DMAI, IAAM Jointly Publish Best Practices

The Destination Marketing Assn. Intl. and the Intl. Assn. of Assembly Managers jointly released a new set of guidelines for convention center management.

"Best Practices for Convention Center Sales and Convention Center Operations," a white paper for destination marketing organizations and convention facilities, identifies some standards for those in the venue business.

According to DMAI President & CEO Michael Gehrisch, the associations perceived a need for such a document because of changes in the operating models between publicly owned facilities and DMAI destination marketing members, and the need for consistent practices.

"We went to IAAM and together decided there was a real opportunity here to educate, inform and cultivate relationships between our two organizations through the issuance of best practices," Gehrisch said.

The report identified nine critical areas: convention sales, convention center operations, joint accountability, joint advocacy, funding and finance, technology, training and human resource deployment, conflict resolution, certification and accreditation.

Compliance with the standards is voluntary, but both DMAI and IAAM will incorporate the guidelines into ongoing training and educational offerings. DMAI currently offers accreditation programs for destination management officers, and the new guidelines will be part of the qualifying process for the DMO accreditation, Gehrisch said.

He noted that the new standards would not carry any separate accreditation as such. However, some of the guidelines could become mandatory, particularly the need for joint marketing plans to be developed by convention centers and DMOs. That is the most significant issue addressed by the guidelines and the most likely to become a requirement for DMAI's existing accreditation, Gehrisch said.

To download the white paper, go to http://www.destinationmarketing.org/images/pdf/DMAI-IAAM_CC_Paper.pdf.