As for disclosure, while the legal ramifications certainly can't be ignored, it is primarily an ethical issue. The basic questions are what should be disclosed, when it should be disclosed, and - at the center of the current industry debate - to whom (meeting sponsor or attendee) it should be disclosed. What seems strange, though, is that while associations are being pressed to disclose all aspects of their business deals, hotels and other vendors are not questioned about their own business practices, some of which clearly involve issues that raise ethical conflicts.

Ethical meeting managers - whether employees of sponsoring associations or third parties - support disclosure of rebates, overrides, commissions, and other fees. The end purchasers (usually associations' board of directors) should be made aware of all agreements in a timely manner. But shouldn't the same spirit of openness apply to the supplier community?

For example, wouldn't it be refreshing to receive a contract from a hotel that disclosed that the in-house audio-visual firm rebates 40 percent to 50 percent of the equipment rental payment back to the hotel? I have never seen that in a contract. Is there a fear that this disclosure might make outside a-v contractors seem more competitive? Is that failure to disclose ethical?

How many planners would be shocked to learn that some convention centers that offer to "waive" or "reduce" rental fees for a citywide convention may, in fact, actually be passing those charges on to participating hotels ... which, in turn, often raise their room rates to recapture the lost revenue. Fully informed, an association might choose that city anyway - but shouldn't that information be disclosed? (Some centers, it should be noted, are very open about this issue. It would be nice if more were.)

How many planners realize that when they ask a convention services manager to recommend a local entertainer or bus company, that hotel may receive an override on the business? That may be entirely reasonable, since the hotel is providing an additional service. But doesn't the planner have a right to know? Should it be disclosed that the fee for the service may be higher if it were booked through the hotel rather than directly?

Can you imagine a hotel contract disclosing that a planner was being awarded personal, bonus air miles for placing a meeting in a particular facility? Or better yet, that the planner was being rewarded with 'hotel points," exchangeable for merchandise or free vacations? Who would be more embarrassed by that disclosure the planner or the hotel? And to take the current debate one step further, to whom should the hotel disclose these "booking bonuses"? The planner's CEO? The association's board of directors? To the associations members?

Those questions were posed during a session at the 1998 Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting. Most attendees felt that all special arrangements including those that benefit planners should be disclosed. There was considerable support for the elimination of all "points" programs since their mere existence calls into question the integrity of everyone who plans meetings.

But, of course, we've heard that before. While the subject of disclosure makes for great debate and compelling headlines, nothing really changes. It's a sad commentary about our industry that an unethical practice that is loathed by both planners and suppliers is allowed to perpetuate. I am convinced that the only way for a positive resolution to occur is for the heads of the American Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International, PCMA, and other industry voices to come to agreement and establish a universal ethics standard. No individual organization - no matter how well intentioned - can accomplish this alone.

Bruce Harris is president of Conferon , the nation's largest independent meetin planning firm.

First published in: Convene Magazine, May 1998