If you have ever wondered if your registration form, housing form, or rooming lists could be more clear or comprehensive, you will welcome a new resource from APEX (Accepted Practices Exchange), the arm of the Convention Industry Council charged with establishing accepted practices for the meeting industry. This mega-undertaking, launched in 2000, recently completed the piece of the project dealing with housing and registration practices.

A 23-page document, downloadable from the CIC Web site, has templates for creating registration forms, housing forms, and rooming lists — and best practices on such matters as acknowledgements, deposits, and cancellations — it also looks into issues of room blocks, the role of the Internet, international housing, and disclosure.

APEX has also completed its work in the areas of terminology, history/post-event reporting, and event specifications. Accepted practices for requests for proposals, meeting and site profiles, and contracts are not yet complete.