For Immediate Release
ASQ and VISIT Milwaukee to Set Social Responsibility Agenda for Association Profession
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 24, 2008—American Society for Quality (ASQ) and VISIT Milwaukee are among association industry leaders across the nation that will participate in ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership’s first-ever Global Summit on Social Responsibility – Leveraging the Power of Associations for a New Magnitude of Leadership, April 30-May 2, 2008.
Working together, participants in the Summit will identify the unique competencies that associations bring to the table and how those competencies can be effectively leveraged to help society. The Summit will also advance the case for social responsibility as a business and strategic imperative, and generate guiding principles for associations looking to integrate social responsibility into their everyday operations.
Milwaukee, Wis., is one of the more than 20 sites that will connect to the Summit via online and telephone technology. Nearly 400 association professionals and industry partners are expected to attend the Global Summit host site at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C. Hundreds more will join from connected sites located in the United States and in cities around the world.
“More than a buzzword, social responsibility is really evolving into smart business,” said ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. “There are obvious benefits to associations that consciously practice social responsibility in a consistent, organized fashion. The Summit will help us identify what’s already working and what’s feasible in our community, so that we are setting both a short- and a long-term agenda for our profession.”
World-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, Ph.D., and longtime business leadership icon Frances Hesselbein will be among the international leaders exploring the profound role that associations can play as positive world change agents during the Summit.
“ASQ is committed to raising awareness of the social responsibility movement, particularly as it relates to quality as a tool to help organizations achieve socially responsible goals,” said Paul Borawski, CAE,
ASQ executive director and chief strategic officer. Our participation in the Global Summit will work to raise awareness of this critical international issue. We view the social responsibility movement as yet another element in making the world a better place through quality.”
ASAE & The Center’s Social Responsibility Initiative is supported by The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation and The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau, which have pledged grants for this long-term goal to identify and develop tools, guidelines and best practices that can be used by associations and their members to integrate social responsibility platforms at all levels of their operations.
Other connected sites include Atlanta, Ga.; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio; Madrid, Spain; Los Angeles, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Duluth, Ga.; Lakewood, Ohio; Sacramento, Calif.; New York, N.Y.; Dublin, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Seattle, Wash.; Brussels, Belgium; Shanghai, China; Singapore, Singapore; and St. Paul, Minn. Conversations are under way regarding other locations in Phoenix, Ariz.; New Orleans, La.; Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, Australia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; London, England; Paris, France; Jakarta, Indonesia; Dublin, Ireland; Manila, Philippines; and Barcelona, Spain.
For more information about the Global Summit in Milwaukee, Wis., contact Kate Berumen at 414-298-8789 or kberumen@asq.org.
To register online or to learn more about ASAE & The Center’s Global Summit on Social Responsibility and their larger Social Responsibility Initiative, visit www.asaecenter.org/globalsummitsr.
About the American Society for Quality
The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 93,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
About ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership are two organizations linked together by a common belief and passion. We believe that associations have the power to transform society for the better. Our passion is to help associations and association professionals achieve previously unimaginable levels of performance and reach even higher goals. We accomplish this by fostering a learning community of association professionals, industry partners, outside thought leaders, and other stakeholders who embrace this vision.
The American Society of Association Executives is an individual membership organization of more than 22,000 association executives and industry partners representing more than 11,000 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies, and voluntary organizations across the United States and in 50 countries around the globe. Our members’ organizations represent such essential industries and professions as health care, manufacturing, banking, law, energy, insurance, and the list goes on. We are also a leading voice for the nonprofit sector, advocating for voluntary organizations so that they may continue to improve the quality of life in the United States.
The Center for Association Leadership is the premier provider of learning, knowledge and future-oriented research for the association profession. The Center delivers innovative learning experiences, performance-enhancing resources, new thinking and models for the profession, opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration, and strategic tools and data designed to advance the association profession. Offerings include nearly 100 professional development programs
through Center University, environmental scanning and other future focused research, a peer-reviewed journal and more than 5,000 online articles, models and case studies. Together, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
provide resources, education, ideas and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association community.
ASAE Services Inc.—ASAE’s wholly owned subsidiary—is the association community’s trusted source of business products and services. ASAE Services creates strategic alliances with companies to design and deliver these top-quality products and services in four areas: ASAE-endorsed programs; CareerHQ.org—ASAE’s online gateway to the most jobs in the association industry; the ASAE Insurance Company—a captive-management facility; and insurance consulting services.
About VISIT Milwaukee
VISIT Milwaukee markets Greater Milwaukee to tourists, convention and meeting planners nationally and internationally and is dedicated to ensuring our guests are warmly welcomed and enjoy an enriching experience in this jewel of the Great Lakes. VISIT Milwaukee has more than 700 members, including hotels/motels, restaurants, attractions, services and area businesses. Tourism generated $2.6 billion in spending in Greater Milwaukee in 2006 and supported over 64,000 local jobs. The Spirit of Milwaukee and Potawatomi Bingo Casino are strategic partners with VISIT Milwaukee, providing funding support for conventions and tourism programs. For more information call 1-800-554-1448 or visit www.visitmilwaukee.org.
