The workforce that has filled convention centers for decades is changing in size and composition. And that has significant implications for the event industry & billions being invested in convention infrastructure.
Over the past three years, the cost of exhibiting at tradeshows has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. We’ve now reached a critical inflection point where these expenses have climbed so high that leadership teams are scrutinizing their exhibitions and events budgets more intensely than ever before.
Another early morning at the airport, another customs line, another venue for another project. For those of us who live life in crates and fluorescent lights, this is just Tuesday. This might sound exhausting to an outsider, but to us, stepping onto a tradeshow floor—be it in Frankfurt, Atlanta, or Dubai—feels profoundly, wonderfully familiar.
For Chase Gandel, a project manager at NPARALLEL + Atomic Props, life moves between precision, people, and purpose. Based in his hometown of Crystal, Minnesota, Gandel manages a portfolio of brand activations and tradeshow exhibits across the United States.
The 2025 Year in Review includes a moment of remembrance for industry professionals whose careers left a lasting imprint on the exhibit and events community. These brief entries reflect decades of work behind the scenes, on show floors, and in leadership roles that helped move the industry forward.
Paris does not need another admirer. What it benefits from here is an explanation. In Nobody Sits Like the French: Exploring Paris Through Its World Expos, Charles Pappas argues that the city most often praised for its beauty is better understood through the seven Universal Expositions that reshaped it between 1855 and 1937.
For decades, Nimlok Chicago has been a trusted leader in the tradeshow exhibit design and production industry, growing beyond modular display distribution to expand its services, inventory, and national customer base. But as the business grew in complexity, its legacy systems couldn’t keep up. Fragmented data, manual workflows, and a lack of real-time visibility for customers inhibited its growth.
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 2nd, 1984, Canada’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) was built in Toronto’s Railway Lands. Also known as Metro Convention Centre and as Palais des congres du Toronto Metropolitain, the venue’s location along Front Street West is in the heart of downtown.
Project timelines are short, clients are asking you to do more with less, and the need for versatile, reusable rental inventory that lasts is real.
Welcome back to “A Look Back at Tradeshow History.” This month, we turn to January issues from the past 25 years, a snapshot of how the industry has responded to disruption, growth, and change.
Budgets drive every decision. The range of the budgets can be staggering, but one thing stays the same: success comes down to strategy, not just size of spend.” — Cara Michalowski, president of LUXX Exposition Services.
In the high-stakes world of marketing, every exhibit, activation, and event is a shot at building brand love, capturing hearts, and generating ROI. But here’s the truth: Too many agencies promise results and deliver excuses. Storylink Creative doesn’t play that game. They play to win—with you, for you, and alongside you.
