Association Leadership - July/August 2008 - (Page 46)

the lighter side of associations Lions and Tigers and Bears… Oh my! Animal stories from the association world At an annual meeting of the Texas Physical Therapy Association in the 1990s, there was a fund-raising event where various members brought “things g of value” to donate for an auction. What possessed one well intentioned well-intentioned tion volunteer to bring a baby miniature goat to our black-tie affair was never really made clear to me, but the “oohs” and “ahhs” it generated helped drive the ﬁnal auction price way up. Someone bought the goat, only to realize later that the conference went on for another day and all the well-known goat storage facilities in downtown Austin had closed. The executive director had the unenviable position of the “last man standing” that evening and the unexpected guest ended up with him. After smuggling it to his room, he discovered some truths related to the care and feeding of baby goats: 1. Little goats can easily jump from the middle of a bed into the largest of hotel nightstand lamps. These nightstand lamps are not properly safety tested to withstand goat jumping. 2. Goats pee in unpredictable patterns and in copious amounts. 3. When conﬁned to a shower, goats are capable of uncontrollable and earsplitting calls for aid. Hotel management got involved after several guests called security to express concern about the cries coming from the room. Oh… and there was a policy prohibiting live animals from staying with guests overnight. So, that’s how the ED found himself driving north on I-35 at 2 a.m. with a goat bouncing off every seat in the car and bleating its case for freedom. Luckily, his sister owned a small ranch and took the goat for the night. The little goat was later re-auctioned at another association event and brought a tidy sum, but it was sold on a “pay, pick-up and leave” basis. Who said re-purposing doesn’t work in nonproﬁt environments? In the 1980s, the Texas Dental Association hired a trio of chimpanzees for the president’s party. The association had agreed to provide the owner of the animals a room at the Hyatt for the night. But where would the animals stay? The staff at TDA was assured the chimps would sleep in an airconditioned van. At 2 a.m., however, the meeting planner was awakened by a call from the chimpanzee owner, stating, “I was sleeping in my room here at the Hyatt, with my baby chimpanzee, and a federal judge has just walked in on me! What do I do?” That was enough to wake anyone up really fast! It seems the resourceful but inexperienced meeting planner had just “recycled” the hotel room. When another staff member left the convention early, she gave the room key to the chimpanzee owner without notifying the hotel of the occupant change. When the hotel staff saw that the initial occupant had moved out of the room and no luggage remained, they re-sold it to a federal judge, who stowed his bag in the closet and went out on the Riverwalk for some fun. The judge returned to the room at 2 a.m., only to ﬁnd a man with a baby chimpanzee – in baby doll PJs – in his bed. Luckily, the judge was under the inﬂuence of several margaritas… and had a sense of humor. In 2004, the Ex-Students’ Association of the University of Texas held a retirement party at the Alumni Center for Bevo XIII. Bevo sat off to the side, received his retirement gifts and calmly listened to numerous speeches. When it was time for Bevo to leave his own retirement party, however, he was being walked to his trailer saying his goodbyes when “nature called.” Right smack in the middle of the entrance. We weren’t sure if it was just Bevo’s time to go, or if these droppings were his commentary on the party… but he did make a very memorable exit. The ﬁrst conference of the Texas Festivals and Events Association was held in 1993 at the Corpus Christi Marriott. Imagine the surprise of hotel guests and staff when the service elevator (alongside the catering kitchen) delivered three dancing horses that subsequently pranced through the kitchen to the ballroom and exhibit hall. Of course… the second annual conference in Grapevine managed to one-up its predecessor with a circus theme. Conference organizers squeezed an elephant into the hotel elevator, followed later by a lion and two tigers! Have a funny story to share about association life? Send to bethbrooks@tsae.org. 46 Association LEADERSHIP | July/August 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - July/August 2008

Association Leadership - July/August 2008 Contents Chairman’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions Cover Feature: Association Lessons Learned Perspectives Association Case Study TSAE Annual Conference CEO Strategies New Members Community Spotlight Government Relations: Resources Technology: Web Site Redesign Global Summit Photo Page Great Ideas Beaumont New Mexico Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - July/August 2008

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