I'm going to the ASAE Annual Meeting in Chicago. It's my first time to the annual meeting. I am active in ASAE and have made some wonderful connections through the organization, and the staff I've worked with are great. I like to keep the tone positive here at my pad but here are some issues I'm having with the materials I've seen:

1. The online process is pretty hard to follow. Then, ASAE asks you all kinds of questions that come off as prying. I mean, I know they're trying to make their exhibitors happy, but you know, making the experience easy for members might be an okay idea. For example, they ask how much money you make, and get this--the starting level is 40K a year. Are you kidding me? Most mid-sized associations are so tight they squeak. Anyone who hasn't hopped jobs would take a decade to get to 40K. So clearly that question is going to make all your Gen Y feel like complete poo. Either that or entry level folks aren't worthy of ASAE's attention.

Also--all the questions about meetings which I of course had to ignore. Come on, we can't all authorize contracts with large properties in Montreal and Grand Rapids. Isn't there a way to not bother us non-meeting-planner types with this tedium? And, I don't have several hours to pore over the long email that my automated sign-up generated. Can't we keep things simpler?

2. HATE, HATE the idea of CEO-only sessions. How exclusive and dumb. Then we complain about generational issues. Who knows? I may well be a CEO one day and I'll probably not go to these sessions then because I'll assume it's a bunch of stuffed shirts who want to be free from the marketplace of ideas, whether that's a true assessment or not.

3. Also, hate the term "thought leader." I am not a mental sheep whose thoughts are in need of herding. Input from smart people is always nice, but don't expect me to turn off the ol' thinker and drink someone's kool-aid.

4. Finally, this "business casual dress is encouraged for all events" business. I continue to quote: "For men, slacks and a polo-style shirt or button down are appropriate." I work for an association and when I staff a conference I have to dress to the nines--complete with awesome shoes that give me blisters. That's fine, it's my job which my employer pays me for. But I do object to my professional association attempting to dictate to me what my attire should be based on some standard of APPROPRIATENESS.I'm sorry, but if I want to put on Levi's and Skechers, you're going to have to deal with that. I paid for the privilege. The ASAE conference is not a club in the Hamptons.

Like I said, I hope this post doesn't come off as too negative. I generally try to only spread niceness and wisdom. But this stuff comes off as control freaky, which I really can't abide.