Smoke Out the Unaudited Among Us

Dear Editor:

Re: "The Message Is in the Mail" (Aug. 18, 2003)

I am in the camp that says the Tradeshow Week 200 should not include unaudited data ... ultimately! Claims that are not independently verified make a mockery of league tables and trends in indices.

Before auditing became the "norm" in the United Kingdom, all organizers acknowledged that their figures were inflated because "everyone" was playing the same game whether it was 5, 10, 20 or 100 percent or more above reality. When you operate in this culture you can even ignore falls in indices with some perverse justification that you are just doing what everyone else does.

Now, I am going to surprise you and tell you that I agree that you must continue with the Tradeshow Week 200 regardless. If 90 percent still can't come clean (sorry, can't audit their figures!) then you wouldn't have a TSW 200 to publish.

There is a simple solution: Big and bold next to each show entry you should have a column that says "audited" or "unaudited." It will create transparency and allow readers to make up their own minds about what unaudited means. Having taken the U.K. industry through this pain barrier I know what unaudited usually means: exaggerated!

Then, of course, the audit scheme itself needs to be credible. That's a whole other issue to watch. I hope that you will take up this suggestion. It may increase the short-term pain, but it may also save it from becoming a chronic condition.

Trevor Foley, Director general, Assn. of Exhibition Organisers, Berkhamsted, U.K.

(Editor's note: Every show that is audited, and reports this to Tradeshow Week when filling out forms for the TSW 200, is footnoted in the listing. The footnote indicates the auditing firm.)