Milwaukee Will Host ‘Super Bowl’ of Meetings… in 2034
Despite decade wait, Visit Milwaukee says hosting ASAE convention is a touchdown.
The Baird Center in May 2024. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Less than a month after the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee scored another sought-after convention. But it will need to wait until 2034 to welcome guests.
The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) will bring its “Super Bowl of meetings” to the Cream City. And it’s entirely reasonable that you have no idea what this convention is or what landing it means.
ASAE is the association of associations, with 52,000 individual members and 1,800 member organizations. ASAE members represent thousands of individual association members who might eventually visit Milwaukee for a future convention. Simply put: hosting ASAE is the opportunity to sell decision makers on why they should bring their organization back to Milwaukee.
“We know that at least 20% of our attendees will return and bring a meeting within a period of five years, so that’s very important to know,” said ASAE president and CEO Michelle Mason to News 5 Cleveland in June in advance of the 2024 ASAE event.
The estimated economic impact for the 2024 Cleveland event is up to $18 million, far short of the estimated and hotly-debated $200 million economic impact of the RNC, but it’s the spinoff effects Visit Milwaukee is really after.
“We could not be more thrilled to host this event, which represents unparalleled exposure for Milwaukee in front of thousands of meeting planners,” said Visit Milwaukee President and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith in a statement. “We’re so grateful to the partners, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Wisconsin Center District President and CEO Marty Brooks, who helped us win this. I’m confident hosting this will generate additional meetings and conventions for our community for years to come.”
ASAE announced its next decade of events during its Cleveland convention. Other cities landing future ASAE conventions include, in chronological order, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Chicago, Washington D.C., Columbus, Orlando, St. Louis and Baltimore.
“Congratulations to the cities selected to host the next 10 ASAE Annual Meetings & Expositions,” said Mason. “We are excited to partner with these cities to deliver exceptional experiences for ASAE attendees and showcase each city’s unique brand of hospitality. The ASAE Annual Meeting serves as a cornerstone for the association community to connect, share insights and shape the future of the profession. Our Annual Meeting host cities are critical partners to our success.”
Milwaukee will get a chance to show off the Baird Center expansion to event planners before it turns a year, let alone a decade, old.
The 2024 Connect Marketplace, “the official meeting place for event professionals,” will bring 3,700 event planners to the city from Aug. 27-29. During the May Baird Center ribbon cutting, Williams-Smith touted the event, and a 2025 National Guard convention, as things only possible because of the $456 million expansion of the convention center.
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If convention centers are anything like sports stadiums, we’ll have a new tax to build another one before this one comes to town.
This is, indeed, an excellent catch. Interesting that ASAE’s process means announcing the “next 10” annual conventions at the same time.