The global exhibitions industry has had a rough 16 months. Global Exhibitions Day, Wednesday June 2 this year, represents a day for our industry to unite and tell the world we are coming back (safely) and are ready to provide the fuel the world economic engine requires to recover post-COVID-19.

UFI along with its many global partner associations, members, and friends is shepherding the effort to get the word out that exhibitions are key to rebuilding economies. Together our impact is 299 billion euros ($334 billion USD) connecting 4.8 million exhibiting companies with 353 million quality buyers on the average annual basis.

With China open since June and Las Vegas and Spain opening this month, it seemed like a good time to query industry friends and colleagues on LinkedIn on what they are most looking forward to when exhibitions are held in-person once again. Over 200 people voted and the results were:

  • The energy of a show floor: 29%
  • Networking/People: 60%
  • Back to Work: 9%
  • I don’t!: 2%

Some comments included:

Donna Kastner, “Watching the takeaways from our year of virtual collide with the amazing F2F energy to reveal remarkable experiences that are incredible & meaningful for all participants!”

Stephan Forseilles, “Even for an introvert like me, reconnecting with all my friends in the industry will be awesome. I miss you guys!”

Megan Powers, “The networking/people go hand-in-hand with the energy of the show floor for me. The buzz of commerce is exciting! And SO is the community that gets built!”

Matt Coyne, “What Megan said 😉 Energy of the people. Also hugs. I miss hugs and look forward to those coming back ;)”

Steve Lloyd, “Echoing Megan and Matt here. The people, when the people meet, the energy and buzz really kick off. While shows are physically tiring, I always come home buzzing!

Julio César Villegas, “Nothing compares to F2F networking … “feeling” the energy and the connection that ONLY face-to-face encounters produces is paramount for business networking!!!

Paul Treanor, “F2F is the only thing that’s going to charge up creative energies and industries. Can’t wait to hug my industry friends (while holding my breath)!”

Bill McGlade, “I chose energy because you can network digitally but you can’t replace that energy.”

Whether you miss the energy of the exhibit floor, networking, working an in-person trade show, or helping connect buyers and sellers, please help get the word out June 2.

For ideas and marketing collateral for Global Exhibitions Day 2021, click here, or create your own and share it! #GED21