What a week we had in Zurich in June – welcoming 300 members and colleagues from more than 40 countries and regions for the many kinds of meetings, including the European Conference. It was surely memorable for all of us who were there (thanks in large part to our hosts, Messe Zürich) – and as the data from our social media analytics show, the events generated an extremely good number of posts and pictures shared online.
In recent weeks, at various industry events, I have had many conversations with UFI members from around the world and colleagues from other event industry segments. In many cases, we ended up discussing expectations towards UFI and other industry associations. Specifically around the question of what members - be they businesses or individuals - expect to receive in return for their membership fees. What is the “deal,” what are the expectations, and how can associations deliver against these?
April saw a breakthrough in the ongoing advocacy work for our sector. In Brussels, we could hold a one-day “EU Dialogue” event between the events industry and European policymakers. Backed by Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, this was an official event within their Presidency. Praised by everyone in attendance, I hope this event will only be the starting point for more of this coordinated dialogue with European leaders.
Four years ago, in March and April, Europe went into lockdown as COVID shut down public life – and our industry. In the past few days, I have been following a number of media reports and expert reviews on what we all have learned from the pandemic: how countries and societies managed to get through the waves of infections, how industries dealt with it and recovered, what we have learned from it, and what changes it has brought.
A few days ago, I could catch up with Amy Saleh, Operations Director at Hannover Fairs Australia. We were both attending the AIME show in Melbourne and chatted for half an hour about the state of the industry in Australia. Now, Amy has been a member of our 2023 Class of “Next Generation Leaders” and together with her colleagues Otero from the UK, Elizabeth from the US, Tehchad from Thailand, and Aya from Egypt, have presented their ideas for a new blueprint for exhibition operations a few months back at our Global Congress in Las Vegas.
Happy New Year to all of you – this first edition of UFI Info comes out a few weeks into 2024, and just ahead of Chinese New Year on February 10, which will ring in the year of the dragon. Sound powerful?
It took our face-to-face industry only two years to essentially [...]
Dear colleagues, dear members, I am writing this as [...]
Dear members, dear colleagues, Ahead of our Global Congress in Las Vegas, I have had the opportunity to connect with our members and community in Asia, Europe, and North America in recent weeks – having been in Bangkok, Düsseldorf, New York. And when you read this, we will be in Singapore with a team, jointly producing the Asia CEO Summit, a collaboration between AEO, SACEOS, SISO, and UFI.
The whole Paris team is back in the office after having used the past two months to take some time off respectively. Recharged and energised, we are working now to prepare our Global Congress in Las Vegas. We will have a unique event for all of you, and with colleagues from more than 50 countries around the world signed up already, we may see our most international event ever this November. Check out this UFI Info for more updates, and don’t forget to register.
