APEX, the Accepted Practices Exchange
(Much of the information below is from the Convention Industry Council web site)
The APEX Initiative, being spearheaded by the Convention Industry Council, aims to bring the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry together to reach a common goal of increased efficiency and streamlined processes, such as:

"APEX: A Playbook for the Meetings Industry", authored by ACOM, and which appeared in Hotel Executive magazine, walks you through some of the basic tools of the APEX program and how they are being put to use. 

Accepted Practices
Accepted Practices are voluntary standards designed by the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry to streamline business processes and create efficiencies.

To date, six of the seven core areas of the APEX accepted practices are complete. The results are:

APEX Industry Glossary: The definitive source of terms and definitions for the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions industry. (This is the product of the Terminology Panel.)
APEX Event Specifications Guide: This template is the industry’s official format for delivering information clearly and accurately to appropriate venue(s) and/or suppliers regarding all requirements for an event. (This is the product of the Resumes and Work Orders Panel.)
APEX Request For Proposal (RFPs) Forms: These accepted practices forms are used to create consistent and thorough Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that address core information and unique needs.
APEX Housing & Registration Accepted Practices: These accepted practices are for the collecting, reporting, and retrieving complete housing and registration data for meetings, conventions, and other events; and, for housing issues such as housing providers, internet issues, international housing, and disclosure.
APEX Contracts Accepted Practices: The original purpose of the APEX Contracts Panel was to review all aspects of industry contracts and develop contract guidelines and, where appropriate, acceptable contract language guidelines. Additionally, the panel was to develop an outline to format industry contracts. The panel determined that for legal and practical reasons “acceptable contract language” should not be created.
APEX Post-Event Report: A report of the details and activities of an event is called a “Post-Event Report” or PER. A collection of PERs over time will provide the complete history for an event. This template is the industry’s accepted format. (This is the product of the History/Post Event Reports Panel.)