• Global Exhibitions Day to be celebrated on Wednesday 5 June 2024
• Theme for this year is “Exhibitions are catalysts to sustainable futures”
• Call for community to celebrate globally and plant a “GED Forest”

Paris – 7 May 2024: Exhibitions have transversal impact across multiple industries and economies, building communities to collaborate on solutions for global challenges. The exhibition industry drives progress, facilitates economic growth, connects people and are a sustainable way of doing business. On Global Exhibitions Day, we invite all interested in increasing the visibility of the exhibitions industry regionally and globally to celebrate.

Celebrated annually on the first Wednesday of June, the ninth edition of Global Exhibitions Day (GED) will be held on Wednesday 5 June 2024 under the theme “Exhibitions are catalysts to sustainable futures”. The GED 2024 theme reinforces the role of exhibitions as platforms to bring people together face-to-face to connect, collaborate on global solutions aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and drive progress for economies worldwide.

Key Campaign Pillars

Four key messages underpin this year’s theme, including:

1. Exhibitions drive progress: Exhibitions are platforms to discuss, create and showcase solutions to our universal challenges.
2. Exhibitions facilitate economic growth: Exhibitions are engines of economic growth, connecting industries and driving job creation.
3. Exhibitions are a sustainable way of doing business: Exhibitions are a sustainable way to drive business and development, gathering communities in one place and managing our environmental impact.
4. Exhibitions connect people: Exhibitions are community builders, bringing people together face-to-face to connect, collaborate and contribute.

With one month to GED, the GED 2024 campaign is pleased to collaborate with Digital Marketing Partner snöball and Sustainability Partner EcoMatcher to plant a “GED Forest” across the Philippines, Madagascar, and Ecuador. With every social share using snö.ball, each participant will receive a tree planted in the GED Forest provided by EcoMatcher. We invite all professionals across the industry to amplify their support for GED 2024 and help us grow our global GED Forest.

UFI President, Geoff Dickinson, comments: “For this year’s Global Exhibitions Day, it is important that we recognise the critical role of exhibitions in catalysing our collective sustainable future. This is a call for us to share the GED 2024 message across our communities with policymakers and media, colleagues and customers, family and friends. Let us plant the seed, and watch it snowball to grow our GED Forest around the world.”

How you can get involved

Resources and tools to help you celebrate GED 2024 can be found on the official event website, www.globalexhibitionsday.org. Some ideas on how to get involved include:

• Organise your own GED 2024 initiative and add them to the GED World Map.
• Ask your government officials for endorsement and recognition of the exhibition industry.
• Share GED 2024 theme and core messages with local media to increase awareness.
• Download the toolkit on the GED website and customise your own visuals using the GED logo or ‘Voices of the Industry’ card.
• Share the ‘Global Economic Impact of Exhibitions’ infographic from the GED website to highlight the relevance of our industry globally and regionally.
• Plant a tree in the GED Forest by sharing your support via snöball.
• Share your Global Exhibitions Day activities through social media with the hashtag #GED2024.

Facilitated by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, GED 2024 is supported by over 70 national and international industry associations, Digital Marketing Partner snö.ball and Sustainability Partner EcoMatcher.

For questions, please contact: ged@ufi.org.

To learn more about Global Exhibitions Day, please visit www.globalexhibitionsday.org.

Attachments:

• Global Exhibitions Day 2024 horizontal visual
• Global Exhibitions Day 2024 vertical visual

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Paris – 2 May 2024: UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and The International Association of Exhibitions and Events® (IAEE), announced today they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU re-establishes a regular exchange between the associations benefitting their respective members, while also promoting the industry at large. Both partners agree on the value of collaborating on common initiatives, exchanging information and supporting industry developments.

“IAEE is pleased to expand upon its international partnerships through this MOU with UFI,” said IAEE Chairperson Marie Browne, Group Vice President, RX Americas. “Cultivating relationships that enrich our member offerings and bring attention to the remarkable contributions exhibitions and events make to the global economy is among IAEE’s top priorities. We look forward to working with UFI to deliver these benefits.”

“Collaboration has been the genetic code of UFI since its beginnings 100 years ago,” said UFI President Geoff Dickinson, CEO of dmg events. “Today, more than 70 exhibition and event industry associations from around the world are members of UFI, a testament to UFI’s role as the leading global body of our industry. Besides that, we partner in other ways for the good of the industry. With our new North America Chapter, we want to make sure to deepen the relationships with the associations where we currently don’t have them, and we certainly hope that this MoU with IAEE will herald the beginning of a new chapter here.”

The organisations will initially focus on advocacy by driving support for the Exhibitions and Conference Alliance’s (ECA) annual Legislative Action Day to be held on 30 May 2024 in Washington, D.C. IAEE will also contribute to Global Exhibitions Day on 5 June 2024, the global industry awareness day for the industry for which UFI serves as the project lead and office.

Other areas covered by the MoU include collaborations on upcoming events, such as the China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO), of which both associations are co-organisers, and a dialogue around research-related issues.

Attachment:

• UFI and IAEE leadership

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