(Pictured above: Mary Larkin, UFI president and president of Diversified Communications USA)
UFI is committed to holding its Global Congress this year, explaining that “we believe it is our role and responsibility to provide a trusted platform to connect and bring together our industry. Only when we come together, can we learn, inspire and deliver our best.” But with COVID-19-related global travel restrictions expected to continue over the coming months, they have adjusted the format of their annual meeting. Instead of holding the event in one place, they will adopt a “glocalised” approach. The main theme will be “Resilience.”
“The UFI Global Congress is our industry’s annual global face-to-face meeting,” says Mary Larkin, UFI president and president of Diversified Communications USA. “We want to ensure that as many of our colleagues as possible can attend in person. So, this year, we are ‘glocalising’ the UFI Global Congress.” Instead of focusing the event in one place, the UFI Global Congress 2020 will take place in different destinations as well as online within the course of one week:
• In Dubai, UAE: Nov. 15-16
• In Basel, Switzerland: Nov. 18-20
• In Hong Kong: dates TBA
• Online: November 15-20
UFI will announce the hosts and venues in the upcoming weeks. UFI members who can’t travel will be able to benefit from a digital attendance registration fee. Participants can now secure their place at www.ufievent.org/uficongress2020
Open to more than 50,000 industry professionals globally who work for UFI member companies, UFI’s Global Congress is known as the exhibition industry’s largest global meeting of the year, combining international networking with unique content. It is an opportunity to gain insight into topics of strategic interest, as well as into the trends and challenges that the exhibition industry is currently facing.
The 2020 Congress host, the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC), will now host the event in 2022. In 2021, the UFI Global Congress will take place in Rotterdam.
UFI is the global trade association of the world’s tradeshow organizers and exhibition center operators, as well as the major national and international exhibition associations and selected partners of the exhibition industry. UFI’s main goal is to represent, promote and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry. UFI directly represents more than 50,000 exhibition industry employees globally, and also works closely with its 60 national and regional association members. More than 800 member organizations in 88 countries around the world are presently signed up as members. Around 1,000 international trade fairs proudly bear the UFI-approved label, a quality guarantee for visitors and exhibitors alike. UFI members continue to provide the international business community with a unique marketing media aimed at developing outstanding face-to-face business opportunities. For more info, visit www.ufi.org or email media@ufi.org or call +33 (0)1 46 39 75 00.
