A surprising result came out of the recent 13th Edition of the Association Executive Compensation and Benefits Study, conducted by American Society of Association Executives, Washington, D.C.: Trade show/exposition managers are among the few titles who made the largest gains in total compensation since 2000. In 2000, median total compensation for these managers jumped 26 percent, from $56,356 to $70,800. The bad news, at least for women in these positions, is that their base salary still does not measure up to their male colleagues.

Meeting and convention directors also saw an uptick in total median compensation, from $56,386 to $59,772, but the difference between genders wasn't quite as dramatic as it was for those on the expo side.

The study found no major surprises when it looked at metro areas having the highest median total compensation for meeting and convention managers: Washington, D.C., came in first, at $72,855; New York City was second, at $72,100; and Chicago was third, at $68,419.

The 13th Edition of the Association Executive Compensation and Benefits Study is based on surveys mailed in August 2001 to ASAE members representing 8,624 organizations. A total of 925 responses were completed.