Special Interest Groups

UFI organises annual Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings to offer a platform for members to get actively involved into areas that they are interested in. Based on topics that our member tell us are important to them, we have also expanded the range of SIG meetings on offer to nine.

SIG: Female Leadership

This Special Interest Group, launched in March 2021, focusses on empowering women: help them to shape their career paths!  Chaired by Mary Larkin, UFI President 2020, the group is open to all, women and men. Join us at femaleleadership@ufi.org

SIG: Family Business

This Special Interest Group was initiated by former UFI President Eric Everard in 2011. It is designed to provide a forum for family owned companies that share a common interest to exchange ideas and make new contacts.

SIG: Sustainable Development

Within the exhibition industry, sustainability – finding a balance between economic, social and environmental components – is a must in terms of strategy for some companies, but it is considered as a burden for some others.

SIG: Large Venues

This group was introduced four years ago to address the specific concerns of exhibition venues of 50,000sqm and more.

SIG: Best Practices

Sharing best practices is at the heart of our association and with the annual UFI award programme, we receive many outstanding industry success stories that we plan to share among industry professionals.

SIG: Education

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” (Daniel J. Boorstin)

SIG: InterExpo: Government Support

Picking up on the work of the former InterExpo association, this Special Interest Group focuses on the important issues of government support for trade fairs and the evolution of national pavilions. These remain a critical component of many international trade fairs.

SIG: China

China is already one of the world’s most important exhibition markets and many things there are changing: new government guidelines to develop the industry; major new venues generating important competition challenges; and the changing make-up of the economy.

SIG: North America

As part of the close collaboration between SISO and UFI, this SIG is designed to allow North American participants to meet and talk about their market with those UFI members who are interested in expansion of their business activities in North America, the world’s largest exhibition market.