New-look Salute wows association community
WATCH THEIR ACCEPTANCE REMARKS: GARY LABRANCHE, 2012 Association Executive of the Year • BOB HARRIS, 2012 Association Partner of the Year • MARTINEAU-CORNISH Award, announced by Steven C. Anderson, 2004 Association Executive of the Year • PHOTO GALLERY of the 2012 Salute to Association Excellence
Winners of the TRENDS 2011 All Media Contest applaud as ISSA industry outreach director Dianna Steinbach accepts the Publisher's Choice Award from TRENDS publisher Joel Poznansky. Photos by www.ChuckFazio.com.
The TRENDS 2012 Salute to Association Excellence premiered a new look to go with its updated format while retaining the purpose of honoring the association community’s best.
More than 450 attended this year’s Salute, Feb. 10 at the Capital Hilton in Washington. Participants were treated to a pre-reception in the All Media Contest winners gallery, hosted by Venable LLP. (For more on the All Media Contest winners, click here.)
When it was time for the awards segment of the program, a curtain wall was drawn back dramatically to reveal the changes to the stage from previous years, including the new Salute logo set against a wall of blue, as well as a larger dais.
First to be honored were the TRENDS 2011 Young & Aspiring Association Professionals. This is the first year that all honorees were able to attend the Salute, with more than half coming from outside of the DC area: (pictured, from left) Gabriel Eckert, CAE; MaryBeth Kurland, CAE; Artesha Moore; Mike Skiados, CAE; and Heather Swink, CAE. (For more on the Young & Aspiring Association Professionals, click here.) Announcing this year’s honorees was 2009 Young & Aspiring Association Professional Greg Fine, CAE, who recently became executive director of the Turnaround Management Association, Chicago.
After the presentation of the All Media Contest winners, which followed the Young & Aspiring honorees, TRENDS publisher Joel Poznansky announced the Publisher’s Choice Award for the entry that exhibits overall excellence and creativity: the ISSA New Member Kit, Changing the Way the World Views Cleaning. This entry won gold in the Membership Promotion Kit or Campaign category. ISSA industry outreach director Dianna Steinbach accepted the award. (See photo above. Also, see related article, this issue.)
The Angerosa Research Foundation has used the Salute as the backdrop to honor its award winners for the past few years. This year’s winners include the 2012 Publishing Trendsetter Annaliese Hoehling, publications director, NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network, Portland, Ore., and Trendsetter Award of Merit recipient Amy Lestition, MA, CAE, executive director, Association Media & Publishing, McLean, Va. Lestition is a TRENDS 2009 Young & Aspiring Association Professional. (To read Lestition’s article on effective social media, see “Y&A Voices,” Feb. 9. To read more about the Angerosa awards, click here.)
2004 Association Executive of the Year Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE (pictured) then made a surprise announcement for TRENDS: the creation of the Martineau-Cornish Award, to be given next year. The award is named for TRENDS founder Frank Martineau, CAE, APR, and long-time leader Jill Martineau Cornish, IOM. Praising Cornish, Anderson noted that TRENDS has carried her “indelible stamp - conviction, candor, charm and even courage - continuing where her father Frank Martineau left off.” Cornish received a standing ovation from the room. (See related article, this issue.)
Following tradition, the TRENDS Association Partner of the Year (changed this year from the Top Association Vendor of the Year), and the TRENDS Association Executive of the Year capped the Salute, with both receiving animated applause from the audience.
ASAE’s Greg Melia, CAE, a past Young & Aspiring Association Professional, introduced the 2012 Association Partner of the Year Bob Harris, CAE, The Nonprofit Center, Tallahassee, Fla. (pictured, left, with Gary LaBranche). Harris discussed the importance of mentoring and having passion for the association profession. Excerpts from Harris’ speech will be published in next week’s issue of TRENDS. (For more on Harris, click here.)
2012 Association Executive of the Year Gary LaBranche, FASAE, CAE, CEO, Association for Corporate Growth, Chicago, started his remarks by reminiscing about his first time attending the event: “I sat way back there. I looked up here and thought to myself, ‘Wow, those guys are old.’ Well, now that I am standing here and looking out there, I will tell you this: I was right.”
LaBranche went on to describe the “four freedoms of association that should be firmly engraved in the foundation of every free society” – freedom of association, freedom of self-determination, freedom of representation, and freedom from interference. To read excerpts of LaBranche’s speech, including more on the four freedoms, click here. (For more on LaBranche, click here.)
To view LaBranche’s and Harris’ full speeches, as well as the announcement of the Martineau-Cornish Award, click here.
