The Washington Confluence Magazine is the official quarterly publication of Washington Society for Association Excellence. Publications are archived here to preserve our history. See editorial calender for submission dates and themes. Articles should be between 750 - 1500 words, and accompanied by high quality images, author name, organization, title. We especially encourage contributions to our Member News regarding job transitions and organization accomplishments.  If you've built a new website, launched a new membership drive, added staff, or want to share something unique, this is a great space to do that! Please forward content or questions here.

[Value: 1.0 CAE credits] This session explores the current landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, and highlights effective practices for using these technologies with your association. Participants will discover capabilities, current limitations, and techniques for using AI tools to save time and streamline your association’s content creation and workflows.

Add your organization HERE to the Tomorrow's Workforce Coalition. Bill Recap: Congressman Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) champion the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act in the House and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) champion the Senate bill. The legislation would expand qualified expenses under 529 savings plans to include postsecondary training and credentialing programs, such as licenses and nongovernmental certifications. It would also provide valuable tax-advantaged resources for students and workers—with or without a college degree—who pursue career growth, mid-career changes or career pathways that diverge from a typical academic route. Read ASAE’s one-pager for more information. The heftier the coalition, the more compelling our collective advocacy will be to help pass the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act (H.R. 1477 / S. 722). If credentials, skills training or expertise are important to your sector, to your organization or to your stakeholders, this coalition's work will support you. 

Today's sponsorship strategies require knowing your sponsors - understanding who they are, what they want to achieve, and how partnership with you makes that possible. Join Sylvia Allen of Allen Consulting and your colleagues to discuss how associations are finding ways to deliver more value to sponsors. Topics to be explored include matchmaking, bundling, centralized sponsorship, and more.

The ASAE Research Foundation has just announced a new CAE Scholarship that will be offered in an effort to build a more diverse association workforce and provide a more equitable playing field. The CAE scholarship program will provide financial assistance to support a diverse workforce of underserved communities in pursuing the Certified Association Executive credential. Each scholarship recipient will receive an award of $500– which can be applied to the application fee (a total of $500) or used for exam preparation (i.e., reading materials or prep courses.) In addition, all scholarship recipients awarded the scholarship will receive the member rate for the CAE exam registration (including non-members), which must be used within one year of award receipt. Additionally, each non-member scholarship recipient will receive one-year of complimentary ASAE membership and the scholarship award amount.

To help WSAE offer tailored programming that aligns with your specific interests and preferences, to go your online member profile and designate the Professional Interest Categories aimed at addressing your evolving needs as an association professional.