I am pleased to announce that the Quarter 3 2025 issue for Exhibit City News is officially live. You can access the edition by the link on our homepage or here. For those of you who will receive our physical print, look forward to it in the coming weeks.
Picture this: flowing convention centers, bright smiling faces, a whole host of people that you know like the back of your hand. Jim Obermeyer calls the tradeshow community a “small town” (pg. 88), and I cannot help but believe that is the best term for it.
Our industry is filled to the brim with people who can and want to help you succeed. They see each other as collaborators rather than competitors and are constantly working together. Regardless of the obstacles that may come our way, we as an industry are a community: consistently pushing forward.
Nonetheless, we are constantly faced with new challenges. Whether that is in developments for technology or rules and regulations, there is never a dull moment. For that reason our Quarter 3 issue for the magazine focuses on these challenges.
We at Exhibit City News (ECN) recognize that in the ever-changing world it is hard to get a pulse on what policies are in place and what was true three weeks ago. We understand that the content that we have within these pages may be obsolete in a year. We were told to keep the content evergreen, which is what we did to the best of our ability, and to report on the news as well. Sometimes, however, you have to be topical in order to push the industry forward.
In these pages you will find stories about how companies are here to help you, how some are assisting brands for a refresh (Rebrand Redesign pg. 46) and how others are utilizing their expertise to create a better community (Everything Falls Into Place pg. 76). We discuss the technology of today (Bright Ideas pg. 38) and yester year (Thomas Alva Edison—Tradeshow Marketer pg. 84).
Mostly, however, we focus on the law, on regulations, workforce development, and changes in taxes and visas. Paco Collazo warns us about wait times for visas (pg. 88) and Jon Ellms reminds us why regulations are so important (pg. 24). When it comes to these considerations, and the path towards the future, the only way forward is together.
When it comes to tradeshows, collaboration is key. We are often told that nothing can happen without the help and dedication of a team. Everyone has a role to play from laborers to convention management. Continue striving for communication and collaboration and when in doubt never forget:
We at ECN are standing by to help you.
