UFI General Assembly reviews, approves a year’s progress across the board

20.11.2024

Representatives from UFI member companies from around the world met in Cologne, Germany, today.

They came together to review UFI’s activities through out 2024 and to confirm plans for the year ahead.

The 2024 UFI General Assembly took place before the UFI Global Congress, which is welcoming 550 industry leaders from more than 55 countries and regions this week. Against a backdrop of successful work in 2024, the meeting reflected as well on a decade of leadership under outgoing CEO Kai Hattendorf and looked ahead into 2025, UFI’s centennial.

Chaired by UFI’s current president, Geoff Dickinson, the General Assembly reviewed and previewed the association’s initiatives to support UFI’s members worldwide. Membership has reached a new all-time high of close to 900 member organisations, representing 90 countries and regions.

Geoff Dickinson summarised the year by saying: “UFI constantly works for you to make sure this is a progressive and forward-thinking industry, adapting to and moving with the times.”

Reflecting on the growth of UFI’s education pillar, Geoff said: “It’s important to train and develop talent for the future of this wonderful industry. For me it has been so good to see the huge strides UFI has made in education. An incredible 14 editions of the Exhibition Management School have occurred since 2020. The Venue Management School in Macau this year was a great success. I thank Informa and their Tahaluf Academy for introducing the excellent UFI Exhibition Essentials course in Riyadh this year

Dickinson continued: “Developing talent with new thinking and fresh ideas for a better future are truly essential in driving constant evolution for this incredible and resilient industry. That is why initiatives like the UFI Event Directors Summit are just great events to inspire and connect tomorrow’s leaders.”

Summing up the association’s focus now and in the year ahead, Dickinson said: “UFI covers research, education, events, technology, sustainability, diversity and all the major topics we need to focus on – and beyond all of that UFI relentlessly and passionately advocates for our industry.”

Commenting on UFI’s activities in 2024, Kai Hattendorf, CEO, says: “Among so many UFI activities in 2024, growing work around advocacy and education stand out. As our industry’s trusted global voice, UFI is engaging ever more with selected global bodies and institutions on behalf of your sector. And as our industry brings in a lot of new talent globally, UFI’s educational programmes continue to expand to serve the growing needs for training on all career levels.”

UFI’s main activities in the past year included:

UFI Events & Communities
In 2024, UFI ran a full schedule of in-person events, supported by UFI Connects and other digital formats as complementary, region-specific engagements. Key events included the Global CEO Summit (GCS) in Amsterdam, the Asia-Pacific Conference in Macau, and the Middle East & Africa Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. This year, the “Event Director Summit” was also added to the Asia-Pacific Conference for the first time.

In Zurich, the European Conference took place. For the first time, the UFI Americas Conference brought together members from North, Central, and South America in Monterrey, Mexico. UFI also co-organised the Asia CEO Summit with AEO, SACEOS, and SISO, marking the third and final year of Singapore as the host city for this event.