Initially there were 20 or 30 sports commissions in the U.S., and now there are more than 200. But the initial founders of the organization saw networking as a huge component. One thing that has evolved is the event database, and the annual meeting has really evolved. We ve really become the place where cities and events meet. It wasn t that far back when bringing an event to a city was a more informal process.
Every event is still different and there are different processes.
But I think that overall the bidding process has substantially improved. Less back door, and there s less potential for corruption than there used to be. The whole thing with the IOC and what they ve done as far as accepting gifts and bribes and things in the regular industry we see hardly any of that anymore. I think overall the industry has really cleaned up. I think having to be much more open during the bid process has really helped.