CEO Update: September 2024

Dear colleagues and members,

In August, the UFI Members delegation had two special events: We had the opportunity to take a delegation behind the scenes of the Paris Olympics “German House” thanks to our colleagues at Messe Düsseldorf. The Olympics really made Paris more special, and quite a few UFI Members were involved, including Viparis, GL Events and many others.

We also led a UFI delegation to India on a three-day whirlwind tour of Mumbai and Delhi. We visited all the new and expanded venues in both cities, met with policymakers and the very active board of our member association IEIA, and discussed how we can better collaborate to further develop the Indian exhibition industry – for more information, see the rest of this UFI Info.

September is busy, with UFI events every week: these words are written on the way to Riyadh to pilot our new entry-level education program. As you read this, we will welcome UFI leadership to the annual September Meeting in Paris, coinciding with the Paralympic Games. A week later – Monterrey and our first UFI Americas Conference, and then shortly after in Singapore for the 3rd Asia CEO Summit with AEO, SACEOS and SISO.

So, things are going really well and it’s a busy and good time for the UFI team. It’s time to look to the future and continue to grow and transform UFI. That’s why it’s time for a new CEO at UFI. This role is very unique and, at the end of the day, it’s one of management. From my first day at UFI in 2015, I saw my role as that of a manager, responsible for taking UFI forward – from point A to point B – and then handing it off to the next person to take UFI to the next stage.

Well, we did get to “B” pretty well for a few years, even got to meet the Pope. But then we suddenly had to get through “C” (COVID-19), accommodate career transitions and departures from senior colleagues, support the industry’s amazing and exciting recovery, build the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative, and address long-standing internal structural challenges (see new membership fee model…). So, by that number, we’ve added quite a few more letters to our journey from “A” to “B”.

Next up are our anniversaries, as 2025 will mark our centenary. A lot of focus will be on our organization and our history and heritage. We have identified our main activities for 2025. We have a strategy that covers the whole of 2025. We have two years until the next round of elections and we have stable and committed UFI leadership around the world.

This is the perfect time for a change in management at UFI and for Adeline and the new CEO to lead the excellent team that serves you every day.

But, as Geoff Dickinson writes in UFI Info, “For now, nothing has changed.” We are “full steam ahead” towards the Cologne event. Please join our community, the UFI team, and me.

Sincerely,

Kai Hattendorf, CEO of UFI