Rachel Wimberly

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI), an association for the food retail industry, has decided to shift its events strategy and cancel its annual trade show – FMI Connect.

The show was scheduled to run next June at Chicago’s McCormick Place and was held this past June along with United Fresh, Global Cold Chain Expo and the International Floriculture Expo.

Nearly 6,500 attendees and 491 exhibiting companies took part in FMI Connect in June 2016.

The 31^st edition of the IMTS 2016 (International Manufacturing Technology Show), which was held Sept. 12-17 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, drew the highest number of exhibiting companies in the show’s history, with 2,407.

The number of attendees was the 3^rd highest ever, with 115,612, and the size of the showfloor, 1,370,256 net square feet, also was the third largest ever. In addition, there was   76 million pounds more weight brought into this year’s show at McCormick.

On the Top 10 trade show list of companies ranked worldwide by revenues in 2015, as tracked by AUMA Association for the German Trade Fair Industry, Germany and U.K. are dominant.

With the exception of a few, most companies on the Top 10 are German or British, with Reed Exhibitions and UBM topping the list.

The numbers were the result of a study concluded by the AUMA in August 2016.

Washington, D.C - When the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s CEIR Predict Conference was held last week in Washington, D.C., one thing was abundantly clear – as a company in the trade show industry, if you are not already taking steps to create robust intelligence utilizing the reams of data typically collected by every show, then you quickly are going to fall behind the eight ball.

In early 1917, a few amusement park and other outdoor entertainment representatives gathered at the Congress Hotel in Chicago with the goal of establishing an association for the industry. The following year, the National Outdoor Showmen’s Association (NOSA) was officially formed.

When exhibits first appeared at the second Annual Convention, there were only three manufacturers featuring new amusement devices. But the following year, there were 45 exhibits and the trade show element was official.

In early 1917, a few amusement park and other outdoor entertainment representatives gathered at the Congress Hotel in Chicago with the goal of establishing an association for the industry. The following year, the National Outdoor Showmen’s Association (NOSA) was officially formed.

When exhibits first appeared at the second Annual Convention, there were only three manufacturers featuring new amusement devices. But the following year, there were 45 exhibits and the trade show element was official.

U.K.-based Informa is set to acquire U.S.-based Penton in a deal worth $1.56 billion from private equity owners MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co.

The transaction is subject to approval by Informa shareholders and customary regulatory and closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Atlanta-based Shepard Expositions, a provider of trade show general services contractor and event production services, has expanded their service offerings by acquiring Virginia-based Aquarian, a producer of corporate events and large-scale entertainment shows.

“By adding live event production to our portfolio of services, we’ll be in the position to more completely meet the needs of our clients as they look to more fully integrate all aspects of their events into a cohesive experience for their participants,” said Carl Mitchell, president of Shepard.

By Elizabeth Johnson

With the rise of digital entertainment options and the fall of attention spans, now just eight seconds on average, engaging attendees beyond a trade show or event has never been more important, or challenging.  Year-round attendee engagement has become critical for building a strong event brand and maintaining attendee retention rates. 

The Future of Events was meant to be a launch, scheduled Aug. 22-24 in Amsterdam, but every starter event’s worst nightmare occurred when organizers decided they needed to cancel it a month beforehand.

A stellar line up of speakers had been scheduled, airline tickets and hotel accommodations were made. Despite the last-minute setback, some long-time event professionals banded together and decided to hold a brand new event any way, and it would all be online.