IAEE Adds Outboarding Guidelines
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 4/9/2007
The Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events has updated its guidelines on protecting dates for exhibitions, adding a section on outboarding. Outboarding is the practice of organizing some kind of event to coincide with an existing event in an effort to take advantage of the existing audience.
The original document, Guidelines for the Equitable Distribution of Exhibition Dates and Date Projection: Exhibition Management, Convention & Visitor Bureaus, and Facility Management, was published in 2003. Besides the addition of the guidelines about outboarding, the only substantive changes were references to the former name of the organization (which until last year was the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management).
"With 6,300-plus member representatives now in our database, we felt it necessary to bring these updated guidelines to their attention," said IAEE President Steven Hacker. "The addition of a discussion about outboarding was another reason for the reissuance."
IAEE defines outboarding as "the creation of a concurrent event that is related to an existing exhibition or event, but that is not sanctioned by the organizer and which seeks to benefit from the audience the organizer attracts." IAEE considers outboarding to be unethical business conduct to be neither condoned nor tolerated, Hacker said.
The trade association has also published a white paper on the issue. Members may download it, and the date protection guidelines, from the association's Web site, www.iaee.com.
