Exhibition World has named the winners of its inaugural Global Exhibitions Day Awards.
The Awards, in partnership with UFI, sought to acknowledge and reward the best activity around Global Exhibitions Day 2017 – which took place on 7 June.
The winners were decided on by a panel including senior staff from UFI, Exhibition World and its sister title Exhibition News.
Most Creative Activity: endorsing the most quirky, fun and challenging entry
WINNER:
Amsterdam RAI: On June 7, RAI Amsterdam launched a global pitch to support new exhibition concepts. With the ‘Start up your Event’ pitch, the RAI offers exhibition space as well as the knowledge and expertise required for organising events
Yvonne Nassar: Y.Nassar@rai.nl
RUNNERS UP:
IFEMA (Spain): Feria de Madrid and the Government of Comunidad de Madrid announced on 7 June a special initiative to celebrate GED17: the new name of the Metro Station, which connects the airport with the venue and is used by almost three million visitors from 140 countries every year is 'Feria de Madrid'.
IESA (India): On the eve of Global Exhibitions Day, Indian Exhibition Services Association organized several blood donation camps at various Mumbai Railway stations & also one in Delhi. There were eight camps in total that were opened from 9am to 5pm. The camp is expected to have generated around 500 bottles of blood.
Highest Profile Online Activity: recognising the most ambitious online marketing initiative
WINNER:
Fondiazione Fiera Milano - Fondazione Fiera Milano - Accademia Fiera Milano: Social campaign that has mainly involved its students (average age 23 years old). The campaign had three main purposes: 1. Showing that there are many young talents who are in love with exhibitions and are eager to be part of the industry; 2. Sharing different points of view, ideas and dreams about exhibitions from someone who is not entirely part of this world yet; 3. Generating awareness months before 7 June 2017.
Enrica Baccini: Enrica.Baccini@fondazionefiera.it
RUNNERS UP:
Info Salons Group – Australia, China, Hong Kong, Middle East : The online campaign highlighted how much individual team members “Love Their Jobs” with a quote on what drives their interest in the industry. The campaign is aimed at encouraging new job seekers to consider the exhibition industry as their career. The campaign was shared on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtags #ExhibitionsWork and #GED17.
Ungerboeck staff set up a digital marathon across all time zones on June 7. Ungerboeck staff from all offices around the globe digitally “hand over” the GED17 baton to their co-workers, starting the marathon in Brisbane, bringing the baton to Karlsruhe and ending in St. Louis where Ungerboeck's headquarters are located. To promote the digital marathon, infographics/images and videos were shared on Twitter (#RUNgerboeck), LinkedIn and Facebook during the month of May.
Biggest Scale Physical Activity: awarding the most impressive offline activity
WINNER:
Bombay Exhibition Centre, NESCO, Goregaon (E), Mumbai (India): Over 350 exhibition professionals gathered at Bombay Exhibition Centre to commemorate the common cause and objective of ascertaining exhibition industry’s growth. Keeping aside differences in association alliances and business rivalries, this congregation of exhibition organisers, venue owners and service providers fostered a noble cause of promoting the exhibition industry as a whole. 350 at once which had the most reach online and offline.
Y Mukund rao: muksrao@gmail.com
RUNNERS UP:
IEA - IEOA - ESBAT (Iran): On the occasion of GED17, three Iranian associations organized a conference and dinner ceremony on 11 June 2017 in 5 starEspinas hotel of Tehran with cooperation of Namayeshgah magazine: IEA (Iran Exhibitions Association), IEOA (Iran Exhibition Organizers Association) and ESBAT (Exhibition Stand Builders Association of Tehran). At this event, the three associations signed a MoU to create an upper-hand association in order to coordinate their efforts in Iran exhibition industry. They had around 400 participants.
Expo Guadalajara (Mexico): Expo Guadalajara organised a conference 'The importance of the communications in the exhibition industry' followed by dinner on 7 June in Guadalajara. They received around 200 organizers and other stakeholders from the industry. 200 participants
Industry Impact Award: recognising the initiative that has the most positive impact supporting exhibitions as an industry
WINNER: EEAA (Australasia): EEAA has a major focus on communications with all tiers of government – local, state and federal to drive its advocacy agenda. In consultation with its members and the wider business events community, EEAA identified the critical issues and challenges for our sector and can deliver clear messages to government about the policy support we require. Industry initiatives like Global Exhibitions Day is an opportunity to seek out new allies. This year, EEAA wrote to 75 parliamentarians (on both sides of the Parliament), business leaders and industry stakeholders around the country to deliver the #GED17 message.
Rebecca Ius: rius@eeaa.com.au
RUNNERS UP
PCEI (Poland): Between February and May, a GED campaign was included in the national PR campaign organized by PCEI under the title 'Exhibitions Offer More' to stress the importance of exhibitions and the industry.
IAEE (USA): IAEE celebrated for the fourth time in a row the annual Exhibitions Day, taking place on June 6-7 in Washington, DC. More than 100 industry professionals from all over the US met with federal lawmakers to discuss the economic impact that exhibitions have on state and national economies.
GED Champions award: for organisations that offered the most diverse support for the initiative
JOINT WINNERS: RUEF, Russia and AEFI, Italy
Liudmila Smorodova: info@ruef.ru
Loredana Sarti: l.sarti@aefi.it
Winners will get coverage of their activity in the next edition (Issue 4) of EW, as well as a trophy.
