The long-vexing problem for trade show organizers of creating reliable audits is nearing the beginning of its end, following an important move by the International Association for Exhibition Management. IAEM has formed a commission to certify independent trade show auditors, taking the first step toward creating audits that are widely used by show organizers and audit reports that are universally accepted by exhibitors.
While the Event and Exhibition Industry Audit Commission, which met for the first time in April, formulates procedures for certifying independent auditors, a separate board composed of show organizers, exhibitors, and suppliers, will formulate the audit standards.
Audit reports will include an analysis of attendance broken down by exhibit-only participants, conference participants, speakers, media and analysts, registered exhibitors, nonexhibiting sponsors, and support staff.
The first two companies that are expected to receive certification are BPA Worldwide and Exhibit Surveys Inc. Audits that the companies have performed since the beginning of this year will be included in the new certification process once they receive commission approval, according to IAEM president Stephen Hacker.
Hacker says the commission will probably make certification applications available in the next few months but is unsure when the two companies would actually receive their certifications. The commission also will create a trademarked logo that shows can display to demonstrate that their audit numbers were obtained independently. "It will be a distinctive trademark equivalent to the Good Housekeeping seal, so that exhibitors can trust the reports that come out of those shows," says Hacker.
Past efforts to institute show audits throughout the industry have proved unsuccessful. The industry created audit standards in the 1980s, but the reporting was left up to show organizers themselves, not independent agencies, so the results were inherently questionable.
Expomark, a division of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, began offering independent audits beginning in 1996. However, the service was discontinued in 2002 due to lack of interest.