Society for the voluntary control of trade fair and exhibition numbers
The Society for Voluntary Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM) is an association founded in 1965 of over 50 trade fair and exhibition organizers. It is the task of the organization to specify uniform criteria for reporting the number of areas, exhibitors and visitors to trade fair events and to check that they are adhered to. Every year around 200 trade fairs in Germany are checked by an auditor commissioned by the FKM. The FKM test has been referred to as certification since 2011 . The management of the FKM lies with the AUMA exhibition and trade fair committee of the German economy eV based in Berlin.
The members are bound by a self-commitment to the guidelines and definitions of the society. These guidelines specify, for example,
- that when determining the number of visitors, the entrance tickets for exhibitors or journalists must not be counted and are counted like admissions with multi-day tickets
- How joint stands or multiple presences are to be taken into account when specifying the number of exhibitors
- which areas may be included in the designation of gross and net area of the exhibition.
The background to the detailed regulation depth is the great importance attached to the size and participant structure of a trade fair when deciding to visit or participate. The FKM rules are intended to ensure that self-designations such as “largest trade fair” are based on general and comparable criteria. They make it easier to compare certain trade fairs over time and trade fairs that are in competition with one another.
Certification logo
A logo of the FKM is used for individual trade fairs that are registered for regular certification.