UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, says it is ready to celebrate the Global Exhibitions Day (GED), 1 June, a day for advocating for the value of physical exhibitions and face-to-face business events in bringing people together and driving the global economy. It is a recognition also of the power of face-to-face events to create platforms for economic growth and recovery.
GED sends the message that everyone in the exhibitions industry is working to empower people and businesses, creating opportunities for millions around the world to each make a difference and to make their voices heard, says an UFI statement on 14 April.
As the pandemic recedes, says UFI, the exhibitions industry has made a comeback thanks to the resilience, innovation, and strength of the community. Exhibition organisers and associations have managed to quickly bring live event platforms back. Events are seeing levels of attendance similar, if not higher, to those before the pandemic. And some shows around the world are bigger than they have been before the pandemic, driven by pent-up demand especially from small and medium sizes businesses to meet and to do business face-to-face.
Monica Lee-Müller, UFI President, stated: “GED puts the spotlight on the exhibitions industry. It is a recognition and a celebration of this spirit of innovation and resilience in the industry, and everyone is welcomed to join – working together to showcase who we are as an industry and what vital role we play.”
By joining forces to create the global coalition, led by UFI, and important industry associations, as well as the world’s leading exhibitions organisers Clarion Events, Comexposium, Diversified Communications, Emerald, Informa Markets, RX (Reed Exhibitions) and Tarsus, the exhibitions industry is showing its support, innovation, and resilience in responding to difficulties.
Charlie McCurdy, CEO of Informa Markets, said: "The spirit of connection and collaboration is at the heart of our industry’s purpose – when people come together to achieve common goals, they thrive. Our platforms help communities grow together through relationship building, innovation, discovery, and business opportunity. Over the last few years, we have united as an industry to bring safe, successful events back to life. We’re once again celebrating the magic of face-to-face connection, and creating a sustainable future, together. We are more than ever seeing the value of our services through the eyes of our customers, who are returning to the show floor with urgency and enthusiasm. And we’re confident that through digital and data services complementary to our in-person platforms, we are enhancing and evolving our event experiences to do even more for the markets we serve."
Hugh Jones, CEO of RX, commented: “Nothing speaks of the power of face-to-face events to drive business recovery, growth and innovation, as the sight of customers streaming back through our show doors. But, in these fractured times, our events also celebrate the importance of community, of coming-together, of shared experiences where everyone is made to feel welcome. In this spirit of collaboration, RX is committed to working closely with our global industry partners to share the magic of live events, keep health and safety front and central at our shows, and achieve our ambitious carbon net zero goal.”
Douglas Emslie, CEO of Tarsus, stated: “The value of in-person events has never been more evident than over the past two years and it is uplifting to see B2B events running again across so many industries. As organisers we have been collaborating more closely than ever to advocate for the return of in-person events; we have implemented health and safety measures and rebuilt our customers’ confidence in the unmatched value of live events.”
The focus of this year's GED will be on the value of physical exhibitions and face-to-face business events in creating platforms for economic growth and recovery. It will also be an occasion to network and meet other people.
All businesses and professionals in the sector are encouraged to join the GED celebrations on 1 June 2022 by highlighting the impact of exhibitions on local economies – both in building businesses and connecting people from around the world.
“Our industry has come together in an unprecedented way, partnering through associations such as UFI, and collaborating on critical initiatives to overcome our shared challenges”, added Russell Wilcox, CEO of Clarion Events. “We emerge with a unified voice, confident that we can foster innovation in our end markets, and deliver vital routes to market to help our customers thrive and grow.”
Renaud Hamaide, president of Comexposium, added: "Through an omnichannel approach, our role is to propose global and safe platforms to our clients to drive economic recovery, rebuild trust, develop business relationships, show case innovation and continue to constantly adapt to new environments and challenges, as we have done during the last two years.”
Hervé Sedky, President and CEO of Emerald, said: "As our industry continues to recover, Emerald remains steadfast in our commitment to continue championing the economic importance and sustainable value of in-person events and our role in driving connections, commerce, and growth for customers and communities."
Ted Wirth, president and CEO of Diversified Communications, concluded: “From medical conferences to food trade shows, we’ve hosted successfully and safely 27 events across the world since Fall 2021. Working collaboratively with peers in the trade show industry and developing guidelines to have in-person events in the current situation provided the tools our communities needed to get back together again.”
To learn more about GED, please visit www.globalexhibitionsday.org.
