by Mike Morrison
The final months of 2022 will be an interesting time for the tradeshow and live event industry. This year has played out the way many people thought it would, and I’ve described it many times as “crawl, walk and run.” I don’t feel we’ve reached the “run” stage by any stretch of the imagination, but we are way past the crawl stage. I think the industry is operating at a brisk walking pace, for lack of better descriptive terms.
The forecast was pretty much right in line with what we have seen in the first three quarters of the year: a comeback from the 2020 and 2021 years of inactivity; COVID, for the most part, being reeled in; and attempts to resume a business-as-usual state of mind. However, the international scene has not caught up with the US view of tradeshows and live events. A recent major show in China was shut down nine hours prior to opening due to what was identified as an uptick in COVID cases—24 in a population of over 17 million—so some change has to happen before the world stage resembles 2019.
The past months on the podcast have seen interviews center on the wrap-up from ExhibitorLive 2022, the ownership change with Mark Johnson taking over as leader of Exhibitor Media Group, and the wrap-up from the ESCA Summer Educational Conference highlighting interviews with UFI’s Kai Hattendorf, consultant Mark Zimmerman, Dean Dennis from the Memphis Convention area and CEIR’s Nancy Drapeau. UFI also brought on Danica Tormohlen to prepare their organization for a 2023 US-based conference in Las Vegas, and the podcast has shared data as that date comes closer on the calendar.
Another organization was spotlighted on the podcast when Jessica Sibila from The Exhibitor Advocate came on the show to share her organization’s advocacy efforts for show exhibitors moving forward. Rob Wilson from Employco USA took time to speak about the heavy HR challenges that face companies in our industry at the end of 2022. Mike and Don have also been on the road speaking with industry colleagues from Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis-St Paul and other areas to wrap up the year.
IAVM’s Brad Mayne spent some time on the show sharing the challenges venues continue to see while trying to come back to a sense of normal in the event world.
At time of printing, Don and Mike will also be focused on the 2022 version of The Randy Smith Memorial Classic in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and also preparing for the EDPA Access Conference in San Antonio, Texas and winding up activities at IAEE’s Expo Expo in Louisville, Kentucky.
Yep—it’s an interesting recap for 2022’s closing, but what will 2023 hold for the industry?
Tune in and find out!
