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A Look to the Future, by Timothy Schneider, Publisher, Association News
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Los Angeles, CA – October 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / Based on the general consensus at the annual Center for Exhibition Industry Research Predict Conference, the future of the exhibition industry continues to look promising. Held last month in Chicago, the conference brought together 150 exhibition organizers, facility managers, DMO leaders, financial analysts and media. Among the attendees was our company’s director of industry relations, Steven Hacker, who reported a mixed but generally upbeat assessment of the industry’s near-term prospects.
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A Look to the Future, by Timothy Schneider, Publisher, Association NewsAccording to CEIR, in the first half of 2015 the U.S. exhibition industry has enjoyed positive growth. From 2011 to 2014, the exhibition industry’s growth generally lagged the pace of the U.S. GDP, but the industry has now outperformed the GDP for two quarters straight by a wide margin. All four key metrics (gross revenue, net square feet of exhibit space sold, professional attendance and number of exhibiting companies) posted year-on-year gains with revenue up 6.1 percent, a notable gain given that revenue was the metric hardest hit by the Great Recession. Although the exhibition industry is in good health for the most part, it is still susceptible to certain economic factors. Because exhibitions are often mirrors of the economic circumstances of the industry sectors they serve, macro economic issues have the potential to impact many of the nation’s events.

As Steven Hacker reported in his blog item on AssociationNews.com, the keynote speaker was Amir Sufi, a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Sufi shared his concerns that a continuing home equity debt hangover has slowed the recovery of household spending, which is essential to full economic recovery. In addition to the home equity and spending issues, Sufi said he is concerned about the nation’s unprecedented level of student loan debt. A glimmer of hopeful news, however, is the recent increase in employment levels and the decline in the unemployment rate to pre-recession levels. Yet the greatest threat to continuing economic growth in the United States, Sufi asserted, is the developing economic crisis in China. According to Sufi, the virtual collapse of world trade in the first six months of 2015 and the highly vulnerable economic circumstances of many emerging economies have the potential to lead to another recession.

Additional presentations during the two-day conference included panel discussions and presentations that assessed the likely short-term future for the industry, examined future design trends, explored innovations in brand activation and probed business models of the future. At a panel of exhibition industry leaders, it was suggested that terms like “exhibition,” “show” and “trade fair” might better be replaced by consistent references to the face-to-face experiences these events deliver, a concept more aligned with consumers’ thinking and interest in experiential events.

Providing attendees with an experiential learning opportunity is what we strive to achieve at our Meetings Quest events. We invite you to experience the difference at Meetings Quest in Bloomington, Minnesota, July 13–14, 2016. For more information, please visit MeetingsQuest.com or call 877-577-3700.
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Timothy SchneiderTimothy Schneider is the publisher of Association News and SportsTravel magazines, which serve group travel planners responsible for generating 106 million hotel room nights annually. Schneider Publishing also organizes Meetings Quest, America's longest-running series of trade shows for meeting planners, and the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers. TEAMS '15 is being held in Las Vegas, November 9–12, 2015. TEAMS ’16 will be held September 26–29, 2016, in Atlantic City. For further information on advertising or sponsorship opportunities, please call toll-free 877-577-3700 or 310-577-3700 if calling from outside the United States.

The current issue of Association News can be viewed in digital format online by clicking here.
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Media Contact:
Timothy Schneider
310-577-3700
Schneider Publishing Company, Inc.
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What’s Ahead at Convention Centers for Meeting and Event Planners?
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Publishing Dates: 10/06/15 – 12/06/15
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