While I don't see anything yet on their respective Web sites (or on the Expo!Expo! blog), according to the Expophile, the International Association of Exhibition Management and the Center for Exhibition Industry Research just announced that they're planning to merge. As the Expo-man rightly notes, this sounds like a good move for both, adding more breadth to CEIR and more depth to IAEM.
This announcement, following on the heels of the recent American Society of Association Executives/ASAE Foundation/Greater Washington Society of Association Executives/Center for Association Leadership merger, kind of makes me ponder if more mergers might be coming for this overcrowded industry. Wonder what might be next, a PCMA-MPI merger? Hey, anything's possible.
Update: According to a colleague who's at the show, the merger isn't a done deal--the boards have to do some due diligence over the next 90 days (or shorter) and if it all works out, then it will be official.
I also hear that the vote to change the name from the International Association of Exhibition Management to the International Association of Exhibitions and Events didn't go all that smoothly, and that it's going to be discussed further before being implemented. I look forward to hearing more about all this when people get back from the show. Sounds like it was interesting, to say the least.