Following 18 months of review, the AEO Board has announced upgrades to its system for reporting exhibition and event attendances.
The AEO have decided that, from 1 January 2009, members will follow reporting procedures which correspond with the generally accepted procedures of UFI, the main international federation of exhibition organisers. AEO members will now be obliged to report all their events in the form of an explanatory grid. This grid gives a far greater breakdown of how attendances are made up than had previously been the case.
A new set of auditing principles has been agreed by the AEO Board and all attendance numbers from UK events will, in future, potentially be subject to review and interrogation by:
- The AEO Audit Committee
- In the event of dispute, by an independent appeals process
- A random spot-checking audit run by a body appointed by the AEO
This system replaces the mandatory process previously administered by ABC, though individual organisers are free to continue with both the AEO and ABC audit. They may also audit with BPA.
Philip Soar, AEO Chairman, commented:
"I think this a good example of the AEO responding to the complex and disparate needs of its members. We have been talking to the international associations for some time about auditing principles. We think that members will appreciate a fairer, simpler, cost effective and more efficient arrangement. We hope that organisers will feel that we have simplified what had become, via the ABC route, a highly involved and expensive process.
Currently, less than 25% of the 800 plus events which we recognise annually in THE FACTS are audited. We hope that these changes reinforce our commitment to a highly transparent and open system of publishing event information. We think it will lead to a far higher proportion of those 800 events openly revealing visitor figures and being prepared to accept the scrutiny of the industry body."
For further information about the AEO please contact:
Jim Curry, Marketing Communications Manager
Association of Event Organisers (AEO) 119 High Street, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 2DJ
Tel: 01442 285810 Fax: 01442 875551 email: jim@aeo.org.uk
