When we originally published “The Legal Guide for Association Board Members” by James G. Seely in 1995, it was the first time someone had produced a legal handbook written expressly for board members of trade associations and professional societies. The book grew out of workshops that Seely—the senior attorney at Association Legal Services and a regular columnist on legal issues for Association News—had been giving over the years for his clients to help them better understand the basics of the legal structure of nonprofit corporations.

We are happy to announce the publication of the second edition of “The Legal Guide for Association Board Members.” This new edition comes complete with updated information on some of the current issues facing associations, such as the increasingly complex provisions of hotel and convention center contracts and the impact of new laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley. Perhaps most importantly, the new edition of the book also examines some of the many issues that have been spawned by the Internet, from the association’s website to meetings by e-mail to social networking.

To review the table of contents and read a sample chapter or to order the new edition of “The Legal Guide for Association Board Members,” please visit SchneiderGuides.com.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

As I sail into the sunset of my association and trade show-related career, here are a few thoughts and observations I would like to share with you. (The term associations is used here to denote all organized groups; trade, professional, charitable, scientific, health, etc.)

• There are entirely too many associations. More consolidation would benefit all concerned.

• Tax exempt status should change. Either UBIT (unrelated business income tax) should be expanded or more auditing and stricter enforcement of 501(c) requirements should be instituted.

• ASAE has been a very effective educational organization.

• ASAE has not been a very effective industry representative on issues like music licensing or the hotel brouhaha over third-party disclosures.

• None of the other counterpart groups—MP1, PCMA, IAEE, etc.—have even tried.

• The CAE designation is a very worthwhile educational goal, however it could be strengthened by some verbal interchange with a review board and/or some written testing, and more reliance on practical experience and less on ASAE participation.

• IAEE or CEIR, or both, should focus a major effort on creating an understanding of trade shows and the role of industry associations as part of the marketing curriculum in every college.

• Technology can enhance, but will never replace, the most important benefit of associations, which, in my opinion, is the fostering of personal relationships.

• Hotels need to pay as much attention to marketing management and relationship marketing as they do to their romance with “yield management.”

• In order to keep their IRS exemption, associations should be required to undergo a “certified program audit” every few years by an outside consultant in addition to financial reviews.

• ASAE should produce a guide book for associations on how to conduct an audit without having to hire a CPA firm and another one on how to prevent embezzlement.

What do you think?