The following comes to us from Steven Hacker, president of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE):
- As if producing a successful exhibition isn’t already complex enough, hundreds of organizers and their exhibitors are distracted and harassed every year by the mischief of Fair Guide/Construct Data, the Slovakian company that has been targeting exhibitors with a very suspect “Directory Listing” offer.
If you haven’t crossed paths with Fair Guide, their tactics include gathering contact information of exhibitors from show directories. They then mail an innocuous looking form to the exhibitor asking that the information be confirmed and returned to them in the provided postage paid envelope.
Most who do return the form fail to read or understand the fine print at the bottom that commits them to an irrevocable three-year advertising contract costing thousands of dollars.
IAEE has been pursuing the company for the better part of a decade without success. We believe it is now time to mount a concerted effort that will result in action by the United States Federal Trade Commission to force the company to cease its deceptive business practices.
Please review the bulletin that IAEE has issued. If any of your exhibitors have been snared by Fair Guide we hope that you will join us in the actions that are outlined in the memo.
Even if your events have not yet been targeted by Fair Guide, we urge you to check the Fair Guide website (www.Fairguide.com). If your event(s) is listed we recommend that you contact the company through your legal counsel immediately demanding that all references to your event(s) be removed immediately. If they are using your event’s name you should also refer to the intellectual property rights that you own to the event.
We hope that joint action by IAEE and our members will result in the FTC restraining Fair Guide’s unfair and predatory practices.