july2017

20 21 –IAEM, in order to expand beyond U.S. shores. It added the word “Events” to its name several years ago in order to represent the sector of the industry that produces non-traditional events done either at company offices or hotel ballrooms, but that are still considered trade shows. Today, the renamed IAEE is the leading trade association for the global exhibition and event industry.“We’re in 51 countries, now,”DuBois says. “We have members in Japan,Taiwan,Malaysia, Singapore, China; we just launched an India chap- ter a fewweeks ago.We have over 1,300 organiza- tions, non-profit associations, and for-profit com- panies as members; and about 9,500 individuals make up the roster of those 1,300 entities.” Over 50 percent of the IAEE’s members are directly involved in the planning,management, and production of exhibitions and buyer-seller events.The remaining members consist of those who provide products and services to the indus- try.About 80 percent of its membership is based in the U.S.,which, according to DuBois, has the largest exhibition industry in the world, producing approximately 12,000 shows of 10,000 square feet and over, per year. China is in second place with 6,000 shows in 107Chinese venues and Germany is in third place with an annual total of about 3,500 shows. IAEE The IAEE,with a full-time, professional staff of 22, has been based in Dallas,Texas for the last 25 years, after the organization moved from its home in Ohio.The organization’s Strategic Plan has two Pillars: Advocacy and Education. Regarding Pillar One,DuBois says that advocacy is “promoting the value of face-to-face exhibitions and events as the primarymarketing medium for business develop- ment and growth.”Regarding Pillar Two, he says it’s about “providing timely and relevant education to our members to help them be more successful. We do it through webinars; we do it through 65 to 80 workshops at our annual Expo! Expo! meeting every December; we do it through all of our con- tent, and through our great website.We have our CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management) pro- gram in 28 countries. It is the highest designation one can achieve in our industry.” Nicole Bowman is the IAEE’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, responsible for keeping its far-flung membership informed.“A lot of the communication that we do is on the chapter level,” she explains.“We have 12 chapters around the world. It’s a multi-channel mix: emails, newsletters, social media.We rely on our chapters to communicate our values and initiatives and