Global Exhibitions Day 2022: An UFI perspective

Global Exhibitions Day advocates for the irreplaceable value of physical exhibitions and face-to-face business events in bringing people together and driving the global economy. It is a recognition of the power of face-to-face events to create platforms for economic growth and recovery.

This 1 June, Global Exhibitions Day (GED) sends the message that everyone in the exhibitions industry – from individuals and professionals to businesses and associations – 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.

As the pandemic recedes, the exhibitions industry has made a remarkable comeback, thanks to the resilience, innovation, and strength of the community. Exhibition organisers and associations have managed to quickly bring live event platforms back. Indeed, 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.

“Global Exhibitions Day puts the spotlight on the exhibitions industry,” says Monica Lee-Müller, UFI President, “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 first-of-its-kind global coalition, led by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, UFI, facilitator of Global Exhibitions Day (GED on 1 June 2022), 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 again showing its support, innovation, and resilience in responding to difficulties.

Charlie McCurdy, CEO, Informa Markets, says: “The spirit of connection and collaboration are 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 – RX, adds: “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. Together we are stronger.”

Douglas Emslie, CEO – Tarsus, comments: “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. This collaboration will carry the industry forward as we continue to rebuild and sustain us as we work together to achieve our sustainability goals.”

“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,” adds Russell Wilcox, CEO – 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.”

“We are thrilled with the success of our recent events this year, making ever more evident our need to gather around businesses. During this experiential period, we have enriched our formats in order to propose new experiences and offers to better serve our communities, says Renaud Hamaide, President – Comexposium. 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.”

“The benefits of face-to-face interactions and the critical business function in-person events provide our customers are what drive our industry forward with determination and vigour. People want to meet to share ideas, products, and innovations; to be inspired, share best practices, and discuss challenges,” says Hervé Sedky, President & Chief Executive Officer – Emerald. “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 & CEO, Diversified Communications, says: “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.”

About GED

The seventh annual Global Exhibitions Day will take place on 1 June 2022. The focus will be on the irreplaceable 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. This day of advocacy is supported by more than 40 national and international industry associations and facilitated by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, UFI. 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.

To learn more about Global Exhibitions Day, visit www.globalexhibitionsday.org

List of #GED2022 partner associations under the UFI umbrella:

AAXO, AEFI, AEO, AFE, AFECA, AFIDA, AMPROFEC, AOCA, AUMA, CAEM, CEFA, CENTREX, CFI, EEAA, EEIA, EFU, EMECA, EXSA, FAIRLINK, FAMAB, HKECIA, ECA, IDFA, IECA, IEIA, IELA, IFES, LECA, MACEOS, MFTA, PCEI, SACEOS/SECB, SCEIA, SISO, TEA, TECA, TFOA, UBRAFE and UNIMEV.

Adapted from an original release that first appeared here.