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m+a | UFI Exhibition Newsletter
m+a ufi weekly update

Issue 21 | June 09, 2021

<<Salutation>>,

On Global Exhibitions Day #GED2021, the exhibition industry around the world made itself heard and its presence felt. A huge thanks to all those who did their part to give the industry a voice and visibility!

Gwen Kaufmann (kf)
for the m+a | UFI Exhibition Newsletter Team


Global

#GED2021: Largest day of awareness and advocacy for the exhibition industry

The sixth ever Global Exhibitions Day, which took place on June 2, 2021, spread the message that "exhibitions are the fastest of fast tracks to economic recovery" across the globe. GED 2021 demonstrated the unity of the industry and proved that exhibitions create platforms for growth and recovery, whilst also instilling confidence in others to participate in organised events that prioritise safety and success in equal measure. From videos to meetings, from webinars to hybrid events, from webcasts to social campaigns and virtual contests, and more, people and organisations from around 110 countries/regions participated in GED 2021. The global day of advocacy and awareness for the exhibition industry is initiated and coordinated by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Anbu Varathan, UFI president, says: "participation in this year's Global Exhibitions Day has been amazing! GED 2021 definitely saw a unification of the industry, presenting the opportunity to share hope and optimism, and to focus on the important role of exhibitions in reconnecting and rebuilding communities and economies. This memorable day raises awareness, as we demonstrate our passion, purpose and power!"
"The commitment of event professionals has put a spotlight on both the size and passion of our industry. It's also been an opportunity to see the creativity, diversity and multicultural nature of exhibitions," says Kai Hattendorf, UFI's CEO. "We are business event professionals, and the best prepped sector in the world to set up and run exhibitions and business events safely, with top-class procedures in place." The key messages from GED 2021 will continue to be shared throughout the year. The next Global Exhibitions Day will take place on June 1, 2022. (kf)
www.ufi.org

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Americas

Global Gaming Expo takes place in Las Vegas

The American Gaming Association (AGA), with partner Reed Exhibitions, has formally announced plans to move forward with Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2021 as an in-person event with additional virtual components from October 4 to 7, 2021 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. "For over 20 years, G2E has been the leader in uniting the global gaming community and we are beyond thrilled to come together this October for the industry's hallmark event," said Korbi Carrison, G2E event director. Following a one-year in-person hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, G2E will coordinate with the Sands Expo & Convention Center, federal, state and local authorities and partners to safely reconvene the global gaming industry for the first time since 2019.  "We can't wait to bring the industry back together in Las Vegas for G2E 2021," said Meredith Pallante, AGA vice president of global events. "The industry has shown tremendous resilience throughout the pandemic and being able to gather together again will be another great milestone in our strong recovery." In May, G2E show management fielded a research study to key G2E stakeholders to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on their business, their evolving mindset and objectives, and their plans for attending G2E 2021. The survey found a strong desire for an in-person G2E to purchase new products. (kf)
www.globalgamingexpo.com/return-to-las-vegas-in-october-2021

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Highlights of GED 2021 from across the Americas

  • AIFEC created a social media campaign with a strong message of support for Global Exhibitions Day
  • AFIDA held a live stream on YouTube and Facebook and discussed the importance of exhibitions and trade fairs
  • Corferias submitted a #GED2021 campaign on social media and launched their trade show calendar on Global Exhibitions Day with high-level representatives from the public and private sectors
  • Diversified Communications celebrated GED on social media
  • The Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance held their Legislative Action Day, advocating in digital meetings with US lawmakers
  • FexpoCruz shared a video
  • GL Events Chile shared a video
  • Meetings Panama scheduled an Instagram live stream involving UFI's regional director for Latin America
  • Messe Frankfurt Argentina shared a video on social media
  • Reed Exhibitions Brazil shared an inspiring video
  • Reed Exhibitions USA published their Voices of Exhibition campaign
  • Rego supported the return of events
  • Tarsus Group shared Voices of Exhibition on social media
  • TSNN published an article "GED 2021 celebrates resiliency and recovery"
Tagungsplaner.de

