Wednesday, February 14, 2024 / News Registration is now open for ASA CONNECT Communities! As an association, we deeply believe in the value of peer-to-peer best practice sessions such as the CONNECT program. During our three major face-to-face events (NETWORK, EMERGE and ELEVATE) ASA conducts roundtable discussions where attendees find great value and takeaways. We have experienced hundreds of participants at each of these events. While we believe deeply in the value of our virtual CONNECT program, participation has steadily declined from when we first launched it in 2020. To expand the value of this unique program, the ASA CONNECT Task Group recently met to discuss how the association can expand the member engagement in these virtual communities and enhance the value to our membership and their key employees. The task group reviewed the current fee based facilitated program and determined that a change was necessary to engage more members to the CONNECT program. The Task Group has decided to enact the following enhancements to the program. 8 CONNECT Communities will be offered beginning in April 2024. (Marketing, Sales, Operations, Training, HR, Accounting/Finance, Purchasing, and Showroom Manager) Each session will now be FREE to attend, which means that we will end the previous paid facilitator program that limited participation. Pre-registration is still required. Each community will conduct sessions on a quarterly basis instead of the current monthly basis. Each session will cover topics important to the community. Prior to each quarterly session, ASA will survey participants to determine what topics are top of mind to be discussed. Sessions will be facilitated by ASA member volunteers and association staff. “It is our goal and hope to expand the value of our CONNECT program to hundreds of our member employees and to grow this exciting program quarterly and beyond the initial 8 communities we are launching.” ASA CEO Mike Adelizzi said, “Connecting the industry’s leading distributors and manufacturers to share best practices and solutions to problems with their peers is a powerful formula for success. We thank the CONNECT Task Group for re-imagining this great program to deliver a more vibrant and valuable experience.” ASA CONNECT will continue to offer solutions that provides professionals in vital job functions an ability to meet online in peer-to-peer facilitated sessions to discuss common challenges, gain insight and practical solutions. ASA members will continue to learn from peers on critical topics now without a fee. Registration is open and free to each ASA member for each of the 8 CONNECT communities. Register Now! With questions, contact Allison Ballantyne at connect@asa.net Click Here to find out more about each CONNECT Community. Print