Meeting News - October 19, 2009 - (Page 24)

Association Watch By Seth Harris sharris@meetingnews.com Trade Show Exhibitors Create Group To Advocate Concerns The Trade Show Exhibitors Association last month created a 13-member advocacy group to serve as the voice of exhibitors when reconciling problems with tradeshow and convention manTSEA developed the committee after a member poll taken at the association’s July TS2 conference and exhibition found that many members had concerns about unfair convention housing policies, the lack of third-party show attendance audits and that show hours were opposed by other conference activities, such as education sessions and entertainment. Less than 2 percent of North American trade shows have thirdparty attendance audits from either BPA Worldwide or Exhibit Surveys, said Brull, adding that show organizers can inflate their numbers without that oversight. “When you are being asked to pay $5,000 for a booth or $300,000 for a sponsorship, unless you actually know who is attending the show, it’s hard to justify that expenditure to the C-level execuTSEA’s David Brull tives of the company,” he said. Some convention policies also agement organizers. have received exhibitors’ scrutiny. The committee is made up of TSEA About one-quarter of the more corporate exhibitor members. They than 100 respondents to TSEA’s will handle advocacy efforts anony- poll felt unfair convention housing mously, according to David Brull, policies caused the most problems TSEA vice president of marketing and for exhibit managers. membership. Problems arise Exhibitors’comwhen such policies plaints about show require deposits or organizers also will pre-payment for be anonymous. multiple room “Exhibitors nights, Brull said, don’t always feel which is especially comfortable problematic for speaking to show government conorganizers them- —David Brull, TSEA vice president tractors restricted selves,” said Brull. from doing so. of marketing and membership “They want to be In July, the to keep their relationships with the 2,000-member association added show organizers because they don’t four new corporate exhibit manwant any retribution or be labeled as agers to its board of directors: KCI a whistleblower or a troublemaker.” senior manager of exhibits and events Cyndi Erp, Hill-Rom tradeshow manager Teri Nobbe, Fujitsu Network Communications exhibit marketer Michael Rapp and Alcatel-Lucent corporate events and speaker program manager Rick Rinderle. Hughes joins the MPI Foundation in its silver anniversary, following a year in which the foundation raised $1.7 million, which funded $1.1 million in member programs, education, research, scholarships, and $175,000 for a total of 48 chapter grants. This fiscal year, the foundation also implemented a new global board of trustees, comprised of advisory councils from the United States, Canada and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, replacing the previous board of 20 members with a board of 58 members. MPI Foundation Taps Paula Hughes As New Executive Director The Meeting Professionals International Foundation this month named not-for-profit organization executive Paula Hughes as its executive director, effective Oct. 25. In her previous association roles, Hughes helped lead the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the MPI Global Training Center Sets Up Toronto Shop Meeting Professionals International last month announced that it has added Toronto’s Ryerson University as a location for an MPI Global Training Center. The training center will be housed in Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In July, MPI announced similar partnerships with San Diego State University, France’s CERAM Business School and the Qatar MICE Development Institute. The association plans to include at least an additional 15 educational institutions to its global training partner network. The training centers provide educational programs for MPI’s Global Knowledge Plan, its certification and training curriculum. A council of meeting planners from companies including KPMG, Microsoft, Primerica and Volkswagen is developing an executive leadership program for launch next summer. r www.meetingnews.com “Exhibitors don’t want a ” MPI Foundation’s Paula Hughes Arthritis Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. During her more than 20-year career in the non-profit sector, Hughes has raised more than $50 million, according to MPI. Hughes replaces as foundation head former executive vice president and chief business architect Katie Callahan-Giobbi, who left the association in August. troublemaker label. 24 MeetingNews October 19, 2009 http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - October 19, 2009

Meeting News - October 19, 2009
Contents
Meeting Post
Meetings Spotlight
Event Profile
Construction Cites
Meeting People
Association Watch
VantagePoint
Gaming Destinations
Dateline: Florida
South Regional
Dateline: Guadalajara
Travel Dashboard

Meeting News - October 19, 2009