AC Forum2024-08-22T11:31:14+00:00

BY ASSOCIATIONS FOR ASSOCIATIONS

Advancing Association Leadership &
Congress Management

BY ASSOCIATIONS FOR ASSOCIATIONS

Advancing Association Leadership &
Congress Management

  • AC Forum is the only association established exclusively for and by associations

  • Our members are international and regional self-managed, not-for-profit associations

  • Through peer to peer sharing of good practice and expanding thinking, in a confidential environment, free of commercial influences, members are engaged to exchange knowledge to advance association leadership and congress management

  • We aim to be the recognised global leader for associations driving innovation and excellence in leadership for impact and AC Forum is highly sought-after for thought leadership and good practice

Why Join AC Forum?

Members are the heart of AC Forum. AC Forum membership supports the highest level of association and congress management through an open exchange of knowledge, expertise and experiences. We provide our members with multiple forums to freely interact with peers facing comparable opportunities and challenges in the association and congress industry in an environment that is confidential, trusting and free from commercial influence.

AC Forum is exclusively for and by associations, and membership is for supranational, self-managed, non-profit associations.

Is your organisation interested in joining AC Forum?
Find out how to become a member now

AC Forum Members

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting 2025 will take place in Glasgow, 16-18 January.

If you are a convention bureau interested in showcasing your city to major associations, apply to host the AC Forum Annual Meeting. Hosting our Annual Meeting gives an unrivalled opportunity to (re-)introduce your city to our members.

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting 2025 will take place in Glasgow, 16-18 January.

If you are a convention bureau interested in showcasing your city to major associations, apply to host the AC Forum Annual Meeting. Hosting our Annual Meeting gives an unrivalled opportunity to (re-)introduce your city to our members.

Education

Education is a cornerstone of AC Forum and is at the core of what we do. In addition to the Annual Meeting, workshops, webinars and campfire meetings provide education on specific topics for association staff and allow member associations to connect with each other.

We are dedicated to delivering valuable, meaningful education and strive to continually improve our educational offerings and knowledge curation for our members. Educational events are often member-led, and offer an unrivalled opportunity for peer exchange and expert education on focused topics.

Annual Meeting

The educational programme of the Annual Meeting is tailored to our members’ needs. Much of the programme is built from case studies submitted by members and rounded out by keynote lectures, masterclasses and expert-led sessions.

Workshops

Face-to-face workshops are targeted, small-scale meetings over 1½ days, providing a deep dive on specific topics for association staff dealing with those areas. They also allow member associations to connect with each other.

Webinars

We run regular webinars on topics of high relevance to members. Their virtual nature facilitates participation by more staff, since there is no need to travel, and as most of the webinars are recorded they are available to all AC Forum member staff.

Campfires

In response to discussions trending among our members, we arrange Campfire meetings. Campfires are meet-ups for members for discussions on particular topics and are member-driven, informal forums for peer exchange.

President’s Message

President-Elect - Ben Hainsworth

Hard to believe that it was only a week ago that we were all together in Hamburg for our AC Forum Annual Meeting. Maybe it was because I was seeing things with my incoming president’s eyes, but I had the distinct impression that our community’s feeling of belonging has never been stronger. Starting the year with a hundred or more people with the same hopes, challenges and drive is a real a privilege, that is something that I heard again and again from so many people in so many different ways. The most striking thing is that I could sense the same sort of enthusiasm from people with such a variety of roles, ages, specialties and backgrounds. When asked what I hope for AC Forum over the next two years the simple answer is “more please”. More opportunities to get together, more bright ideas to share, more issues to square up to and more conversations to relish. This will mean that even more of us need to get actively actively involved. So why not ask a question on Basecamp, suggest a topic for a Campfire session, send a colleague to a Workshop, submit an abstract for the Annual Meeting or why not write to me about that open AC Forum Board position – let’s make our 26th year together a year to remember!

Latest News

Annual Meeting 2026

April 16th, 2024|

We are delighted to announce that our Annual Meeting 2026 will take place in Gothenburg. With its strategic location in Scandinavia, the city has become an attractive meeting place for

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