DMAI and IAAM Form Joint Panel
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 7/24/2006
A committee formed by the leadership of the Destination Marketing Assn. Intl. and Intl. Assn. of Assembly Managers hopes to get convention and visitors bureaus, other destination marketing organizations and convention facilities to work better together. The 15-member DMAI-IAAM Liaison Group, made up of members of both organizations, held its first meeting last month in Dallas.
That meeting addressed such issues as funding, joint accountability, opportunities for joint advocacy and best practices. Each organization appointed six representatives, a staff liaison and a chair to serve on the group. Co-chairs are Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Phoenix CVB, and Peggy Daidakis, executive director of the Baltimore Convention Center. Staff liaisons are Dexter King, IAAM executive director, and Michael Gehrisch, DMAI president and CEO.
Moore said the need for such a committee was first addressed at a panel discussion during the Intl. Congress and Convention Assn. conference in San Francisco last October.
"The panel concluded that a more formal dialogue and relationship should exist between IAAM and DMAI," Moore said. "There has never been a task force between IAAM and DMAI, yet we typically co-exist quite well in our own cities."
Moore noted that other topics will surely surface as the meetings continue and more members of both organizations get involved.
Committee member Dan Fenton, president and CEO of the San Jose (Calif.) CVB, said the idea for the group had been suggested for several years. He said both associations recognize that bureaus and facilities sometimes work at cross purposes, but that it's advantageous to cooperate on common issues.
