A transitional year
We look back at the UFI Congress and what the association has achieved in 2022
R epresentatives from UFI member companies from around the world met for the Annual Congress and General Assembly in Muscat in November to review the association ’ s activities in 2022 and to confirm plans for the year ahead .
In her report , UFI president , Monica Lee-Müller ( pictured below , left ) noted the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative as a key achievement in 2022 . “ Over 400 companies have pledged , spanning 55 countries and regions and all spectrums of the industry ,” she said .
“ When the conflict in Europe broke out , I heard news about our member venues being converted to shelters for displaced people , and supplies and volunteer services flooding in from other members … I am so proud of what our community has done .”
Kai Hattendorf , CEO and managing director of UFI added his summary of the past year , saying : “ From post-pandemic recovery to refugee support and war in Europe , and from sustainability challenges to the return of inflation rates not seen in a generation – 2022 has it all . What makes UFI so strong in times like this is that many UFI members have encountered one or more of these challenges before , and they are happy to share their learnings and strategies with each other .”
Throughout the year , UFI ’ s work focused on industry reopening and recovery , against a challenging backdrop .
The General Assembly also heard about UFI ’ s main advocacy activities . Two examples : UFI has recently become a registered Liaison Organisation with ISO , and is involved in projects with the OECD .
As a founding member of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative hosted by JMIC , UFI has been running the project office for the initial 12 months . In Sharm el-Sheikh at COP27 , the initiative presented the Roadmap to implementation .
Through the European Exhibition Industry Alliance ( EEIA ) in Brussels and the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance ( ECA ) in Washington , DC , UFI has been supporting advocacy work around post-pandemic reopening conditions .
Research UFI delivers regular research insights on global themes . A selection of key releases in recent months include :
A White Paper titled , ‘ The Event Organiser ’ s Perspective on Data Ownership ’ and a new edition of the ‘ Global Recovery Insights ’ report , by UFI & Explori . It tracked the customer response to the pandemic based on surveying 9,000 + exhibitors and visitors .
An updated ‘ UFI World Map of Venues ’, a report providing a global overview of exhibition venue capacity , and 21 market profiles .
The 29th edition of the ‘ UFI Global Barometer ’ report continued to track the pandemic ’ s impact on our industry , and focuses on the evolution of digitisation .
A report called ‘ FINDING THE FUTURE , TOGETHER – Towards a more sustainable B2B trade show industry in the US and Canada ’ presents research on the most material impacts on the environment from the operations of the B2B trade show industry . UFI is one of 14 partners collaborating on the project .
UFI events & communities UFI members joined a delegation to Expo 2020 Dubai in March and a one-day Africa Exhibition Industry Outlook conference took place in September , 2022 , in Johannesburg .
In May the European Conference was in Poznan , and the LatAm Conference in Buenos Aires .
The year saw the inaugural edition of the Asia CEO Summit & Joint Leadership Summit – a collaboration between AEO ( UK ), SACEOS , SISO and UFI , which took place in October , 2022 , in Singapore .
UFI ’ s ‘ UFI Certified Professional ’ ( UCP ) designation continues to evolve and has seen 26 industry professionals awarded with the global designation . Six editions of the Exhibition Management School have taken place since the launch of the new programme .
Michael Duck ( EVP – commercial development , Informa Markets , and EVP – commercial development , Group at Informa Group ) is UFI ’ s new president . EW
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