Last week, professionals descended on Navy Pier for the Association Forum of Chicagoland's Association Week 2010. With keynote speeches, educational sessions, and networking opportunities, the series of events culminated with a dinner-dance on Thursday night. Dubbed the honors gala, the evening doled out four awards to "recognize the best and the brightest within the association industry," said the forum's director of marketing and communications, Susan Urbanczyk.
The gala—and the week in general—"lets us work with our members to embrace and honor all that we do and all that we bring to the state," said Urbanczyk, who added that Chicago is the second largest market for associations and the top market for healthcare associations. Mayor Richard Daley and Governor Pat Quinn issued a recent proclamation that officially named last week Association Week in Illinois.
Though the local market had cause to celebrate, talk throughout the week turned to the inevitable. "Similar to all other organizations, for us the economy is front and center," Urbanczyk said. "But instead of focusing on what has happened, a lot of our members were exchanging ideas on how to be creative and move forward, and how to provide more services with fewer resources."
Swapping bits of wisdom was a theme that carried throughout the week, starting with a new by-invitation event that paired young association professionals with more seasoned industry reps. "We had some pretty heavy hitters in the industry who took time out to come to our offices on Monday and answer some questions about career advancement," Urbanczyk said. "That particular event was really well attended. We're still conducting surveys, but it's likely that we'll make it a permanent part of the week."