Asia Pacific

The LUME opens its doors in September

The doors of Australia's first permanently housed digital art gallery, THE LUME Melbourne, at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) will open on September 1, 2021. Peter King, chief executive of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, said MCEC is thrilled to be using the venue in exciting new ways: "This partnership is possibly the most exciting opportunity we have been involved with for a long time. It is literally world-leading experience technology that we can use with our own industry partners along with providing a much needed new attraction for Melbourne." The LUME is an unconventional way of using the space of MCEC. The founder of Melbourne-based creators Grande Experiences, Bruce Peterson, anticipates an excited reception to the opening of The LUME Melbourne on September 1: "We are thrilled to establish this iconic, new, cultural attraction to join Melbourne's beloved art scene." The inaugural experience for The LUME Melbourne, presented by Lexus, is an adventure into the life and works of Vincent van Gogh. A reimagining of 3,000 paintings, sketches, letters, photos and floral works will be brought to life as part of this multi-sensory experience. (kf)
thelume.com/global/

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Highlights of GED 2021 from across Asia-Pacific

  • BITEC shared a social media campaign to "celebrate the power of exhibitions, now more than ever"
  • BIEC Bengaluru shared their campaign video
  • China Trade News published an article also available on UFI's WeChat account
  • EEAA held the Global Exhibitions Day Summit at the ICC Sydney
  • FAKT Exhibitions Pakistan shared a video on social media
  • The Indian Exhibition Industry Association organised a special webinar to mark Global Exhibitions Day and shared their social media campaign "Together we will Win & Voices of the Exhibition Industry"
  • Informa Markets India shared their social media campaign "Voices of the Exhibition Industry", #ThisIsMe social media campaign and published a dedicated press release 
  • HKCEC shared their social media campaign
  • Messe Nanjing shared a video
  • Shanghai Exhibition & Convention Industry Association shared a wonderful video of their team celebrating the day
  • VNU Asia Pacific, Bangkok Thailand, shared a social media campaign

Europe

MCH Group expand portfolio

Digital Festival AG in Zurich with its platforms Digital Festival, HackZurich and HackZurich Talents was acquired by MCH Group on June 1, 2021. The operational team around managing director and co-founder Jonathan Isenring is being integrated in the MCH Group and will continue to be responsible for the platforms and their further development. With the platforms of Digital Festival AG, the MCH Group is acquiring a leading Swiss event in the field of innovation, technology and digitalisation, as well as one of Europe's most important hackathons and a platform for the career of young talents. Despite the difficult circumstances, it proved possible to further boost the importance and profile of the Digital Festival and HackZurich in 2020. After the world's first hybrid hackathon was launched with HackZurich last year, the Digital Festival is also being staged in a hybrid format for the first time this year. "The three events constitute an excellent fit for our strategy of expanding our portfolio with new formats on hybrid and digital platforms", says Beat Zwahlen, CEO of the MCH Group. "Jonathan Isenring's team, with its specific know-how, will also make a key contribution to the ongoing development of innovative event formats and future-orientated topics." (kf)
www.mch-group.com/digital-festival-hackzurich-and-hackzurich-talents-becoming-part-of-the-mch-group

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Trading update from Informa

Informa issued a trading update to coincide with its Annual General Meeting in London. Stephen A. Carter, group chief executive, Informa PLC, said: "Further strength in Informa's subscriptions-led businesses and measured confidence in the progressive return of physical events in Mainland China, North America and the Middle East, are delivering further stability and security." He added: "We remain on track to deliver our revenue commitments through the 2021 transition year, whilst continuing to generate positive cashflows. Improving growth in subscriptions, ongoing expansion in digital services and the enduring strength of our B2B brands and platforms, gives us increasing confidence in revitalisation and growth through 2022-2024." Informa Markets is staging physical events as geographical markets open up, whilst continuing to expand the range of B2B digital services. "This includes our specialist content and marketing services activities, as well as an ongoing commitment to virtual and hybrid events which complement and extend our physical event brands", Carter stated. In Mainland China, the return of physical events continues at pace. Especially domestically focused brands are returning close to pre-COVID levels of revenue and participation, the company observes. In other major markets in North America and the Middle East, Informa is gradually seeing more restrictions relaxed and permission to stage events granted, providing measured confidence for the company in the progressive return of major brands and the potential for recovery post-COVID. "Separately, we continue to invest in the development of Iris, our centralised platform for collating, curating and managing all our customer profiles and behavioural data from our B2B events and digital services. Our objectives here are data-accurate customer insights and market knowledge, higher value buyer/seller connections and the development of a further range of B2B digital and data services", Carter adds. (kf)
www.informa.com/informa-agm-trading-update

