AEFI News

THE WORK OF THE AEFI TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR EVER MORE EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE EXHIBITION DISTRICTS CONTINUES

The AEFI Technical Commission, coordinated by Nazario Pedini, has met at the Rimini premises of IEG – the Italian Exhibition Group.
The meeting covered a variety of topics, from a detailed report on layout software to procedures for connecting electrical equipment to stands, as well as stand waste management and updates to the AEFI-ASAL-INAIL agreement on safety in exhibition centres.

The meeting opened with a report on the survey of the layout software used by the associates, to consider which is best suited to the needs of exhibitions. This complicated issue is of great interest and will be discussed in detail in a separate meeting.
Another session was dedicated to electrical equipment and electrical connections to stands. The Commission presented a summary of the correct procedures to be used for this purpose. The document drawn up by the Commission gives the guidelines for exhibition district regulations in relation to the documentary requirements for electrical connections to stands.

Special attention was also paid to waste management. In line with the Association’s core concern for sustainability, the Technical Commission has drawn up a schedule of common rules and good practice in collecting and disposing of waste in exhibition districts, to be used by all Associates as guidelines for updating their regulations: these cover improving sorted waste management to maximise the re-use of waste materials, and requirements for exhibitors and fitters to remove and dispose their waste during events (fitting, exhibition and dismantling).

During the meeting, the coordinator of the Commission, Nazario Pedini, updated members on the AEFI-CFI- INAIL-ASAL agreement for the proper drawing up of OHAS guidelines for exhibitions. The attendees agreed that the work should be concluded as soon as possible, to prevent the publication of new regulations covering exhibition industry fitting activities. Note that INAIL has set a deadline for next spring.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of the Committee’s next educational meeting which, as every year, will be centred around a visit to an exhibition district chosen as an example of excellence with the aim of stimulating discussion of the role of services in exhibitions and how to optimise Italian districts. It was decided that the meeting for 2020 would consist in a visit to EXPO Dubai 2020.

AEFI – Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association, a private non-profit Association, was established in 1983 with the goal of generating synergies between the most important Italian exhibition districts. AEFI currently has 36 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.

AEFI is the 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 internationalisation 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, with CENTREX, the International Exhibition Statistics Union and with EUPIC-EU Project Innovation Center. 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.

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