Members of the International Association of Conference Centers have shown strong support for a property-inspection project launched in 2004 and look to the association to set standards and provide networking and educational opportunities, according to a recent internal survey.
Geoff Lawson, former president of IACC, said the member satisfaction and needs assessment survey reinforced the association's mission to push the conference center concept among meeting planners. Respondents also named the property inspections as one of the most valuable IACC services, he said. "Quality was mentioned extensively; education, which has always been a big part of IACC, was mentioned as well," he said.
The property inspection project to evaluate each of IACC's 235 member properties
(Meetings Today, July 18, 2004) through third-party inspection firm Bare Associates International includes 30 criteria a conference center must meet for membership. Previously, properties were left to keep up admission standards on their own. Lawson said all 57 properties inspected in 2004 passed and the results, combined with feedback from the member survey, prompted discussion of a possible rating system, similar to the star-rating systems for hotels.
"We talk about how successful the quality initiative and inspections have been and—not only among those that have done an inspection, but also internally—the question comes up: 'Should we go to a rating system?' We really just don't know," said James Mahon, director of marketing for IACC. Proposals for new initiatives based on the survey will be presented at the IACC annual conference May 11 to 13 in San Diego.
The survey also reflected the changing face of IACC, Lawson said, with 35 ancillary properties included in the North American membership. Accepting some hotels with conference facilities as "conference centers" sparked some debate within the organization, he said, but any property that meets IACC standards is eligible.
"If it meets the criteria you have to accept them. The question is do they operate the facility in conjunction with the criteria and is the operating philosophy a conference center operational philosophy," Lawson said. "There are distinct differences between conference-center philosophies and those of hotels."
The survey was conducted by Chicago-based Association Laboratory Inc. in a three-step process: in-depth interviews with 12 selected industry executives, a telephone survey of 53 primary representatives of IACC properties, and an online survey of 138 member representatives. Nearly 45 percent of respondents serve IACC in one or more capacities, according to the survey. More than two-thirds attended the annual IACC conference within the past three years.