Insights

Note From UFI Headquarters

Rarely in recent years has an UFI Congress theme matched the sense and spirit of an event this well as “Together Again” did this year. We indeed came together again, we discussed together again – laughed together again. We shared experiences and observations, learnings and strategies. We mourned the colleagues we have lost to the pandemic, and we celebrated those who showed leadership and innovation, winning the UFI Awards this year.

I said repeatedly during the Congress that my favourite slide to share during our General Assembly was the one listing UFI’ s upcoming face-to-face events. We will head into 2022 with a calendar that lists quite a few already with others in planning – taking us to Hamburg, Macao, Poznan, as well as to Singapore and – for the 89th Global Congress, to Muscat, Oman, all of this pending pandemic development still, of course. And for 2023, UFI has selected Las Vegas, USA, as host for the 90th Global Congress. We could not be more excited with this growing line-up of face-to-face events.

Just as our industry events bring us back together, and drive new ideas, so do other types of events around the world. Arguably, the most important conference / summit of the year took place earlier this month in Glasgow – The Global Climate Summit, COP26. And this time, we showed up as an industry, with the “Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge” Initiative. Because when it comes to battling climate change, we have two roles to play. One is the role we always have: We build and we operate the platforms where everyone comes together. But we also have to make sure that we commit ourselves to the target of carbon zero - to make sure that the greenhouse gas footprints that events create become smaller and smaller and eventually disappears. In Glasgow, we took the stage in front of the world – to share our own obligations as an industry.

The events sector is a very wide sector – covering everything from trade shows to wedding planners, from global congress organisers to local suppliers. But we are used to collaborate, and to collaborate well, to make things happen. In the past months, we have brought together a global, inclusive group of actors from across the events sector. With the support and guidance from the UNFCCC we have worked on our sector ’s journey towards carbon neutrality and zero carbon. On November 10, when we launched the initiative officially, we could already announce an impressive list of more than 100 initial signatories – companies that signed the pledge and commit to its targets. And their number has grown steadily since then, and I want to encourage each and every one of you to sign your business up as well.

This journey won ’t be easy, but we

aren

’t starting from zero. At UFI, we have been active with work on sustainability for more than 15 years, and we can and will share all we have learnt through the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative. As our new president, Monice Lee-Müller, said to us, accepting her presidency in Rotterdam: “I can ’t emphasize enough – if we don ’t take meaningful steps now, the future is bleak. Not just for our industry, but for our future generations and our planet. Let’ s all get on the road to net zero, together.

Kai Hattendorf MD & CEO, UFI

Message From Monica Lee-müller, President, UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry

This is my first column as UFI President and it’s a real honour to have the opportunity to write to you all here.

I hope you have enjoyed the UFI Congress ‘Together Again’ – a fitting title for this first physical UFI Congress for two years! The UFI team has overcome all sorts of challenges to make it happen. But of course, this is what our industry is very good at! I was disappointed not to be in Rotterdam with you all, and I hope it won’t be long before we can all travel freely again.

First of all, I want to thank two special persons that I would have loved to see face-to-face: Anbu Varathan and Mary Larkin. Anbu’s work over the past year has been inspiring, including the Global Policy Leadership Series that is expanding UFI’s advocacy work. Mary has been an important role model for me, and I love the passion she puts into everything she does. I am privileged to follow such remarkable leaders. The profiles of Mary and Anbu reveal one of UFI’s best features – our incredible diversity! But it hasn’t always been so. Looking back to the first UFI Congress I ever attended was in Hong Kong way back in the year 2000. The official languages then were French and German. There were only a handful of women at the Congress, most of them interpreters. Asia was still an emerging market. Fast forward to today, and look at the changes! UFI’s common language is now the global language of business, English. UFI membership now spans some 83 countries and regions, and over 44% of the members are from Asia-Pacific. And women are widely represented in the industry, and in our association. In fact, currently 25% of the Board of Directors in UFI are women. As a global association, we need full participation by talented, committed women, and men from different races, culture and background, to drive our industry forward. I promise to keep building on this solid foundation of diversity.

COVID-19 has absorbed much of our attention lately. Still, our single biggest global challenge is not the pandemic but climate change. All of us must be part of the solution. The big picture is this: we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and get emissions to net zero by 2050. It can be done, but not by chanting slogans and producing glossy brochures. We need concrete actions.

UFI recently joined with other organisations to create the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative. Part of this involved creating the ‘Net Zero Pledge for the Events Industry’. Everyone here today, everyone in our industry. For our industry, the global pandemic has been incredibly disruptive and economically extremely challenging. This is why UFI is so important. Together, we can connect, collaborate, influence, and innovate. And UFI makes us far more powerful than we could ever be on our own. Together, we are also gaining a clearer picture of what the future might look like. In the last two years, we have seen a proliferation of virtual and online events as the industry has tapped into technology. But no one wants virtual events to be the new normal. The benefits of face-to-face events are just too important. I believe UFI can and must play its part in shaping this new order of our industry. But to make it happen, we must collaborate on the right projects and ensure they are benefiting the majority in our industry. We are all in this together.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to our UFI Managing Director Kai and the UFI team for the amazing work they have done on behalf of members over the year. And I’d also like to give a very warm welcome to a well-known and respected industry figure Michael Duck into the Trio as he steps into the role of Incoming President.

In taking up the position of UFI President, I am following a long line of distinguished forebears. I am humble, but I am also proud of being the first Asian woman in this role.

And I am looking forward immensely to new opportunities to serve the industry I love dearly. Thank you.