Big event in Boston.

If ever a well-established convention offered new twists, ASAE's annual meeting in August certainly did. Let's start with the name. Brand new. It was ASAE Boston 1996: the worlds premier association management conference and exposition, and indeed the new moniker reflected a number of new features. Among them.

* General session speakers presented "in the round" from a slowly rotating stage, with seating surrounding the action.

* For the first time, a general session was beamed via satellite to several remote sites.

* Technology demonstration centers allowed meeting participants to take an up-close look at unique products and services.

* The Association Business Center @another new name) was right sized and designed for ease in doing business.

* The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority brought the meeting the first moving exhibit by using a 50-foot-long freight elevator to move its booth between floors of the two-level exhibit hall.

* "Learning luncheons" allowed participants to get education while getting sustenance.

But while much was new, much was familiar. For instance, the educational proramming was again premium, and the general sessions were first rate. James Carville and Linda Chavez engaged in a feisty exchange about politics, issues, and elections, Ron Archer delivered an inspirational and personal message of perseverance and peak performance, and Martha Rogers and Don Peppers decried mass marketing and told their audience to build relationships one customer at a time.

All this in a city whose welcome to ASAE members was spectacular. From the lovely opening-night reception under beautiful skies -- the city closed Copley Square Plaza for ASAE and constructed a replica of Boston Public Garden -- to the Boston Pops concert and awards ceremony on the final night, Boston's best hospitality set a happy mood. Even Boston's media seemed keen on ASAE's presence, aware of the positive economic impact of Boston's hosting ASAE. And if conventioneers got a boost from the meeting. As a convention and visitors bureau official pointed out, the meeting brought Boston's hospitality community, government entities, and others together in an unprecedented spirit at the event -- and even if you were -- you may want to check out one more meeting Boston 1996 Online. Simply go to ASAE's Web site at http:// www.asaenet.org and select "Look Back at ASAE Boston 1996."

Sierra Club decision stands. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a government request for a rehearing of its lawsuit against the Sierra Club. The court decided in June that income the Sierra Club received as part of its mailing list rental activities constituted royalty income and was not subject to the Sierra Club decision, request ASAE fax-on-demand document 30107 by calling (800) 622-ASAE or, from outside the United States, (402) 271-993.

Association wins tax victory. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth circuit has ruled that an association is not required to pay tax on payments it received through sponsorship of group insurance plans. In American Academy of Family Physicians v. United States, payments made by an insurance company to Kansas City, missouri-based AAFP, a 501(c) (6) organization, were at issue. The payments to AAFP were for the company's use of reserved funds. The Internal Revenue Service claimed these payments constituted unrelated business income. AAF argued that the payments constituted interest income, excluded from the Internal Revenue Code definition of unrelated business income. The Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court's granting of summary judgment in favor of AAFP, saying that AAFP "did not have the profit motive required" for an activity to be considered a trade or business and that AAFP's involvement in the insurance plans was "not extensive and did not possess the general characteristics of a trade or business."

California Dental Association appeals Federal Trade Commission decision. The California Dental Association, Sacramento, has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of a Federal Trade Commission decision concerning the association's enforcement of its code of ethics. The association noted that Section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission Act restricts FTC's jurisdiction over an association to one that is "organized to carry on business for its own profit or that of its members." ASAE has filed an amicus curiae brief asking that the court find that the FTC does not have jurisdiction in this case and that the FTC applied the wrong standard in evaluating whether the association's code of ethics constituted a restraint of trade. If the FTC is found to have jurisdiction in this case, the dental association will argue that its code of ethics, which prohibits false or misleading advertising, does not violate antitrust laws and should be evaluated under the rule of reason,, analysis, not the stricter "per se illegal standard,, used by the FTC.

Nonprofit mail reform effective October 6. Following is the latest news from the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, Washington, D.C., concerning mail rates and classification: "On August 6, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors approved the implementation of nonprofit reclassification. The new rates and requirements will go into effect on October 6. And while the rates that nonprofits will see are lower on average than the current rates, cause for celebration is tempered. At its meeting, the board, on the advice of senior USPS management, decided to approve a nonprofit rate structure that, contrary to the earlier negotiated settlement, prevents some mailers from securing the full benefits from classification reform. When the rate-setting portion of the Revenue Forgone Reform Act went into effect in In@, it included a provision that prevented nonprofit flat rates from decreasing. This provision was needed to pass the RFRA, which secured a future for nonprofit postal rates. Now, this same provision is being cited as the basis to gouge nonprofit ratepayers to provide a windfall to the USPS. Simply put, the USPS stands to gain $15-$20 million with the August Co decision (which increases the price on some standard third-class flat-size mail). This money comes straight from the pockets of nonprofit ratepayers."

Make A Difference Day set for October 26. More than 1 million people in thousands of U.S. communities are expected to spend the sixth annual Make a Difference Day engaged in voluntary projects to better their communities. The Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend magazine are partnering with nonprofit organizations. nationwide to increase the scope of Make A Difference Day. For information, call [phone]

Briefly:

* Both the Democratic and Republican party platforms cite the importance of associations in advancing America. From the Democrats: "When Americans work together -- in our homes, our schools, our houses of worship, our civic groups, our businesses, labor unions, and professional association -- we can meet any challenge, realize any dream., From the Republicans, While recognizing a role for government in dealing with social ills, we look to mediating institution -- religious and community groups, private associations of all kind -- to take the lead in tackling the social ills that some government programs have only worsened."

* Six hundred association executives have pledged to publish all or part of the Associations Advance America advertisements that have appeared in The Wall Street Journal; 215 have pledged to run the entire campaign. As incentive, ASAE placed names of the people who pledged in a drawing for two free roundtrip tickets to Paris and Hawaii. Monika Wegener, owner, Wegener a Associates, Sunland, California, won the Paris trip. James Stutts, CAE, executive director, Virginia Recreation a Parks Society, Mechanicsville, won the trip to Hawaii. For information, call [phone].

* With the recent addition of Representative Charles Stenholm (D-TX), the number of co-sponsors of a House bill that would repeal the lobby tax as it applies to lobbying at the state level has grown to 42.