PAI was formed in 1984 when a scientific society in a health profession asked Dr. Norman Wallis to help move its office from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to the Washington, DC, area. This organization, founded in the 1920s, but staffed by the elected Secretary-Treasurer on a part-time basis with some support personnel, wanted to re-establish itself as a strong international scientific society with an effective and responsive professionally managed headquarters. It recognized that to achieve its objectives, staff leadership and modern technology would be needed. Also, locating in Bethesda, Maryland, near the National Institutes of Health (NIH), would add to its identity as a major society in clinical research and practice.

Over a 12-year period we helped this international professional society:

• increase its budget from $400,000 to over $2,000,000;
• grow its membership by 75% to 5,000;
• build attendance at its annual conference from 1,800 to over 3,500;
• expand the scientific exhibition from zero to 200 booths;
• add a foundation to support research projects of young investigators; and
• initiate a successful biennial conference outside North America.

From our initial experience and our successes since then, we have found that the organizations we can help most are professional societies in the health sciences and biomedical research disciplines with memberships between 500 and 2,000, budgets between $250K and $2 million, and attendance at annual conferences between 300 and 2,000. Many societies of this size are seeking ways to increase membership, improve conference attendance, and establish a strong financial base.

So, if your society fits this profile and you are finding that it is not fulfilling its potential - please contact us for a no-obligation, confidential consultation. We will be very candid about our impressions and what actions you might take, both with and without PAI.