Exhibition professionals around the world came out in record numbers for the third Global Exhibitions Day (GED). Not only did this highlight the industry’s role as a driver of economic growth, but also established GED 2018 as the biggest day of advocacy for the exhibition world so far. This year’s GED focused on two key areas: first, to advocate industry issues with politicians and stakeholders, and secondly, on finding new ways to connect with young people to attract the right talent to the exhibition industry. 85 countries and regions active on GED 2018 : By the end of the day, the UFI team in Paris had registered activities in 85 countries and regions from all around the world, with the leading organisers, venues and service providers all being active.
In India, festivities were organised in New Delhi, Mumbai, Greater Noida, Hyderabad and Jaipur. Meetings were organised with ministers and government officials from various states to raise awareness of how important the exhibition industry actually is. Hitex organised a special drive with the Telengana Govt. under which it campaigned for organ donation among corporates.
Hitex also hosted a musical night at its premises and a special human chain was formed depicting GED. Cake Cutting Ceremonies were held at Hitex, ITPO & IEML. A special celebration was organised in Mumbai by a group of trade show professionals who got together at Bombay Exhibition Center. The venue hosted the gathering with full spirit and special performances like March Past, Singing, Musical Band, Group Dancewere organised for the occasion. The performances were done by volunteers from the exhibition fraternity. Bhupinder Singh and Max Fernandes addressed the press about the role & significance of exhibition industry. Indian Exhibition Services Association (IESA ) organised a special initiative for a noble cause. This year, IESA collaborated with (FTS) “Friends of Tribals Society”, an NGO committed towards the upliftment of the rural India. FTS runs “One Teacher Schools” in tribal regions with basic education to children in rural India. IESA requested its members to adopt one-year education for tribal children & gathered a contribution of Rs. 15,61,000/- towards this noble cause. The cheque was handed over by the IESA President, HK Bhattadto FTS representatives during GED celebrations.
MEX Exhibitions united together to celebrate Global Exhibitions Day 2018. MEX divided its employees into four te
ams namely Brigadier, Brain Drain, Magic Makers & MEX United! Every month a team building exercise is held which is focused in creating a bonding among them. This month the theme of the team building activity was based on Global Exhibition Day. The different teams carried out social impact activities which ranged from being creative, innovative, philanthropic & entertaining. The activities such as Blood Donation, Cleanliness Drive, Planting Trees, Feeding the Hungry were implemented successfully Messe Muenchen India celebrated Global Exhibitions Day with its exhibitors. In turn, the corporate exhibitors got to learn more about the significance of exhibition industry.
Ravinder Sethi, VP IEIA remarked, At the very onset, let me congratulate all my Indian colleagues for such an amazing display of strength for GED 2018. Many of you are not aware of the history of the GED. Let me briefly give you an insight.Five years ago, the American industry association, IAEE, started an awareness campaign of our industry. It was one day designated as Exhibitions Day in the United States. Three years ago, the UFI Executive Committee under its President Sergey Alexesv, initiated the GED. This would put the IAEE and all of UFI’s partner associations together to propagate one day in the year as “Global Exhibitions Day”. The aim was simple – our industry needs recognition !The fascinating thing was the shift in focus. We no longer only projected our industry. We projected the pride with which we hold ourselves. The many CSR programmes showed our care for society, beyond just the care for ourselves. This success was due to the involvement of so many in our Industry. It was not just Delhi or Mumbai – it was all India!
