Association Name Change: AIEEEEE!!!

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 10/30/2006

In case you missed the 15 or so e-mails, faxes and letters — not to mention the proxy ballot — from the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management, here's another reminder: The last chance to vote on the proposed new name for the tradeshow industry's biggest association will be at Expo! Expo!, its annual meeting in San Diego Nov. 28–30.

The vote not only represents a possible change in identity for IAEM — stemming from a new strategic plan laid out three years ago — but it will also be the first major step taken under the new company-based membership structure.

Moreover, it's the follow-up to a controversy that arose at last year's Expo! Expo! when IAEM leadership asked members to vote on the proposed new name with what some believed was too little advance notice.

With all this going on — and despite IAEM leaders reportedly visiting every chapter but one (Hawaii) to explain the developments to members face to face — Tradeshow Week readers planning their trips to San Diego might still be a little confused.

Three measures are up for vote:

• the proposed name change;
• realigning IAEM's legal governance to conform with the state laws of Texas, where it is now headquartered; and a
• new slate of officers and directors.

The most significant measure is the proposal to change the organization's name to the Intl. Assn. for Exhibitions and Events, or IAEE. It's the same name that was introduced last December at Expo! Expo! in Atlanta. At that time, some members questioned what including "events" meant exactly. For example, would wedding planners and concert promoters soon be joining their ranks?

With the Atlanta vote thrown out (due to the lack of a clear quorum), IAEM leaders took responsibility for not having communicated effectively about the name change with members — and then took the extra year before the next annual meeting to explain the new name in a series of strategic briefings. Here's an excerpt from the first one:

"The 'events' in question are only those that, like exhibitions, are intended to bring buyers and sellers together, such as road shows, conferences with an exhibition component and proprietary corporate exhibitions."

The strategic briefings about the name change, along with other initiatives being taken as a result of the 2004–2006 strategic plan, are posted on IAEM's Web site, http://www.iaem.org.

Sandy Angus, director of Montgomery and current chair of IAEM, said he believes there's no doubt the exhibition industry is morphing into the events industry. "For the last five years, I have claimed that Montgomery operates in the events industry and not the exhibition industry," he said.

Steven Hacker, IAEM president, noted, "The issue (with the name change) last year was not substantive so much as poor preparation." During discussions at chapter meetings, he said, members had "been fairly supportive" of the new moniker.

IAEM mailed and faxed proxy ballots to members and opened absentee voting Sept. 10. Voting members who can't attend the annual meeting or want to cast their ballot in advance can vote by proxy through Nov. 20 at 5 p.m.

Hacker explained that these are "directed" proxy ballots, meaning that the person (Angus, in this case) designated to cast the ballot on behalf of the voting member must vote as directed.

Voting members who are at Expo! Expo! can also cast their ballots in person, at a booth near registration until Tuesday's opening session Nov. 28, then at a table outside the opening session until it ends.

What's likely to trip up the most people is the "voting member" business, new this year because of changes made in IAEM's membership structure over the last two years (again, part of the 2004–2006 strategic plan).

As people probably noticed on their last registration and dues forms, IAEM has switched from an individual-based to an organization-based membership system. In other words, your company belongs to the association, not you. As such, your company — regardless of size — gets one vote in matters that go before the membership for approval.

During a press conference Oct. 11, IAEM reported it had 1,249 member organizations with a total of 5,497 people.

Companies are supposed to designate who they want to vote on their behalf. Once they've designated a voter, people within the company are meant to tell that person how they want him or her to vote.

If you didn't answer IAEM's requests to designate a voter, you can still do so by e-mailing Laura McKinney, director of membership, at vote@iaem.org or by calling her at (972) 687-9210.

"We're anticipating some confusion. People may not have read everything we sent them," said Hacker, adding that "nobody's being deprived of anything. This is not an attempt to change the rules. It's simply a new structure."

Angus said the board's view since the Atlanta meeting is that IAEM can't do too much to educate members about why it believes the name change is necessary, adding, "Whether the association has done a good job or not only our members can tell us."