Standards and research.
Audited attendance, third-party verification, industry definitions, published research and how to read it, survey methodology, and comparability across shows and countries.
19 articles · Standards and research
- What an exhibition attendance audit actually checks before the certificate is signedexhibition attendance auditWhat an exhibition attendance audit checks stage by stage, which three figures the auditor certifies, and what happens to badges that trace back to no record.
- Event audit scope limits and the questions an auditor will not answerevent audit scope limitsThe scope limits of an event audit, what the auditor's declaration actually covers, and why a certified visitor figure says nothing about audience quality.
- Choosing an event auditor from the UFI accredited list without surpriseschoosing an event auditorChoosing an event auditor from UFI's accredited list: who may sign a certificate, what to ask before scoping, and the two costs that never appear in the quote.
- The audit evidence your registration file has to produce on requestaudit evidence registration fileThe audit evidence a registration file has to produce: which extracts an exhibition auditor asks for, how they must reconcile, and why you build the pack once.
- Audit frequency across exhibition editions and what keeps a UFI label aliveaudit frequency exhibition editionsAudit frequency across exhibition editions under UFI rules: the every other edition cadence, the new entrant exception, and the six month certificate deadline.
- Verified versus registered attendance and the gap between those two numbersverified versus registered attendanceVerified versus registered attendance: what each base contains, why the gap has two separate halves, and which of the two numbers belongs in a media kit.
- Counting unique attendees versus visits without inflating your headline numberunique attendees versus visitsUnique attendees versus visits: the ladder from reader events to a certified figure, and why a 1.5 visit factor does not mean a bigger unique audience.
- Whether exhibitor staff count in attendance figures your show publishesexhibitor staff in attendanceWhether exhibitor staff count in attendance: the standard keeps them out of visitors, puts them inside total attendance, and gives the certificate no box.
- How no shows in audited attendance change the number an auditor signsno shows in audited attendanceHow no shows in audited attendance work: the standard counts arrivals only, the certificate hides the gap, and absence can cost the international label.
- How comp and guest badges appear on an audited attendance certificatecomp and guest badgesHow comp and guest badges appear on an audited attendance certificate: they count when the holder attends, and no badge type appears on the form itself.
- Exhibition terminology standards and the words organisers keep using differentlyexhibition terminology standardsExhibition terminology standards fix what a visitor, a visit and total attendance mean, and a portfolio benchmark is only as good as the words underneath it.
- Why two shows in one sector report attendance so differentlywhy two shows report differentlyTwo shows in one sector can both report honestly and still publish incomparable attendance, because the base underneath each number is chosen and rarely stated.
- Participants versus visitors terminology and why the broader word creeps inparticipants versus visitors terminologyParticipants versus visitors terminology matters because participant has no published definition, so the bucket widens each year nobody records its contents.
- Trade versus consumer show counting rules and where the evidence divergestrade versus consumer show countingTrade versus consumer show counting rules diverge because a ticket proves an admission and a badge proves a person, and each is weak where the other is strong.
- Net square metres of exhibition space and what an auditor countsnet square metres exhibition spaceNet square metres of exhibition space is contracted floor occupied by exhibitors, paid or unpaid, indoors and outdoors, with the last two reported apart.
- Converting net square metres to square feet without breaking your benchmarknet square metres to square feetConverting net square metres to square feet with a rounded factor turns a flat year into growth, because the error is bigger than most shows' annual change.
- Gross versus net exhibition space and the ratio worth tracking yourselfgross versus net exhibition spaceGross versus net exhibition space are reported by two different parties for different purposes, and the ratio between them moves when the denominator changes.
- Booth size unit conversion errors that quietly corrupt a portfolio roll upbooth size unit conversion errorsBooth size unit conversion errors survive every total anyone checks, because they corrupt size bands and averages long before they show up in a portfolio sum.
- Reading a benchmark study sample definition before you quote the numberbenchmark study sample definitionA benchmark study sample definition decides what the average means, and the published detail is usually enough to work out whether your show is in it at all.