Corrado Peraboni, UFI President

It was wonderful to see so many of you earlier this month in Verona at our annual European Conference, especially as it took place in my home country Italy.
Thank you again to my friends and colleagues at Veronafiere for hosting us so graciously, and to all our speakers for sharing your insights!

During one of the breaks, I took a moment to watch the UFI team’s video showcasing some of the highlights and activities from last year’s Global Exhibition Day (GED). As I watched, I felt incredibly proud of our industry coming together to demonstrate our global reach, our passion, purpose, and power.

In just a few days, we will celebrate this year’s GED! 6 June is just around the corner! I hope your preparations are going well.

GED has quickly become our industry’s largest awareness campaign. Its main purpose is to celebrate people working in and supporting the exhibition industry. Created and coordinated by UFI together with many national and regional industry associations back in 2016, this year is its third edition.

As in previous years, thousands of professionals and students are set to join in the celebrations highlighting the power of the exhibition industry,  and the diverse career opportunities it creates. From our industry’s largest global organisers to individual professionals, everyone can get involved.

This year, GED is actively supported by 41 associations in 77 countries. Online campaigns and activities already began weeks, even months, ago to build momentum. For the big day itself, events and activities are in preparation all around the world.  It’s well known in the industry that GED highlights the positive impact the exhibition world has on jobs, business, innovation and local investment. However, thanks to the GED campaign on social media, I think young talented professionals from outside the exhibition industry are recognising it as an attractive working environment, too.

If you’re still looking for inspiration for your own GED activities, then I have a great resource to share with you – UFI has a long list of activity ideas that you can access through the GED website (www.globalexhibitionsday.org). What’s more, we’ve launched a new online tool where you can all share your initiatives with the GED community, and of course benefit from what others are sharing, too. You’ll also find this on the GED website.

So happy Global Exhibitions Day! Let’s make sure everyone knows what our industry has to offer!

Written by Corrado Peraboni, UFI President