IAEM Will Ask Members To Revisit Name Change

By Rachelle Crum and Gary Tufel -- Tradeshow Week, 4/17/2006

The Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management will be around just a little while longer — eight more months — if group leaders get their way.

A vote on changing the association's name to the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions & Events will take place during the annual Expo! Expo! IAEM Annual Meeting & Exhibition Nov. 28-30 in San Diego, said IAEM Chairman Sandy Angus and President Steven Hacker in an April 6 teleconference. A similar vote was held at last year's meeting in Atlanta, but declared invalid due to a lack of a quorum.

The pair also said the dues structure introduced in January helped membership soar past 4,000 member representatives, a first for the association.

Despite controversy over a new name, Angus said, "there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the expansion of the industry is through event-organizing companies, rather than exhibition-organizing companies."

Angus said that, at the April 2–5 Society of Independent Show Organizers CEO Summit in Charlotte, N.C., "people were talking about buying event companies rather than exhibition companies. I think that, in a sense, illustrates a trend which is taking place and the need for IAEM to be recognizing that and to be at the forefront of that."

Since last year's annual meeting, Angus said, IAEM has conducted additional research supporting the proposed name change and has offered to explain its stance to members.

"We really feel that this is something very important to our long-term strategic plan and that the ROI measurement provides a strong argument in favor of adding event into our title," he said.

"We have, since the meeting in Atlanta, been talking to as many of our members as possible who have had queries or reservations about the name change," Angus continued. "We've been doing this at chapter meetings and on a one-to-one basis, at every opportunity that we've had to talk to people."

He said the definition of "event" has to be carefully structured so that planners of "completely irrelevant types of events" aren't admitted.

Member Lynn Schoen said she trusts IAEM leadership to steer the group in the right direction with the proposed name change. "I have no problem with the original name, but if marketing people feel that this will be a little more explanatory to other people, then it's a good idea," said Schoen, exhibits manager for the American Public Health Assn. Annual Meeting & Exposition taking place Nov. 4–8 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

But another member, Stephanie Batson, isn't sure that the group should change its branding. "I don't think it's ever a good thing when organizations try to change their name. There's a brand recognition with IAEM," said Batson, exhibits coordinator for the American College of Emergency Physicians Spring Congress taking place this week at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

However, Batson concluded, "If that's what they do, that's what they do."

Hacker said he expects IAEM's member representatives to double by the end of the year. The association started out the year with about 3,300 representatives. The more than 4,000 individuals the association now represents work for 1,400 member companies and groups.

IAEM now charges members based on the amount of revenue they generate, rather than the number of individuals they employ. For example, an organization with less than $500,000 in annual revenue will now pay $440; those with more than $200 million revenue will pay $37,000.

The membership increase could have been expected, considering that companies now could add to their IAEM membership roster as many people as they wish, as long as they are involved in exhibitions.

Angus called the historic membership numbers "hugely reassuring." He said members are calculating the added benefit that comes from IAEM's March 1 merger with the Center for Exhibition Industry Research when considering the dues structure.

Although both Schoen and Batson are willing to follow IAEM leaders on the name change, the new dues structure has hit more of a nerve with them, especially because they are the sole IAEM members in their organizations.

"I'm probably going to have to leave IAEM as a member," said Batson, who is working on her certification in exhibition management. "The dues for me went up by almost $400 per year. It's cheaper for me to be a non-member."

Nevertheless, she added, "It's great for organizations that have five, 10, 15 exhibit staff (members). But for organizations like mine, it's horrible."

Schoen said she was initially "shocked at the amount of money that they expected me to pay."

However, the group "made an exception to allow me to go in on the first level," not in accordance with her show size. Schoen added, "Even though I have a large show, it's just me."

Another IAEM member, Cynthia Davis, exhibits and sponsorships manager for the Natl. Recreation and Park Assn., is in the same boat.

Davis said she understands the value of increasing IAEM membership, but the cost of a membership must be in line with similar dues for other associations.

"Since we only have two exhibit management staff, the cost of our association to join, divided by these two staff, is too high," she said. "IAEM is working with us to allow us to maintain these two memberships for now, but should we ever be charged full freight, we'll have to drop our memberships, which would be sad since I've been a member since 1974."

Julie Nelson, director of national accounts for Showcare, suggests that the new dues system should let smaller companies send more people to the IAEM annual meeting. "The new structure allows companies to increase their staffs' participation and not pick and choose what industry associations they join," she said. "More staff can attend educational programming and EXPO! EXPO! at the member fee."