Outboarding, the practice of holding concurrent events not sanctioned by the official convention organizer, but that seek to garner the main event's audience, has gotten an official thumbs-down from the International Association for Exhibition Management. In a press release, IAEM President Steven Hacker, CAE, attributes ignorance, not intent to harm, to many who engage in outboarding: “Those who do not carefully consider the ethics of outboarding might easily jump to a conclusion that says, ‘Why not take advantage of the assembly of a group of customers or prospects without realizing that it is not theirs to take?’”

The policy states, in part, that IAEM considers outboarding to be unethical business conduct and should not be condoned nor tolerated.