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Women in Exhibitions World Summit 2025: Together we rise
Gina Kay reports on a momentous gathering in London for the Women in Exhibitions Summit
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( WiE) World Summit, held at at Excel London in July, delivered something rare in the business events space: not just a packed room, but a powerful sense of momentum. What stood out was the candour. This was a room full of people ready to challenge assumptions, share real stories, and move the conversation beyond talk and into action.
From navigating career pathways and caregiving responsibilities, to embedding true inclusion and rethinking industry sustainability, the day tackled critical issues headon and without sugarcoating.
Trust and collective culture Deborah Frances-White’ s keynote explored the etymology and psychology of confidence. She traced how society often interprets‘ confidence’ as bravado, and how this creates systemic imbalances in leadership, particularly when money enters the equation. From publishing to fashion, as soon as the stakes rise, the boardroom skews predictably male.
Frances-White offered a nuanced take on the role of community confidence. Her point was illustrated with the story of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman in the UK to qualify as a doctor. Despite her credentials, no one visited her clinic, until she built collective trust through community engagement and legacy. The message was clear: talent is not the barrier, perception is.
Building systems around care One of the most thought-provoking sessions was‘ The care factor: Why supporting caregivers is a business imperative’. The panel called out the outdated assumptions baked into traditional exhibition organisation models and reframed caregiving as a business reality, not a disruption.
The statistic that one in six people will experience a disability or caregiving responsibility during their career sparked real comprehension. Are we truly creating talent hotspots and retainable environments if we don’ t allow for this level of ability for us to care for our employees? Do our recruitment teams know how to handle those conversations with empathy and clarity?
The conversation called for a mindset shift: to view caregiving responsibilities as something to design around, much like pensions or workplace accessibility, not as an exception to quietly exist.
Inclusion in action, not just intention The‘ Allyship in action’ session focused on practice over policy, on what good allyship looks like not in a deck, but in the room. Panellists discussed the need for peer-to-peer accountability, active listening, and addressing microaggressions consistently. The takeaway was clear: being an ally doesn’ t mean having all the answers, it means staying in the conversation, especially when it’ s uncomfortable.
Great content also emerged from the breakout sessions. Some focused on personal development and empowerment strategies, including having difficult conversations that drive change, personal branding, effective mentorship and navigating change with confidence. Others had a more business-oriented focus, exploring topics such as technology and innovation, negotiation skills, and bias-proof leadership.
Future-proofing I had the privilege of joining the panel on‘ Future-proofing the industry: What next-gen leaders and experienced voices want from work – and from events’. Our discussion explored everything from evolving career expectations to event design strategy.
We covered TikTok’ s growing role in attendee discovery, the way we promote our roles in the industry and why we are always future looking. We also emphasised the importance of empathy-led events, from audience segmentation to real feedback as a core skillset for modern exhibition organisers.
The verdict The Summit was an invitation to be braver, clearer and more collaborative not just with each other, but within the structures and systems we shape in our roles and businesses every day.
The future of the industry depends not just on new ideas, but on the will to implement them. This Summit proved that many of the people in that room are ready to do exactly that.
The Summit was organised by Oana Cipca, the founder, along with Sonia Thomas and Silvia Forroova, both vice-presidents of Women in Exhibitions International. EW
38 Issue 4 2025 www. exhibitionworld. co. uk