APEX Committee Steps into the Foreground

APEX is an initiative of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) that promotes the development and implementation of industry-wide accepted best practices to enhance efficiency throughout the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry. Since its inception in 2007, the APEX Standards Committee has compiled close to 30 best-practice documents, but with constant changes in the industry, the committee strives to keep up with this evolving landscape by continually updating tools and documents to assist meetings professionals by providing time and cost savings, making it easier to communicate and share data, streamline systems and processes, enhances professionalism, and deliver overall superior results. As such, the committee’s work is always in progress.

"We believe in the industry and the need for universal standards, and we must continue to be as relevant as possible each and every day," said MaryAnne Bobrow, CAE, CMP, CMM, CHE, president of Bobrow Associates Inc., an original member of the APEX committee and currently its immediate past chair.

The committee’s 11 members meet face to face twice a year and conduct conference calls about once a quarter. They meet less formally at industry events, but constantly throughout the year to discuss, explore, review and analyze. The goal, according to Bobrow, is to address and add about two or three new topic areas every year, depending on changes in the market and the urgency to tackle them.

That’s how and why one of the newest standards on bandwidth was created in the past year. It was becoming critical that meeting professionals know the precise questions to ask of their venue reps to guarantee the facility could handle the group’s Internet requirements, and it was apparent that many simply did not understand the basics.

So the APEX Committee went to work to develop documents on how to buy bandwidth, what meetings professionals needed to know and why it was usually not for free. It was the first time the committee decided to bring in outside subject-matter experts and create a work group. The result was a new section on "Bandwidth and Connectivity for Meetings and Events," including three documents and a Bandwidth Estimator tool allowing planners to plug in some basic parameters of an event to get a rough idea of their usage needs. Industry technology experts have praised the product.

The group also made headlines earlier this year when, in conjunction with the American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM), it published standard E2772 on sustainable accommodations, giving professionals in the meetings industry access to a complete suite of standards for sustainable meetings and events.

The committee members themselves represent a diverse cross-section of the meetings industry landscape, including all major product and professional categories, according to Charles Massey, CMP, founder and CEO of Synaxis Meetings & Events Inc. and current chair of the APEX committee. The committee breaks into groups of two that each focus on a specific topic. From there, if deemed appropriate, the teams go out and create subject-matter work groups comprised of industry specialists and experts. The groups study a topic, determine what is needed, and make presentations and recommendations to the committee. The committee will then evaluate and modify as necessary before presenting ideas to the CIC for approval.

Some hot topics discussed at last month’s meeting were: the definition of independent meeting planners vs. third-party planners, the issue of hotel room-block piracy and continuing to push a global view of all categories.

Massey also said the committee is also trying to get its arms around social media. "We are developing a social media work group to determine what, if any, aspect of it would lend itself to relevant standards," he said. "We know how it’s being measured, so we need to figure out what our role should be in trying to benchmark that."

One of Massey’s goals in the coming year is to make the industry at large more aware of the APEX committee so that meetings professionals can take advantage of the committee’s work and use APEX as a valuable resource. Committee members receive no compensation for their work. They have to pay travel expenses out of their own pockets, so this is purely a volunteer endeavor.

So why do they do it?

"We believe giving back to the industry is so very important," Bobrow said. "When we see information out there that isn't quite right, we get energized, motivated and obsessed with correcting it and delivering the right information," Bobrow said. "There’s also something to be said for giving back to this industry. That gives us a good feeling – knowing that we are making a difference."

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a
program of the Convention Industry Council

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