6 JUNE 2018: THIRD “GLOBAL EXHIBITIONS DAY”
Following the success of its first two editions, which involved thousands of professionals from more than 75 countries, 6 June will spotlight the trade fairs industry with the Global Exhibitions Day – founded in 2016 by UFI-The Global Association for the Exhibition Industry – and now an annual appointment for the industry worldwide.
“The Global Exhibitions Day is a global event whose importance in promoting our industry is growing year by year. It is an occasion for highlighting the positive impact of exhibitions on employment, business, innovation and local investment,” says Ettore Riello, President of AEFI.
For this important international event and to promote our trade fairs as a tool for growing the economy and employment, as well as a place for meeting people and exchanging ideas, AEFI-Italian Exhibition & Trade Fair Association has drawn up a lively programme of activities, to culminate at Rome with “The Power of Italian Exhibitions”, which will run for the entire day of 6 June.
“Starting with the general concept suggested by UFI – The Power Of Exhibitions – we opted for a format which, on the one hand, would allow for discussion between the various stakeholders and, on the other, highlight the role played by Italian exhibitions as showcases for the world-renowned Made in Italy brand, and as platforms for new talents,” Ettore Riello, President of AEFI, continues.
AEFI’s programme aims to affirm the value of Italian trade fairs as launching pads for creativity and talent, as well as showcasing these world-renowned national characteristics of Italy itself.
In particular, to celebrate trade fairs as creators of identity and pride for new talents, and the exhibitions industry as the route to capitalise new professions, as well as to grow awareness of such matters among the Italian Authorities, AEFI has launched a series of activities to communicate and promote the Global Exhibitions Day in social media, collaborations with Italian universities, production and publication of videos dedicated to the industry and other activities involving the print and broadcast media, to celebrate the 6 June at Rome with this big event. The key concepts of the project are Creativity, Talent, Youth, Design, and the Future.
“The Power of Italian Exhibitions” will be celebrated on 6 June at the Sala del Tempio di Adriano of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, with several presentations including “Italian Trade Fairs as Launching Hubs for Creativity and Talent” and the “Italian Trade Fairs as Launching Hubs for Creativity and Talent” round table.
The afternoon will be dedicated to “Creativity and talent“: starting with a discussion involving foreign professionals – from the UAE, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA, thanks to the support of the ICE Agency – and continuing with a debate, involving a number of industry luminaries, about the importance of trade fairs as a way to promote Italian creativity worldwide.
The day will conclude with the “Youth, projects and future” round table discussion between important representatives from the world of higher education.
AEFI – Associazione Esposizioni e Fiere Italiane, a private non-profit Association, was established in 1983 with the goal of generating synergies between the most important Italian exhibition districts. AEFI would like to be seen as a privileged partner for operators and institutions alike, and its role is to support members through the development of activities and programmes in the sphere of training, marketing, promotion and research, as well as to provide services for trade fairs through the activities of its Committees: Exhibition Hub Technical Committee, Legal-Administrative Committee, Internationalisation Committee and Trade Fairs Network Committee.
On the internationalization front, AEFI supports members thanks to agreements with strategic markets. To date, partnerships have been agreed with Iran, Taiwan, Lebanon, India, Thailand and South Africa, with AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, and with CENTREX, the International Exhibition Statistics Union. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with SACE and SIMEST.
AEFI has promoted the foundation of ISFCert, the Certification Institute for Exhibition Industry Statistics which, through rigorous methodologies, enables Italian organisers to present and recognise standardised data, in the name of transparency and reliability. AEFI represents Italian trade fairs in UFI – Union of International Fairs. Chaired by Ettore Riello, AEFI includes 35 member exhibition districts, which organise over 1,000 events a year over an overall exhibition area of 4.2 million square metres. Nearly all international and national trade fairs which take place each year in Italy are held in AEFI-member exhibition districts.