Global Exhibitions Day 2019 celebrated around the world
- Industry professionals, companies and associations from around 90 countries and regions out to promote the exhibition industry globally
- GED19 was supported by the 41 GED partner associations
- GED 2020 to be held on 3 June 2020
The fourth edition of Global Exhibitions Day generated huge interest this year as industry professionals from as far apart as Australia and Argentina, Norway and South Africa, driven and supported by the 41 partner associations, joined in with the celebrations. The huge number of participants testifies to the sheer size of the exhibition industry and the joint interest of industry professionals to promote it across the globe.
The four advocacy messages were central to many initiatives, as were the recently released global and regional data related to the economic impact of exhibitions, which underlines how important exhibitions are in contributing to total output, jobs and GDP.
Participation in around 90 countries and regions
As GED ended, the initial activities of industry professionals, companies and associations from around 90 countries and regions, were reported and monitored, further cementing the role of Global Exhibitions Day as the largest advocacy and awareness initiative of the exhibition industry around the world.
“GED is a perfect symbol for our industry – it’s a huge success that is based on teamwork, trust, and collaboration”, says UFI President Craig Newman. “No-one can succeed alone in our industry. It is great to see everyone working in this industry getting involved and coming up with a range of interesting and unusual activities to promote exhibitions. Seeing the action unfold has made me feel proud to be a member of such an innovative and inspirational community.”
Broad range of activities
Part of what makes GED such an exciting initiative is the huge range of activities thought up every year by industry professionals (organiser, venues, service providers and others) all over the world. The promotion of exhibitions as an effective way of doing business, the career opportunities they offer and the global nature of them were particular focuses for many events and initiatives. This year again saw a growing number of company activities and industry association events and advocacy efforts aligned with Global Exhibitions Day.
“I am delighted that the success of GED19 has again served to raise the profile of our industry. It is an effective way of showing the world the economic impact and opportunities the exhibition industry offers. I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who joined forces for GED19 and provided all these outstanding contributions”, says Kai Hattendorf, UFI Managing Director/CEO.
Based on the successes and learnings from the previous GEDs, the steering group had put a focus on enhancing the clear and consistent messaging around the world, to heighten the impact of the four core messages. These were picked up and transported globally – most notably the newly researched numbers tracking the Global Economic Impact of exhibitions that Oxford Economics produced for UFI with the support of SISO (Society of Independent Show Organizers).
With more industry players focusing the messages more precisely on specific target groups, the industry as well succeeded to take the joint messages further than in recent years. In addition, the new messages around the sustainable development initiatives the industry is taking took a front seat, especially those linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Here are some examples of activities that took place on and around 5 June:
In Asia-Pacific, IEIA organised and coordinated several events in India, including a cleanliness (litter-picking) drive in Mumbai, the distribution of clothes and food to an orphanage in Jaipur, GED India awards, and a delegation meeting to discuss the advocacy campaign for the exhibition industry. For the sixth time, Macau hosted the UFI-EMD (Exhibition Management Degree), an education programme during which industry instructors and experts lead onsite and e-learning sessions. In China, GICEC, Hangzhou Venue, Zhuhai Venue and Poly World Trade Center created videos including “Follow-me” videos. EEAA held a Leaders Forum and Conference and Global Exhibitions Day dinner in Melbourne, Australia, focusing on the theme of improving the environmental sustainability of business events and promoting careers in the sector. MACEOS in Malaysia produced a special media supplement to be published in the national media with the support from industry players. TECA held a networking meeting in Taiwan to discuss industry issues.
In Africa and the Middle-East, AAXO and EXSA organised an Exhibition Quiz and Networking Event in South Africa, to celebrate GED19 and the global exhibition industry, with refreshments and prizes. IIEC of Iran organised a ceremony with around 300 guests including trade fair organisers, associations and experts.
In Europe, as well as producing Voices of the Exhibition Industry messages, IELA organised an Event Logistics Horizon Project, a campaign for active data collection, with a view to boosting industry statistics and knowledge. Zagreb Fair organised an international conference entitled “Exhibition Industry – Disruptor or Disruptee?” The goals of the event included revealing the impact of trade fairs on economies, exploiting the potential of the industry and sharing knowledge and insights. Another conference was organised by AEFI in Italy, entitled “Cooperation and Sustainability: change drivers for Italian fairs.” The event included a debate by the AEFI President and Vice Presidents on the themes of sector legislation, economic development and the promotion of Made in Italy. Last but not least, UFI published a new report on initiatives that support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), sharing 20 best practice cases from around the world.
In the Americas, the IAEE led Exhibitions mean Business Coalition hosted the 6th annual Exhibitions Day in Washington DC, focussing on meetings with US federal lawmakers and legislation that affects the exhibitions industry in the US. Messe Frankfurt Argentina, together with AOCA, put on an event to present the results of their Barometer of Economic Impact of the Industry.
Besides these on-site events, and in the tradition of the GED culture, online served as a major channel for communication and support. Whether on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or WeChat, thousands of messages were shared and commented on, from support shots to Tweet chats, from homemade videos to whole company campaigns. On Twitter alone, tweets promoting Global Exhibitions Day activities and messages reached an initial audience of 4 million people – again matching the reach of last year’s campaign globally. Final figures detailing the online reach will be available in the GED documentation in a few weeks.
Exhibition World/ UFI GED Awards for the best initiatives
The GED Online Reporting Tool is the place to go for GED activists who want to be considered for this year’s GED Awards. UFI and its media partner, Exhibition World, will review all activities entered into the Online Reporting Tool over the coming weeks to select the five initiatives they deem the winners of the following categories: Most Creative Activity, Highest Profile Online Activity, Biggest Scale Physical Activity, Industry Impact Award, and the Talent Promotion Award.
GED will return on Wednesday 3 June 2020
As GED always takes place on the first Wednesday in June, GED 2020 will take place on Wednesday 3 June 2020.
Contact: Monika Fourneaux Ceskova or Christian Druart at the UFI Headquarters: GED@ufi.org
List of GED19 partner associations under the UFI umbrella: AAXO (South Africa), AEFI (Italy), AEO (UK), AFE (Spain), AFECA (Singapore), AFIDA (Colombia), AMPROFEC (Mexico), AOCA (Argentina), AUMA (Germany), CAEM (Canada), CEFA (Austria), CENTREX (Hungary), CFI (Italy), EEAA (Australia), EEIA/EMECA (Belgium), EFU (Ukraine), EXSA (South Africa), FAIRLINK (Sweden), FAMAB (Germany), HKECIA (Hong-Kong), IAEE (USA), IDFA (Germany), IECA (Indonesia), IEIA (India), IELA (Switzerland), IFES (Belgium), LECA (Lebanon), MACEOS (Malaysia), MFTA (Macau), PCEI (Poland), RUEF (Russia), SACEOS (Singapore), SCEIA (China), SECB (Singapore), SISO (USA), TECA (Taiwan), TEA (Thailand), TFOA (Turkey), UBRAFE (Brazil) and UNIMEV (France).
