Dear Colleagues:

On behalf of the AE Institute Subcommittee, it is my pleasure to welcome you to AE Institute 2013: A New Perspective.

Last May at the Association Management Roundtables in Washington, DC, and fresh out of our first planning meeting for the 2013 Institute, I said to a colleague: “You’re going to love the 2013 Institute... we’re changing everything to make this the best one ever.” “Yeah,” she said, “That’s what they all say.”

With that in mind, we set out to do what every AEI Subcommittee before us has tried: To plan the best AEI ever. We used the data collected from the online surveys you completed after the 2012 AE Institute to focus on what you wanted.

The curriculum is arranged into three groupings: Seeing Things in New Ways, The Shape of Things to Come, and The New Tools of the Trade. Designed to be sampled like a dine-around or wine tasting, these are the best topics and speakers we found relating to the three greatest challenges AEs face: how to adjust what we do to deliver what members want; what’s coming next (and from where); and what tools are out there to help us get this done.

You’ll notice several changes immediately. Sessions are shorter; most are 45 minutes. Some sessions offer an implementation workshop later that day to allow you to delve a little deeper into a topic. And we’re offering a high tech/high touch Sunday afternoon that leads us on an architectural tour of downtown San Diego via mobile device apps; a combination urban assault race and scavenger hunt.

You’ll still have access to AE Fundamentals courses and the Lab Coat Geek Squad, who will teach a class at the 2013 Institute in addition to providing their “walk-up” assistance throughout the meeting.

Finally, we’re asking you to engage with us between now and next March through our Facebook page “NAR AE Institute.” Speakers will post previews of their sessions and engage you with videos, to help you plan your own AEI experience.

I hope to see you at the “best AE Institute ever” in San Diego.

Marc Lebowitz, RCE, CAE
Chair, AE Institute Subcommittee