WASHINGTON—For the first time this year, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership is launching a virtual component for its flagship event, the Annual Meeting & Exposition, held this year in Los Angeles, August 21-24. Attendees will be able to access live on-site presentations and events remotely throughout the duration of the meeting, with a focus on program tracks such as social media, web innovation, marketing, membership, governance and board relations, and leadership.

The Virtual Annual Meeting will include education sessions and footage from the conference streamed live from Los Angeles to give attendees the same opportunity to learn and engage with the presenters and fellow participants. Attendees will be able to participate in any of the preselected 24 education sessions that will be streamed live via video. These sessions include three general sessions, nine thought leader sessions and 12 learning lab sessions. Attendees will also have access to various events designed specifically for the Virtual Annual Meeting, including online networking opportunities.

“Our Annual Meeting is the biggest and the most important event for ASAE & The Center — it’s also the best attended event each year — but we understand that for various reasons some folks can’t join us in person,” said ASAE & The Center President and CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. “As much as we’d like to see many association and nonprofit professionals in person in Los Angeles, this new virtual component will be a good way to connect with us and access the same knowledge from the education sessions streaming online from the convenience of an office or a personal computer.”

Attendees will also be able to access up to 70 on-demand learning lab sessions. These sessions will be recorded on site and made available to the virtual attendee via audio synch-to-slide technology. All on-demand archives can be accessed from August 21, 2010 through November 2010.

Attendees are eligible for up to 12 CAE credit hours.

ASAE & The Center is partnering with VIVA Creative to launch this new online feature. VIVA will design and manage the virtual platform. “We are very excited to be a part of the upcoming ASAE & The Center’s Virtual Annual Meeting,” said Evan Chapman, VIVA’s president of virtual solutions. “We look forward to creating an exceptional virtual event that includes both real-time webcasting of live sessions and on-demand material that engages ASAE & The Center’s expanding audience in compelling new ways.”