july2017

18 19 T he International Association of Exhibitions and Events had its beginnings in 1928,when a group of businessmen formed the National Association of Exposition Managers.“The reason they got together was to talk about how they can have better negotiating powers with the exhibi- tion centers that they were doing business with,” says current IAEE President and CEO,David DuBois.“They also wanted to better understand best practices: ‘Hey, I’ve got this scenario; and howdo you do this; andwhat about this?’Today,it’smuchmore complexandmore sophisticated,”he adds.“But the basic reason to exist continues to be sharing of knowledge,best practices,and success stories of each of these showorganizers and sup- pliers who support the $70 billion industry in the United States.” “We’ve gone through several name changes to be where we are today,”DuBois reports. Indeed, about 40 years ago, the original organization, the National Association of Exposition Managers–NAEM–became the International Association of Exposition Managers AT A GLANCE THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS WHAT: A worldwide trade association with 1,300 members WHERE: Headquarters in Dallas, Texas WEBSITE: www.iaee.com International Association of IAEE BECAUSE THE SHOWS MUST GO ON EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS EVENTS