The big news at the December annual meeting of the International Association for Exposition Management (IAEM) in Los Angeles was the association's endorsement of the tradeshow auditing services provided by the Audit Bureau of Verification Services Inc. (ABVS), a subsidiary of the Audit Bureau of Circulation, which audits primarily business publications.

ABVS currently audits 30 shows in North America. The International Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be the first major trade show to use the ABVS for an independent attendee audit, following IAEM's endorsement of it. After CES closes, attendees will be contacted independently to validate information collected during the show. Auditors will then reconcile attendance lists, eliminate duplicate names and verify demographic data. For more information about ABVS, contact Susan Branz, marketing manager, at (847) 605-0990, ext. 272. Attendance at IAEM was 2,071, second only to last year's annual meeting in Las Vegas, which drew 2,218 participants. Steven Hacker, CAE, president of IAEM, said the meeting doubled past educational offerings. "We are pleased but never pleased enough," he said. Karen Howe, CEM, group show director for Diversified Expositions in Portland, ME, is IAEM's new chairman; Lawson Hockman, CEM, chief operating officer, Environmental Industry Association in Washington, DC, is chairman-elect.