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GED 2021 highlights from across Europe

  • Agility Fairs & Events shared a video with the Rise Again campaign
  • AUMA published an article online entitled "Exhibitions are ready for you" as part of their social media campaign
  • AFE Spanish Trade Fairs Association shared a video from the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, in support of GED
  • Baku Convention Center interviewed the leading organiser of exhibitions and conferences in Azerbaijan
  • Comexposium shared their Voices of Exhibition campaign
  • Clarion Events celebrated GED on their social media
  • Cosmoprof shared a social media post to celebrate Global Exhibitions Day!
  • EEIA published a position paper in honour of Global Exhibitions Day
  • The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) of the European Commission promoted internationalisation of SMEs and startups through their participation in tradeshows on a video
  • EMECA shared their "Voices of the Exhibitions Industry" quotes
  • Excel London shared a social media campaign with a portrait of their team explaining why they love the industry
  • Expocast launched a challenge with this simple question: how many exhibition industry acronyms do you know? and shared a video
  • Expoplatform shared a video and their GED social media campaign: "Voices of the Exhibition Industry"
  • Fira Barcelona published a media release "Fira Barcelona is celebrating Global Exhibitions Day to coincide with its return to on-site activity" and a video 
  • European-based IELA shared their creative "RiseAgain" social media campaign encouraging events professionals to take selfies with the sunrise behind them
  • Informa Markets shared a video celebrating GED and shared it during their internal awards ceremony
  • MTP Grupa shared a GED celebration video
  • Reed Exhibitions shared a video on social media and created a fabulous story, showcasing customers from four of their recent events, and pushed it on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and twitter
  • RUEF and the Russian Convention Bureau united to celebrate GED during a breakfast at Expoforum in St Petersburg
  • The ETT Club created a social media campaign entitled "Spurring Innovation Rebuilding Economies"
The UFI European Conference 2021 will offer a blend of keynote sessions and expert content, networking, matchmaking and business development opportunities, led by Nick Dugdale-Moore, UFI regional director for Europe. The speakers include Philippe Brocart, managing director of Maison&Objet, SAFI (France), Anna Dycheva-Smirnova, CEO of Reed Exhibitions UK, Russia, the Middle East and Turkey (Russia), and Olivier Ferraton, CEO of GL Events (France).
www.ufieurope.org
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Middle East - Africa

GED 2021 highlights from the Middle East and Africa

  • ADNEC promoted the safe return of exhibitions via a social media campaign
  • CTICC shared their #GED2021 social media campaign to create awareness
  • dmg events shared a video showcasing live events that took place at the Dubai World Trade Centre
  • New Horizon shared their social media campaign as part of "Voices of the Exhibition Industry"
  • Qatar Business Events Corporation shared their social media campaign and pictures of their team and the letters "GED 21" at the top of their building
  • Riyadh Exhibitions Company Ltd promoted unity through a social media campaign

People

Catja Caspary (41), who currently serves as vice president for trade fair management, has been named vice president for marketing communications with immediate effect and will thus assume responsibility for Koelnmesse's event-related customer and media relations. Her predecessor Jochen Dosch is leaving the company after 22 years to pursue new professional challenges. Catja Caspary, who has been with the company since 2012, had already worked as a manager in marketing communications before her current position in trade fair management. In addition to her new responsibility, she will initially maintain her role as vice president for trade fair management. The portfolio includes the events spoga+gafa, International Hardware Fair, Asia-Pacific Sourcing, h+h cologne and spoga horse. She will continue to report to chief operating officer Oliver Frese. (kf)
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Phil Adams has been appointed as director of sales of the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC). He joins VCC with over 20 years of leadership experience in business development and sales, including a comprehensive background as part of Canada's major events, sports and entertainment industries. Most recently, he served as senior director, Western Canada Operations at Canadian Soccer Business. Prior to that position, he served as the director of corporate partnerships with the Vancouver Whitecaps, director of corporate partnerships with the BC Lions and as Olympic project manager for RBC. (kf)
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Association News

