We heard it when the Vikings beat the Cowboys and we hear it now many times, especially whenever someone steps right into “it.”

Since the ailing economy started taking its toll and trade shows in Chicago especially took a beating, we’ve all have been running around trying to identify the guilty. The GSC, unions, convention centers, exhibit builders and EAC are all pointing fingers and blaming each other.

“Fees and mark-ups are too high,” “unions make too much money,” “drayage is the mother of all evil” and other such matters are being discussed in at least two dozen forums, blogs and association sites.

It is attack, retreat, counter attack. Once in a while, you can hear Rodney King’s echoing of, “Can’t we all just get along?”

The recent debates show how much the various parties actually care about each other. Almost like the Mafia boss laying his arm around your shoulder and telling you, “It’s time to take a trip.”

What I am missing in all this, is the voice of the exhibitor. I also find that organizers and show management are rather quiet right now and do not want to get involved in these more or less heated debates.  Now, why might that be?

Perhaps before we blame GSC, unions and whoever else for this wild ride, should we not include everyone involved in this well-greased money-making apparatus? Should we, or better yet, the exhibitor, not be starting at the top and demanding some answers from organizers and associations? Are they not the ones responsible for choosing locations and negotiating contracts?

Aren't they the ones who demand truckloads of freebies from the general contractors and then expect anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of any business transaction be paid to them? Well, the general contractor probably doesn't feel like giving all this stuff away for free just for the right to do business with these folks. He probably wants to somehow recover the cost; so where does it go? You guessed right: straight to the bills the exhibitors have to pay.

These are the same exhibitors who have to pay for everything from getting to the show to standing in line for 30 or more minutes to get a cup of overpriced coffee or junk food. They are the  same exhibitors who are being told that they are good enough to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but are obviously too stupid to change a light bulb in their own display or can’t attach a panel on their machine with a simple Phillips screw driver.

In order to get this entire situation under control, exhibitors need to ask questions and not sit there and accept things the way they are! They need to either cut their show presence in half or quit going to shows altogether.

We can continue to point fingers and make a few things a little easier by cutting into our deserved profits, but the big picture will not change. Let’s not apply a band aid when amputation is necessary. The discussion must start at the top and exhibitors must demand complete transparency.

We are in a service industry, so we need to come to our senses and discover once again who our customers are. When it comes to service, we need to provide that service and serve our clients, not simply force them to use our resources and vendors, restrict their rights, take away their freedom of choice and then make them pay dearly for it. Why have we been doing this? Because we could, and if clients didn't like it, tough. Just don’t exhibit!"

Is that service? Is paying an installation rate of $105 (discounted), $131.25 (regular) and $157.50 (show site) per hour without knowing who is performing the work and how qualified the worker is to do the work good service? Let me mention here, that in 2007 the labor rate in Chicago averaged about $ 70 (straight time) and supervised labor was $ 91. How can anyone justify such rate increases?

Is paying $ 315 for an installer if you need him just for one hour or less on a Sunday good service? Is it good service when the labor form points out: "All rates are subject to change if necessitated by increased labor and material cost?” Isn't it sort of funny when you read on the same form that XYZ company “requires the highest standards of integrity from all employees.” And they also have a hot line for – here it comes – “fraudulent or unethical behavior.”

I especially like the term “unethical.”

In the end you'll have to add 25 percent supervision fee if you require “professional supervision.”  Now, let's say my installation requires six people for 16 hours each. That would be $ 12,600 at regular time. The 25 percent professional supervision will add another $ 3,125, even though I know the professional supervisor will not be at my booth for 16 hours. He'll be supervising all over the place instead. Now, since the professional supervisor probably makes more money than the professional installer, let me pay him the show rate of $ 157.50 an hour. This times 16 hours permanent supervision results in $ 2,520, which is actually $605 less than the mandatory 25 percent.

What is wrong with this picture?

To take this a little further, let's say that the supervisor is supervising three exhibits in the same area, totaling another $15,000.

Here too, a supervision fee of $ 3,750 will be due, bringing the income generated by one person to $ 6,270.  The supervisor might make somewhere around $ 70 union pay and benefits, so that multiplied by 16 hours results in $ 1,120. Let's double that because he'll have some down time before he's supervising something else. The difference is still $ 4,030.

Now, we can play with these numbers and we can easily arrive at a great profit at a 1500-exhibit event with 500 of those requiring supervision. And has anyone ever put numbers to vacuuming, porter and other services? It’s not all that simple, as there is quite a bit of cost involved with various services. But we should start looking at these numbers and demand more accountability.  It’s way too easy to prohibit exhibitors from vacuuming their carpets and force them to use an army of minimum wage people with worn-down equipment, but charge top hourly pay, as if you had the latest edition wind-tunnel vacuum at work in your booth.

Or consider attaching a panel to a machine in your exhibit. Two screws and one minute of time, and look what you're paying! Plus, you have to fill out forms and try to get a guy with the right screwdriver when you need him. Your one-minute two-screw job will turn into a one hour (or more) ordeal. Is this service? Is this ethical? Does it even make sense?

I once asked an Italian exhibitor about his experience with unions. His answer was, “I had no problems. I asked them to do nothing.”

I am waiting for individual vendors, GSC, organizers and management to provide justification for their charges, rate increases and the way they’ve been doing business. If they're clean, they will surely hurry to provide this information. Yet here I sit and wait, and with me are a whole bunch of exhibitors.

If they can't or won't provide this information, they might just be the ones responsible for shows continuing to move, shrink or disappear altogether. They might just be responsible for thousands of people, union workers and non-union workers, bartenders, cab drivers, flower girls and whoever else benefits from trade shows looking for jobs.

It’s time to get our act together and clean up our image.

Hans Mecker is North American sales manager for Messebau Keck’s Keck Exhibits USA. He can be reached in Dallas at hmecker@keck-exhibits-USA-com or 817-563-1334. He is also president of The Global Exhibit Alliance (www.gea247.com).