Each year, the annual AAEC convention is held in a different North American city, allowing cartoonists and other association members—including publishers, writers, historians and collectors—the chance to meet face-to-face, talk shop, and generally kvetch.

The AAEC also sponsors a Cartoons for the Classroom program designed to aid educators at all levels in teaching history, economics, social studies and current events.

"[3] They wrote: "Editorial cartoons are quick, in-the-moment commentary, whose artists have to educate themselves on complex issues and craft well-informed opinions in a single take that emphasizes clarity under daily deadlines.

In 2017, the AAEC launched the Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning, named in honor of the late Sacramento Bee cartoonist, who died of cancer in 2012.

As the cartoonist for daily newspapers in two state capitals, Rex Babin saw how effective satire could sometimes be when directed at targets across the street, and often lamented that such work was overlooked by the big industry awards.