CEO Update: November 2024
Dear colleagues and dear members: Brands elicit emotions. We get used to how things look and value familiarity. At the same time, the world is changing and brands need to change with it. If you don't want to be left behind, it's "running in circles." This UFI message looks a little different. We're doing this as we update and refresh UFI's logo and look. In the centenary of our association’s founding, this visual update will lead UFI through the next decade. It reaffirms our global identity and updates our look and feel for today's digitally-focused communication era, incorporating live events, meetings and experiences. In fact, UFI stopped using logos very early on. The first one was launched in 1947. It shows an image of Hermes, the Greek god of trade, wearing his iconic winged helmet. Around that image, text read: "UFI - Union Internationale des Exhibitions." If you look in a history book, you'll see that this logo has been…
Behind the Scenes of UFI’s Brand Refresh: Exclusive Interview
In this exclusive interview, CEO Kai Hattendorf shares insights into the story behind the recent UFI brand refresh and new logo, both set to be unveiled in October 2024. Learn about the vision and strategy that inspired this transformation and how it aligns with UFI's commitment to leading the events industry into the future. UFI new logo color What prompted our decision to update UFI’s visual identity at this time? Kai: UFI's previous logo and brand identity were introduced at the beginning of this decade when UFI underwent a major repositioning. At the time, the brand redesign was all about supporting UFI’s growing global influence and role. Nearly a quarter of a century later, UFI has grown, changed and evolved a lot. It now has regional offices around the world, four pillars of activity, and offers many products and services to our global members and the industry at large. That the previous UFI look has withstood the test of time…
CEO Update: October 2024
Dear colleagues and dear members: In my ten years at UFI, I can hardly remember another month as filled with UFI events around the world as last September. Within a few weeks, we had our regular late-summer leadership meeting in Paris. In partnership with Tahaluf, we successfully piloted a new education program in Riyadh, "UFI Exhibition Essentials" for new colleagues in the industry. At the inaugural UFI Americas Conference in Monterrey, Mexico, we connected members and industry colleagues from across the Americas and beyond. Just last week, as part of our partnership with AEO, SACEOS and SISO, this year's Asia CEO Summit took place in Singapore, where we organized an Asia Association and Advocacy Day event attended by representatives from eight countries in the region . Just last week, UFI supported 2ND Sustainable Events Summit in New York City. A major event held across five UFI regions in one month, demonstrating the skills and commitment of UFI teams around the…
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…
CEO Update: June 2024 Edition
Dear colleagues and members, In recent weeks, at various industry events, I have had many conversations with UFI members from around the world, as well as colleagues from other event industry sectors. In many cases, we ended up discussing expectations of UFI and other industry associations. Specifically, questions around what members (whether businesses or individuals) expect to get in return for their membership fees. What is the "deal", what are the expectations, and how can associations deliver on those expectations? Essentially – and this is what we come to in many of these conversations – successful associations have moved from a transactional relationship between members and industry bodies to becoming the home or host of industry communities. This is a particular focus for our industry as events are meant to bring people together. While many businesses benefit from the information, data, research, educational services and branding that associations provide, the more successful associations grow faster because they benefit from active…
CEO Update: July/August 2024
Dear colleagues and members, What a great week we had in Zurich in June – welcoming 300 members and colleagues from over 40 countries to various conferences, including the European Conference. It was certainly a memorable week for all of us who attended (thanks in no small part to our organisers, Messe Zurich) – and according to our social media analytics, the events generated a lot of posts and images online. This is made possible in part by an AI-driven service we launched at past events with our event photographer and photo platform partner, Memento. The team focused on capturing the best moments with attendees – using live photography technology, they upload photos to our UFI app. Attendees receive their photos in real time. Using AI, each guest is instantly notified and connected to a personalized gallery of photos featuring them directly, ensuring a private and seamless experience. We’ll be sharing the methodology and metrics as a case study on…
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