I’m writing my first publisher’s note of 2022 from the newly redesigned global headquarters of Exhibit City News. And thanks to the hard work from our many partners (see pgs. 58-61), it’s gorgeous. It’s modern, comfortable, creative and just plain fun, and its logical and functional design works for our team and for our colleagues who might need a remote office when they’re in town.
Getting to this moment, with me, feet on my desk, working landline (finally!) at my fingertips, wasn’t easy. For nearly a year, the ECN team worked in what was essentially a pile of rubble. But it was a strategically created pile of rubble. My team, under the careful guidance of Clemente Guillen of Clementine Creative Services, looked at what wasn’t working in our 20-year-old headquarters, broke it and built it back better.
As we enter the new year, I’m reflecting on ECN’s renovation experience and thinking about how it compares to our industry’s experience over the last couple of years. Everyone in our industry—from labor and vendors to hoteliers and venues—spent nearly the past two years sitting in a pile of rubble that was most definitely not of our own creation.
But I’m heartened to see our industry rising from the dust. As 2021 drew to a close, fewer shows were being canceled and people were getting together face-to-face again, though with new protections in place.
Much like ECN’s headquarters, our industry is being rebuilt, and I’m excited to see that my colleagues are courageous enough to leave what wasn’t working down in the dust and use this opportunity to reimagine what our industry could be. I have great hope for the future.
And speaking of the future, this new year will bring with it changes at ECN, beyond a new coat of paint. We hired a digital editor and recommitted to bringing you timely, newsworthy web content while remaining true to our roots as a print publication. To prove our dedication, we’ve lengthened our print cycle from bimonthly to quarterly, which will allow us more time between issues to detect ongoing trends and changes in the industry and tell you about them in a longer, more robust keepsake print edition. I’m excited to share our hard work with you.
Finally, I’ve watched with great pride the way our industry has banded together to support each other through our recent storms. From putting together food drives to lobbying Congress, members of the tradeshow industry have fought to keep our industry and the people within it thriving. It’s inspired me to use my platform to be an advocate both for those who support the tradeshow industry and those who benefit from it. I vow to pursue the stories others won’t in order to ensure challenging issues don’t get swept under the rug and those in my tradeshow family are treated fairly.
I wish the best for all of you this year and always.
– Don Svehla
This story originally appeared in the Jan./Feb./Mar. 2022 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 8. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_q1_2022
