Conference Policies

American Agents Alliance is making preparations for its upcoming insurance conference & expo in Palm Desert, California and working to ensure your company has a successful show. Show Management has mandated increased measures to protect exhibitors from suitcasing at the Show. This is the Show Management’s Suitcasing Policy, which will be posted using signage around the exhibit hall and included in the onsite guide for all attendees.

SHOWCASE POLICY/NO SUITCASING

Please note that while all meeting attendees are invited to the showcase, any attendee who is observed to be soliciting business in the aisles or other public spaces, in another company’s booth, or in violation of any portion of the Exhibition Policy, will be asked to leave immediately. Additional penalties may be applied. Please report any violations you may observe to Show Management. Show Management recognizes that suitcasing may also take the form of commercial activity conducted from a hotel guest room or hospitality suite; a restaurant, club, or any other public place of assembly. For the purposes of this policy, suitcasing violations may occur at venues other than the exhibition floor and at other events. Show Management must be informed of any hospitality suites, and expressed consent must be received prior to the event.

WHAT SHOW MANAGEMENT WILL DO

The Suitcasing Prevention Team
Show Management has created a Suitcasing Prevention Team that will be in place from the start of the Show to the conclusion of the Show. This team will respond to all complaints regarding suitcasing. The team will be trained on what to look for and the appropriate factors to determine if there is an issue. The Team will be composed of members of the Show Management staff as well as the Account Executive and Floor Manager assigned to each section of the Show.

Conference Policies
The Suitcasing Prevention Team will have the following responsibilities:

• Review complaints concerning suitcasing
• Review each complaint off the Show floor and take appropriate action, including removal from the Show floor
• Levy penalties for violations, up to and including, suspension from participation in future Shows

WHAT CAN YOU DO

The Suitcasing Prevention Team
If you have a pending dispute regarding suitcasing at the Show, then you should consider the following:

Prior to the Show: If you feel there is a reasonable risk of a problem involving suitcasing, notify Show Management prior to arrival.

Onsite: If you suspect another company of suitcasing – report this to the Show Management office and someone from Show Management will come to your booth immediately.

Show Management Action: Show Management will take one of the following actions:

Upon receipt of a complaint from an exhibitor, Show Management will review the complaint with the exhibitor. Show Management will confer with other members of the Suitcasing Prevention Team to investigate the complaint and determine what action may be taken, including meeting with the company that is accused of suitcasing. This will include:

• Remove anyone found violating the suitcasing policy; or
• If deemed advisable, Show Management will attempt to bring the accuser and alleged violating party together in a meeting in the Show Management office in an attempt to resolve the matter; or
• Take no action if it is determined there is no action necessary.

If the Suitcasing Prevention Team determines that a complaint is valid but the violator will not attend such a meeting nor leave the Show floor, then that party/company will be prohibited from exhibiting or attending in the following two (2) Shows.

SHOW RULES

Exhibition Policy must be observed at all times. Violation of the Exhibition Policy could result in any or all of the following actions at the discretion of Show Management:

• Closure of your booth.
• Exclusion from future Shows.

Specific rules that apply to any party in a dispute situation are:

• Do not enter or loiter around the booth of the other party.
• Do not harass or antagonize the other party.
• Do not remove anything from any exhibitor’s booth.
• Do not register or give a badge to anyone not qualified to be in the Show.

It is Show Management’s objective to do everything legally possible to protect you from suitcasing.