Michael Duck to lead UFI as President in 2022-23

Michael Duck has been elected by the UFI Board of Directors as future President of the association for the 2022-23 period. The UFI Presidential Trio for the 2021-22 term will be:

  • Michael Duck (EVP – Commercial Development, Informa Markets, and EVP – Commercial Development, Group at Informa Group), Incoming President 2022-23
  • Monica Lee-Müller (Managing Director of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited (HML), Hong Kong), President 2021-22
  • Anbu Varathan (Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association – IMTMA, India), Outgoing President 2020-21

This decision will become effective at the conclusion of the 88th UFI Global Congress, which runs from November 3 to 6, 2021, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Michael Duck is currently EVP Commercial Development for both Informa Markets and Informa Group. Informa Markets is the world’s largest exhibition organiser, and Michael Duck has been active in UFI for 25 years, serving in various functions within the association. More than 20 years ago, he was the founding Chairperson of UFI’s Asia-Pacific Chapter, and, following that, was the founding Chairperson of the Sustainability Committee. He has also spent many years as the association’s Treasurer, a mandate he will now pass on. Anbu Varathan, UFI’s current President, says: “I am pleased to welcome Michael to the UFI leadership team, alongside Monica Lee-Müller. Michael has supported the association’s mission for many years, driving developments especially in the Asia-Pacific region. I look forward to working with him, as he takes on the role of Incoming President. I wish him every success in performing all the important duties that are required of this position. I know he will be a wonderful leader for all aspects of our industry.” Michael Duck says: “I am delighted and honoured to have been chosen by the UFI Board of Directors as Incoming President for 2022-23. There hasn’t been a more challenging time for our industry, as we work together to revitalise and restart post-COVID-19. UFI has worked tirelessly to support the trade fair industry across the globe, and to support our members – both large and small. Informa Markets has given me their full support to take on this important role.” (kf)
www.ufi.org/Michael-Duck-to-lead-UFI-as-President-in-2022-23

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Education

ETT Club: Removing barrieres with event tech

How can exhibitor confidence be restored? The Exhibition Think Tank (ETT) Club journey to reopen the exhibition industry is conducting a panel discussion on “How Event Tech Can Remove Barriers To Exhibiting (part 2)”. In an online online session it will be dicussed how event tech can help to restore exhibitor confidence, remove barriers to exhibiting and get the industry moving. The panel is introduced by “Tech for Better Events” ETT group leaders and speakers are Wendy Friewald Kirkland, Director of Global sales, EXPOCAD – EXPOCAD have developed tech for event design, management, security, Matthew Funge, founder and CEO, Yourstandbuilder – a B2B marketplace platform connecting exhibitors with stand builders, Nils-Oliver Boldt, Co-Founder and CTO, Eventflow – EVENTFLOW helps organisers with delivery management and contractor safety, and Adam Jones, CEO & Chief Product Officer, FFAIR – FFAIR helps to manage suppliers, exhibitor orders and online manuals. The sessions takes place on June 14, 2021 and is moderated by Niall Thompson, Managing Director, Interflow Logistics Ltd. It will focus on the operating side and what happens before an event. (kf)
www.exhibitionthinktank.com/removing-barriers-to-exhibiting-part

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Service Provider News

Freeman creates "Live Team"

As the event industry begins to recover, Freeman has created "Live Team",  an online networking resource for professionals in the business-events industry. Open to all industry talent, the community is intended as a place to connect with other professionals, share perspectives and learn new skills to prepare for the future of live events. "Freeman has been a catalyst of connection for more than 94 years and for the past year has been working hard to support our industry through Go LIVE Together," said Freeman CEO Bob Priest-Heck. "Going forward, giving industry professionals a safe place to gather and learn not only helps the events industry but represents the future of the talent that is needed." Those interested first create a Talent Network profile by sharing information about their background, interests and expertise. Once registered, participants have access to the Live Team community and can participate in weekly discussions on a variety of topics including industry trends and technologies, attend special trainings, learn about opportunities and have access to a constantly updated list of resources. "The future of events is as an integrated model where face-to-face, online, broadcast, data and content come together in omni-channel moments," said Priest-Heck. "And, the future requires a breadth of talent with a diverse set of skillsets." (kf)
www.freeman.com/freeman-creates-live-team-community

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