Stephen, pretty humorous post! I might have to get me one of those Fixinto signs too. I think APEX has been around for nearly 10 years now. For 2 or 3 years, I served on the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) for the APEX initiative. Your point about the glossary is a great one. I think the glossary was completed 4 or 5 years ago and appears not to have a process in place for continuous improvement. About a year ago, I purchased a copy of the APEX toolbox. Like many people, I had a tough time getting it to work and ended up giving up. Future releases are supposed to be more user friendly. The challenge that APEX is going to need to overcome, is that many of the "standards" are being established based on the needs of the most complex events instead of what all events (including small) have in common. Until APEX is able to help the novice, small event planner, the $1.9 MM raised will be for not. Conversely, there is lots of good work being done on adopting technology standards that are helpful for group housing and sharing of data for RFP's. There has been considerable work done by the APEX TAC to bring numerous hotel chains and technology providers together to agree upon and document standards so that system integrations will become easier and easier. Then there's the contracts panel. They were not able to agree on standard hotel contract templates, but did end up creating a good contract outline. I hated to see them fall short on moving the industry more forward on this initiative.

Great input Dave. I did have a pleasant chat with Rich today and plan to post an update from our conversation.

Oh, so that must have been the package we took to the post office. Cholula is definitely representative of the area and tastes great, but I don't actually think it's that hot compared to some of the more fiery sauces. If it were up to me, I would also provide him with some Longhorns memorabilia though.

LeeAnn, I went easy on the hot sauce - being that we can't expect our northern friends to develop appreciation of the spicy foods at first bite. Longhorn branded gifts appeal to me - maybe in our next exchange of gifts.

Thanks for the fine gift pack. I note with disappointment that the boots are size 9 EE. They are just a bit shy of my 10 E size but I am more than willing to give them a shot. They are nicely worn in. The 3 packets of Cholula Hot Sauce are sitting in my drawer waiting for the right opportunity for me to be hot under the collar. I was thinking about hanging the mesquite branch like mistletoe in my office. APEX may have some thorns but I am sure we can find some beautiful flowers as well. In fact I’m “Fixinto” get our Standards Review Council up and running and update the glossary with several additions people have sent in. I’ll be sure to add RFID to the list. I’ve been to Austin and had a great Snipe Hunt when I was there last time. Maybe you can chase/herd the snipes down to Houston for the MPI Conference the first week of February where we intend to launch our PowerShop product. I just can’t believe the conference is over Super Bowl Weekend. On a more serious note, Dave is right, there is a lot happening on the TAC. Setting voluntary standards is great, but particularly user friendly. Getting the CIC-Branded products out and most importantly getting the standards embedded within the commercial software is the ways we get APEX implemented. Thanks again for the welcome.

Rich, Sorry the boots are not the right size - guess you have bigger shoes to fill than I originally estimated. Mesquite branches have many uses, but I have never seen anyone kiss underneath them. Glad the "Fixinto" sign has you on task. Look forward to meeting you in Houston.

Picking up on Dave Lutz's comments. Where were you when Ungerboeck Systems announced that they would integrate to the Event Specification Guide in their March 2008 product release at their Global User Conference this week? Or where were you when MeetingSites Resources launched a 100% APEX compliant RFP form this week and guess what... as the momentum goes...what some companies think as a good RFP response rate of 72 - 96 hr can be done with APEX standards before you can write the first sentence in your blog...mere seconds! And what about companies like Certain Software, CVENT and Passkey to name a few others working on integration...Nobody said developing industry standards was easy or quick, if it were, some Texan would have done it 20 years ago. Stephen, don't just write about APEX...get active and help us move this forward...in fact, within a few months we will be discussing standards for developing exhibit floorplans...do you know how much money is wasted annually in redoing exhibit floorplans ...we have 3 major exhibit management companies already committed to helping...what about you?

EJ, I understand your commitment and appreciate the goals. Yet the more I speak to leaders in our industry about APEX, the more I hear negative comments. I have always been upfront about my criticisms, but have also offered to assist. From recent APEX meetings, it appears that this is the year that APEX demonstrates tangible worth to our industry. I am ready to observe the results.