The AIPC Apex Award is made annually on the basis of a comprehensive performance and customer satisfaction analysis. The 2006 edition of the AIPC Apex Award is carried out by Professor Elisabeth Tissier-Desbordes, of the European School of Management ESCP-EAP in Paris. The independent "blind" evaluation process ensures an objective analysis of the data which addresses a series of factors including congress facilities, project management, catering and technical capabilities. The survey process now has a "paperless" component, with clients able to respond via e-mail to facilitate a higher level of response.

Because the AIPC Apex Award winner is decided through surveys of international meeting professionals, who are in a position to compare the performance of facilities from many different parts of the world, the Centre winning the Award represents a true international standard of excellence. Previous AIPC Apex Award winners have been the Cairns Convention Centre in Australia, the Palacio de Congresos y de la Musica de Bilbao in Spain, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in Canada, Congress Innsbruck in Austria and the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre in Australia.

The Apex Award is a central part of AIPC’s mission to encourage and recognize excellence in congress centre management and operation. At the same time, it emphasizes the importance of our customer’s opinions, since the evaluation is based entirely on client ratings of each participating facility. The Apex Award winner thus has not only the recognition of their peers but the satisfaction of knowing that they have earned the respect of their own customers. It is also a valuable learning exercise for AIPC members, since every entrant receives a copy of their evaluation form which they can use to identify any areas of weakness and improve their overall performance.