the “Consolidated Elements of Association Operation” through mission establishment and governance-building while Mr. Mike Williams, a Senior Consultant at Gaining Edge in Australia, covered the topic on “Strategies for Successful Bidding of International Convention.”
After the two lectures, the participants discussed the current issues of associations and organizations and shared the success stories of their businesses in a roundtable. Mr. Jin, Hong-seok, Chairman of the Korea MICE Convergence Leaders Forum, who facilitated the roundtable, encouraged the participants to seek new alternative economic models to face the more complex societal, political, and economic environments in today’s world. He also emphasized the important role of associations in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry which is emerging as one of the key national economic drivers.
In conclusion, KSAE and all the participants selected the most important agenda for the growth of Korean associations growth, as follows: (1) a recognition of the important role of associations in the country (2) the development of the income-generating activities, i.e., securing financial independence such as membership development (3) strengthening of marketing activities to grow membership (4) strategic management and organizational structure, e.g., the issue of volunteer and part-time association executives and (5) strengthening partnerships with more advances associations and related organizations.
KSAE, which was launched in November 2014, plays a key role as a bridgehead for information exchanges, public relations, research, and educational activities for the development of its members, strengthening the expertise of employees of associations and societies, and attracting various conventions to meet global trends. KSAE is also leading the globalization of the Korean associations by closely cooperating and exchanging with professional associations in the U.S., Australia, China, and the Philippines.