Learning at Conventions

Abstract

Education is almost always one of the primary goals of association conventions and often a primary role of the association itself. Associations, however, tend to focus more on what should be learned rather than how it should be learned. There is very little scholarship and research that addresses how convention organizers should apply adult learning principles and learning models at conventions. Communities of practice, a relatively new adult learning model, are informal groups of people who form a community to learn to improve their practice in a common area. Communities of practice can be integrated into convention programming to better achieve the goal of educating members. Communities of practice can also create a “bridge” of community between conventions that may have the tangential effect of increasing convention attendance and possibly association membership.