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New UFI Director: Eventprofs ‘Bullish’ Despite Global Crises

From ExpoPlatform: Martha Donato, regional director for North America, pointed to the upcoming “volatile” US election as an example before claiming “the show will go on”. She spoke to ExpoPlatform after taking on the position for the recently established chapter in the leading association for the exhibition industry. Martha, who is also president of MAD…

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Letter From the UFI President: February Edition

Dear colleagues, dear friends, I am writing these lines as I am leaving the beautiful city of Amsterdam, where I spent a few days both with the UFI leadership for our first major meetings of the year and of course for this year’s Global CEO Summit. For me, this week confirmed two beliefs that I…

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Why Don’t Our Big Companies Have Control Over Their Marketplaces?

From Exhibition News, by Phil Soar: The control Microsoft has on its marketplace has been much in the news. It effectively forced the board of OpenAI to take back Sam Altman as CEO after a mysterious firing – a power reinforced by its $13bn investment in the artificial intelligence firm. Then, Microsoft finally acquired Activision…

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Kai Hattendorf – 5 Trends to watch in 2024

From UFI: It took our face-to-face industry only two years to essentially recover from the most serious pandemic in more than a century. In addition, the industry has managed to deal with global inflationary pressures not seen in a generation. On top of that, we have faced new wars and growing geopolitical tensions. Despite all…

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Kai Hattendorf on the UFI Global Congress in Las Vegas

In this episode of The EXHIBITOR Now Podcast, Tommy Goodwin (Exhibition & Conferences Alliance) chats with Kai Hattendorf, Managing Director / CEO at UFI, about UFI’s advocacy work in the US and around the world, and Kai shares some insights into the upcoming Global Congress in Las Vegas in early November. Co-Hosts, Mark Johnson and…

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Lisa Hannant on Female Empowerment, Speaking Up & Being Authentic

From Exhibit News Now: It’s a familiar story within the events industry: Like many trade show professionals, Lisa Hannant fell into the industry by chance, realized she loved it and never looked back. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, only that I didn’t want to go into the city and finance, which is…

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Neil Jones: The Rise of Integrated Live Media

In the post-Covid industry, many people talk about the move from physical to digital – a virtual safe space where the boundaries can be pushed and pandemics can’t kill a creative idea. The Campaign Experience Awards tell a different, even more exciting, story. From campaignlive.co.uk…

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What the Events Industry is Doing to Achieve Net Zero by 2050

Alexander Alles, Executive Director, Joint Meetings Industry Council, and Iceberg Ambassador, talks to Trade Show News Network, in the lead up to Earth Day 2023, about Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE), an initiative to connect the events industry globally to the rapidly growing movement toward net zero by 2050. From Trade Show News Network…

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What I Wish I Had Known 30 Years Ago

EN guest editor, CloserStill and Nineteen Group chairman, Phil Soar shares the lessons he wishes he had known 30 years ago: No, this isn’t about wishing I knew how to talk to girls (though it might have helped), nor that buying Apple and Microsoft shares would make me rich, nor betting at 10,000 to one…

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Business Events Industry Advocacy with Tommy Goodwin

Tommy Goodwin, Vice President, Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, and Iceberg Ambassador, talks about the challenge of getting Visas to enter the U.S. and the impact that has had on the industry, the Kentucky legislature (failed) attempt to tax space rental for exhibitors and sponsors, and more. From Trade Show News Network…

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Tarsus & Informa Show the Road Ahead for Major Exhibition Groups

Exhibition News guest editor Phil Soar analyses the effects of Informa buying Tarsus on the wider industry and considers the road ahead for our major exhibition groups: “A couple of months ago that I suggested the trade show world was very likely to be back to normal by 2024 and, in many cases, well ahead…”

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Events Sector Finally Getting Recognition – What’s Next?

It took a pandemic for governments to realise the value of business events. Now the sector has to keep up its advocacy and collaboration efforts. At the recent UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, leaders in the Asia’s events and exhibitions space shared about their effective advocacy strategies and learnings… From Meetings & Conventions…

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Seven New Deals and the Effects on Big Ticket M&A

Steve Monnington of Mayfield Merger Strategies reports the most recent transactions and analyses the M&A news. As well as several deals announced, there have been two important pieces of news which could impact big ticket M&A. There were also seven transactions announced which brings the total for 2023 to 13… From Exhibition News…

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A Future Vision for Trade Shows

Despite evidence that attendees today have different priorities, business events have largely returned to the same formats as before the Covid pandemic. As organizers look to adapt to a new reality, industry leaders share their thoughts on the trade shows of the future. From Skift Meetings…

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Old Dog, New Bone: What now for Melbourne Chief?

Outgoing CEO at the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (MCEC), Peter King, reflects on the needs of the business events sector to have a ‘North Star’ upon which to attract talent. In a parting message, the former AIPC president hints that he still has a significant contribution to make to the broader wellbeing of the sector’s…

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Kai Hattendorf: 2023’s Five International Trends to Watch

The CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, Kai Hattendorf (pictured right!) has been looking into his crystal ball yet again as the year ends. With the pandemic lingering in some territories, Russia’s war in Ukraine, inflation skyrocketing and the climate crisis, what are the key trends to see business events through 2023? From Exhibition News…

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