Thursday, January 24

2008 Annual Washington Nonprofit Conference

There is a big nonprofit fundraising conference going on in Washington, DC this week which is run by the Direct Marketing Association's Nonprofit Federation.

I've been told they have about 800 people there this year... and while I'd love to be there blogging about the education conferences and gossip from the various networking events, it's not going to happen.

So, in my place I asked a dear friend, who I will call "a consultant" to send me emails from the inner working's of the festivities in Washington. Here is what my source sent me:

Hi Fundraiser, Greetings from the conference! The escalators don't work at the hotel, so getting between floors is a pain-in-the-butt, but not as much of a pain as schmoozing with clients, former co-workers, and vendors. There is an interesting panel being held this morning moderated by Senny Boone, Esq., Vice President, Special Counsel & Executive Director, DMA Nonprofit Federation. She is going to have some impressive panelists, including:

Carolyn A. Emigh, Principal, Nonprofit Service Group
Charles Nave, Esq., President, Charles H. Nave, P.C.
Geoffrey W. Peters, President, CDR Fundraising Group
Robert S. Tigner, Regulatory Counsel, DMA Nonprofit Federation

I'll keep you posted on what I see, hear, and learn from the events.
As a note to the rest of my readers, if you have tips, stories, and reactions to the conference in DC or to any conferences you've been to recently, please send them along.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Canadian Embassy is a big upgrade over the International SPy Museum.

Anonymous said...

Who was the keynote speaker this year? Was he or she any good?

Anonymous said...

I've heard they were only able to match last year's attendance around 860 and did not successfully increase the number of people attending. That's a shame - especially since other conferences have grown so much bigger.