The room was packed. Most came with their laptops. The questions flew. Several left with new accounts on Google Reader, Twitter or LinkedIn. And the evaluations – top notch.

This was a local “chapter” meeting.

To draw members to chapter events takes equal measures of marketing and event planning, with a double dose of excitement. And, as the economy tightens, chapters have to do this with a careful eye on expenses. Last week, Cynthia D’Amour hosted the conversation over at the Chapter Leaders Playground where we talked about some options. I highlighted a few in my earlier post  – and here are few others.

What events are your members attending in 2009? Or maybe the more enlightening question is where are your members attending?

The Healthcare Association of Michigan noticed in 2007 that 521 individuals attended about 22 regional events. That number jumped to 965 individuals attending a slightly increased number of regional events. That’s an 85% increase.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 14, from 1:00 – 1:50 PM ET, the Chapter Leaders Playground is talking about Hot Ideas for Chapter Meetings for 2009. As I've written before in this blog, I firmly believe 2009 is the "Year of the Chapter" because as budgets get tight members are looking for value closer to home.