American Biographical Institute

Operations

The ABI invited individuals to purchase various honors as a commemorative in their inclusion for a specific biography. One former employee explained that the company bought mailing lists from organizations, then sent out blanket mailings inviting those individuals to be in biographical books or to accept awards. Such honors include "International Man of the Year," "Most Admired Man of the Decade" or "Outstanding Man of the 21st Century", or to be included in ABI publications, such as 500 Leaders of Science or The World Book of Knowledge, in exchange for a contribution fee. Those who accepted, who provided their own biographies, were offered books or certificates at prices as high as US $795.

On its website, the publisher described itself as "one of the world's leading biographical reference publishers and authorities on global contemporary achievement" and claimed that "inclusion in an ABI reference title is based on personal achievement alone and is not available for purchase." The ABI shared an address and P.O. box with the United Cultural Convention, another purveyor of for-profit awards.

In 2007, referring to the International Biographical Centre, the American Biographical Institute, and Marquis Who's Who, Jan Margosian, consumer information coordinator for the Oregon Department of Justice, warned consumers to be wary and called the companies "pretty tacky", adding "I don't know why they would put you in there if they weren't hoping to get you to buy the book. You truly have to look at how they are marketing and what the spin is. It's something you might want to watch out for."

World Forum

The ABI was the co-host, with the International Biographical Centre (IBC), of a yearly World Forum (previously the International Congress on Arts and Communications), which invited a group for a week of professional seminars, artistic displays, and performances, and culture sharing. Host cities over 31 yearly meetings have included New York; Washington, D.C.; New Orleans; San Francisco; Edinburgh; Cambridge, UK; Nairobi; Madrid; Lisbon; Cambridge, Mass., USA; Oxford, UK; Singapore; and Sydney. The Maitre Artiste of Ethiopia, Afewerk Tekle, was a regular attendee. No proceedings of these forums were produced except the ABI which included these in a newsletter.