Success at Forum's Association Week
Association Forum of Chicagoland achieved great numbers at Association Week 2012, the annual five-day event centered on association management.
There was a record-breaking attendance, 559, at the Forum's annual meeting. Also, the Community Service and the Honors Gala sold out and the Honors Gala raised the most money in the event’s seven-year history, according to Forum officials.
More than 30 professionals attended the young professionals breakfast, which included a panel discussion with CEOs Mary Lynn Fayoumi, CAE, GPHR, from the Management Association; Carly Hurd from the American Institute of Steel Construction; Dan Maitland from MultiView; Dale West, CAE from SGNA and Oliver Yandle, CAE, from Association of Legal Administrators.
The Forum annual meeting featured 21 educational sessions and two new learning “flash mobs,” a seven-minute informal gathering during which facilitators presented five tips on a topic, then solicited and recorded feedback from participants.
Opening keynote speaker Azure Antoinette, a performance poet and spoken word artist, challenged participants to rethink their everyday experiences. Throughout the day, participants submitted words that Antoinette used to write a poem she recited at the end of the meeting. The mid-day session was a discussion on essential leadership principles and concepts, led by SmithBucklin CEO Henry Givray. Closing session panelists discussed how to handle real-life ethical, organizational and public relations situations. Panelists included Thomas Dolan, PhD, CAE, FACHE, CEO, American College of Health Executives; Jed Mandel, Esq., partner, Chicago Law Partners LLC; Ruth Mugalian, principal, Public Communications Inc.; and Kathleen O’Loughlin, DMD, MPH, executive director, American Dental Association.
The Honors Gala, considered the most prestigious association event in the Chicago area, drew 690 association professionals, and raised the most money in the event’s history. Award recipients included:
- Samuel B. Shapiro Award for Chief Staff Executive Achievemen: 
Edward P. Salek, CAE, executive director, Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers
- John C. Thiel Distinguished Service Award: Philip Lesser, PhD, CAE, VP, Bostrom Corp.
- Association Professional Award: C. Scott Litch, Esq., CAE, COO and general counsel, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
- Inspiring Leader Award: Nancy Honeycutt, CAE, executive director, American Student Dental Association.
The six 2011-2012 Workforce Diversity Scholars honored were:
- Nike Basurto, membership and volunteer director, Jazz Institute of Chicago
- Cynthia Branch, grants manager, American Medical Association
- Tammy Dillard-Steels, executive director, Urban Sustain
- Anna Quintanilla, CAE, accreditation director, American Academy of Sleep Medicine
- Yolanda Muhammad, associate director of education programs, American Bar Association
- Kimberly Vann, associate director, communication and education, Illinois Nurses Association.
The charity raffle raised $19,300, which benefited the Friends of Marlene Hetzel Palmerson fund at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the Association Forum Foundation. Details: www.associationforum.org.
