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Global Exhibitions Day – why?

What does Global Exhibitions Day mean? With only 7 days to go, I wanted to look at why we should get involved.

It sounds a bit weird. It sounds like someone is trying to start something to launch an event maybe that gets some traction and is then sellable to some bigger organiser.

Only it’s not.

Or, it sounds like a bit of hype for nothing.

Only it’s not.

It sounds like a group of people sat down and had a conversation about how they could promote this industry we love, to the wider world.

And in that basic way, it is.

As reported by UFI, we collectively:

  • Create over 31,000 exhibitions every year
  • Welcome over 260 million visitors worldwide
  • Annually Employ over 680,000 full time staff
  • Have a value of $55 billion globally

They’re some big numbers. And you should be excited by them. Ok, so they may seem like just that, big numbers. They may indeed not seem THAT big either (WeChat over 697million users, 1.65billion Facebook accounts etc.), however ours are typically face 2 face interactions.

Those numbers may seem farfetched and not really mean that much to you. But, they should.

Those numbers represent an incredible economy. One that is ever evolving with the technology race but keeping face to face at the heart of what we do. One that continues to deliver the coming together of every type of industry sector. One that we (and in theory most of you reading this blog) are involved with. One that has an exciting future ahead of itself!

So, why get involved in #GED16?

It’s really important for any person or any business to celebrate success and globally we as an industry don’t do that very often. As soon as GED was launched, we saw companies, associations and individuals around the world sharing the love for our industry. You may recall seeing N200|GES Betty making an appearance?

#GED16 is a great opportunity for not only some creative Facebook posts or Instagram picture self-promotion opportunities. It should also be grasped by every countries association as a way of pulling together their members to make sure that governments take notice. Every business in this sector, whether supplier, organiser or other, should embrace this opportunity to ensure that the square mile of every major city sees & understands how important a sector we are to delivering business and in some cases growing economies. It’s importantly that we collectively promote what we do. Imagine press cuttings around the world, promoting what we do. Imagine…

It’s also not all just big numbers and big businesses. Some of the greatest successes are born in venues off the beaten track. Or created by individuals working every hour to prove an opportunity. So, we must make sure we also promote for and to those small independents or private companies or individuals that could be our next generation or our next potential client, the benefits of what we do. We must also help them see the value in face to face exhibitions and how we can help their businesses grow.

So on June 8th (this feels like a rallying cry 😉 do get together with your colleagues, clients and peers and do share the love. Do take some great pictures, but more importantly, let people know why. Why this industry is so exciting. And, why your involved.

Play your part. Promote what we do.

Me? As exciting as GED will be, I’ll be on holiday. I shall raise a glass to celebrate what an awesome industry we work in. But to keep up to date with what we at N200|GES are up to, follow us on Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn for our #GED16 news on the day.

If you’re in need of some useful resources for #GED16, have a look at UFI’s website http://www.ufi.org/industry-resources/global-exhibitions-day/