History

The Rivers Organization was formed in 1989 when Founder and President Rick Rivers signed an association management contract with Rochester Life Underwriters. As time went on, demonstrated success led to additional contracts with local and national associations in various industries including insurance, commercial real estate, and financial services.

In 1990, Rick purchased a full-service travel agency that added travel planning capabilities to the firm.

The event planning division grew with events for the New York State Food Merchants Association, Xerox, and others. In 1998, The Rivers Organization was selected to plan the 2000 World Canal Conference in Rochester, NY, and the event was a great success. The Rivers Organization earned the opportunity to plan it again in 2010, making Rochester the only city in the world to host the event twice.

New York Upstate Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects became a client in 1999. Since partnering with The Rivers Organization, the association has won several awards from their National Association and has grown in membership and stature within the industry.

In 2002, The Rivers Organization assumed the role of Administrator for the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster, managing their membership dues, invoicing, and data base management. The services quickly expanded to include membership development, event planning, board meetings and elections, trade show participation and coordination, and general association administration.

In 2003, The Rivers Organization served as Event Planner for the first Rochester Business Ethics Awards. This is an event developed by the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP). The Rivers Organization continues to serve in that capacity, and is the Association Management firm for the Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation. RABEF is one of the oldest, largest and most successful Ethics Awards Programs in the country.