UCP – UFI Certified Professional

Theme: Innovative talent retention and recruitment

The exhibition industry faces severe challenges globally due to staff shortages. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have been forced to let employees go. What’s more, we are seeing talent leave our industry and this trend shows no signs of stopping. It is essential that we attract and retain talent if we are to continue successfully organising exhibitions and operating event venues.  The UFI HR Management Forum is a “must-attend” event for any professional wishing to gain insight into innovative talent retention and recruitment strategies, and to discover best-practice examples from across the exhibition industry and beyond.

Scheduled just prior to the UFI European Conference, participants can make the most of their trip to Maastricht by joining both events in the same week.

The UFI Operations & Services Forum is a one-day event targeted at senior exhibition industry professionals from around the world.

The Forum is organised by UFI’s Operations and Services Working Group, a member-driven body comprising organizers, venues, and suppliers.

The Forum will take place from 13–14 June 2023, at the MECC Maastricht and is open to all industry professionals.

Scheduled just prior to the UFI European Conference, participants can make the most of their trip to Maastricht by joining both events in the same week.

The industry education programme for exhibition organisers.
The curriculum was developed jointly with the UFI community, making it a programme designed by exhibition organisers for exhibition organisers.
Topics of the Programme:
· Agile Cross-Sales Strategies
· Budget and P&L
· Customer Centricity & Care
· Cross-Channel Exhibition Marketing
· Digital Innovation
· Global Business Development
· Human Resources & Leadership
· Strategy Creation and Development
The UFI-EMS is part of the UFI Certified Professional designation and awards 20 foundation credits.

The UFI International Summer University (ISU), directed to professionals working in the trade fair industry, offers an interactive educational platform for the strategic exchanges and operational knowledge.

The topic this year is “Onwards and Upwards: People, Planet, Profit”.

In cooperation between Koelnmesse, the Institute of Trade Fair Management – University of Cologne Trade Fair Management Institute and UFI, the ISU offers 2 intensive days of lectures, discussions and networking, in addition to first-class speakers, highly interactive workshops and industry case studies.

Participants will receive their Certificate of Completion signed by the responsible university professors and the President of UFI.

Where: Koelnmesse (Germany)
Participation Fees: Early Bird fee until 13 July 2023.

The industry education programme for exhibition organisers.
The curriculum was developed jointly with the UFI community, making it a programme designed by exhibition organisers for exhibition organisers.
Topics of the Programme:
· Agile Cross-Sales Strategies
· Budget and P&L
· Customer Centricity & Care
· Cross-Channel Exhibition Marketing
· Digital Innovation
· Global Business Development
· Human Resources & Leadership
· Strategy Creation and Development
The UFI-EMS is part of the UFI Certified Professional designation and awards 20 foundation credits.

This course is designed to provide a deep dive into modern exhibition growth and recovery strategies. We will share global best-practice strategy approaches and analyse why they have been successful. Participants will have the opportunity to learn and discuss global strategy best-practice cases from recent years after a global pandemic.
o Strategy processes as a chance to collaborate and innovate
o Growth strategies to outperform market growth rates
o Portfolio strategies as an ongoing fine-tuning process
o Creation of portfolio strategies, collaborative portfolio management, agile resource balancing
o The principles of geo-adaptation vs. geo-cloning

A commercial strategy is more important than ever if companies are to recover quickly from the Covid-19 crisis. If the current global crisis can offer any silver linings for the exhibition industry, then it is the chance to develop new revenue streams and offer new services to our customers. However, developing compelling digital products that sell is not easy. The new offers have to be easy to understand and carry a clear benefit.

o    What are the most successfully performing hybrid products and how does the product pricing benchmark look like

o    How to move beyond the traditional SQM sales by combining easy to understand onsite and online products to customer journey packages

o    How to measure the commercial DNA of a show team or entire company

After completing this course, the participant will have in-depth knowledge to define B2B product packages that can perform and boost tradeshow revenues beyond normal SQM sales.

The industry education programme for exhibition organisers.
The curriculum was developed jointly with the UFI community, making it a programme designed by exhibition organisers for exhibition organisers.
Topics of the Programme:
· Agile Cross-Sales Strategies
· Budget and P&L
· Customer Centricity & Care
· Cross-Channel Exhibition Marketing
· Digital Innovation
· Global Business Development
· Human Resources & Leadership
· Strategy Creation and Development
The UFI-EMS is part of the UFI Certified Professional designation and awards 20 foundation credits.