Industry News
Curated headlines from the trade show and exhibition industry's top publications, associations, and expert blogs.
Meet the 2026 Event Industry 50 Over 50
Meet five recipients of the inaugural 50 Over 50 honor: Angie Nix, Dahlia El Gazaar, Dan Steenstrup, Gary Musich and Julie Smith
Experiential Marketing Trend of the Week: Streetscapes
From street signs and lights to curbs and crosswalks, experience builders are borrowing inspiration from the rhythms of movement in real life within activations and trade show exhibits, creating a sense of place and an intentional journey. Let’s stop and look both ways at this accelerating design…
SNIEC begins venue-wide upgrade
The Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), which hosted a total of 127 exhibitions and events with a venue occupancy rate of 64% over 300,000sqm in 2025 says it is taking advantage of the Lunar New Year break with no exhibitions in the venue, to launch a major upgrade throughout. It begins…
Exhibition carpet. You don’t notice it – until it’s gone
Simon Ridout, ESSA board member and commercial director at Showlite discusses the somewhat controversial topic of exhibition carpet. If social media is anything to go by, exhibition carpet has become surprisingly controversial. Over the past few weeks, there’s been plenty of debate about whether…
Shanghai Fair Healthcare to debut in Malaysia
Shanghai Fair Healthcare makes its inaugural debut in Malaysia on 22–23 May 2026 at Hall 1, Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), bringing together leading healthcare enterprises from Shanghai with Southeast Asia’s growing healthcare market. The two-day exhibition will feature…
Sho-Link Where Trust Grows Like Family
Since 1993, Sho-Link has been a trusted name in the events and tradeshow industry. Their main goal is to build relationships and excel as the go-to labor service provider for Sho-Link Co-Op members. For every exhibitor, they provide nationwide, high-quality installation and dismantling services.…
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Spotlight
Opening in 1957 as the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCC) (650 S. Griffin Street) has gone through multiple expansions and a few name changes throughout the decades. Renamed the Dallas Convention Center in the 70s, the center’s final name came in 2013, in…
Smart Travel: Senate Vote Hopes to Ease TSA Delays, JetBlue Announces New Routes, World’s Longest Travel Path Opens and More
Planning smoother arrivals? A funding standoff is finally easing after weeks of TSA delays. Eyeing a European incentive? A legendary Venice hotel is stepping into its next chapter. Thinking about […] The post Smart Travel: Senate Vote Hopes to Ease TSA Delays, JetBlue Announces New Routes, World’s…
The Benefits of ‘Cognitive Estrangement’ in Meeting Design
A global creative leader at IDEO walked event organizers through three mindsets that innovation and design-thinking experts use to create extraordinary experiences.
How Sony Electronics’ Creative Space Tour Acts as a Continuous Feedback Loop
Ask and they shall receive. When Sony Electronics’ user community expressed FOMO over the launch of the Alpha 7 V hybrid camera, the brand turned to what it does best—listening—and took a creator showcase held annually in New York City on tour, popping up in the local markets of its most fervent…
The Numbers Don’t Lie: What CEIR Benchmark Data Says About Healthcare B2B Exhibitions
Recovery is underway in the healthcare exhibition sector, but not equally. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s study on healthcare B2B exhibitions explores the critical performance drivers that are quietly separating thriving events from struggling ones, and the data points to some…
Accessibility is improving, but 93% of disabled delegates still face barriers
Accessibility is still a major challenge across the events industry – despite receiving a lot more attention in recent years. Research from the Access All Areas: Closing the Accessibility Gap in Events report shows that 93% of disabled delegates faced barriers when attending events in late 2025.…
Meetings and Events Industry Shifts From Recovery to Reinvention in 2026
Investment surges as organizations recognize gatherings as core business drivers, not discretionary spending anymore. FCM Meetings & Events Business Leader of the Americas Gabriella Antoniotti explores what 2026 signals for the future of meetings and events.
This Week on the Convene Podcast: Setting the Tone for Civility, Designing Inclusive Events, and Leading Through Change
From why event codes of conduct should go beyond compliance, to Laura Nelson’s guidance on sober‑inclusive, wellness‑forward design, to Pauline Nguyen’s insights on self‑leadership and emotional resilience — here’s what’s new on the Convene Podcast.
The CES 2026 BOSS Award Winners
CES 2026 wasn’t just another stop on the global tech tour — it felt more like a full-scale preview of how brands will connect with audiences for the next decade. Beyond the headlines about AI, robotics, and next-gen hardware, the real story unfolded on the show floor itself, where experiences were…
When the Experience Becomes the Brand Message
In today’s events, audiences rarely remember a specific slide or a particular sentence from a presentation. What tends to remain is the experience surrounding that moment: the atmosphere in the room, the visual energy of the stage, the rhythm created by light and sound, and the way the environment…
Forthcoming Austin Convention Center
In keeping with Texas’ expansion and redevelopment of convention centers (see our Dallas CC Spotlight) Austin is revamping the Austin Convention Center (500 E. Cesar Chavez Street), but in a typically Texas big way: the old Austin Convention Center was demolished to make way for an entirely new…
How the Spokane Convention Center Turned a Reception Into a Site Inspection
A progressive opening reception gave a group of association management industry professionals the chance to mix with local artists — and to see the ins and outs of a convention center in a far more engaging way than a formal facility tour.
Minority Conferences Face Lower Attendance
The effects of anti-DEI policies are being felt by associations representing minority professionals, particularly when it comes to their events. Here’s how the National Black MBA Association is navigating those changes and other macroeconomic shifts.
Wellness Experience Flexed Relationship Muscles
Smart Meetings Wellness Experience at The Monarch San Antonio, Curio Collection by Hilton defined what a conference that takes into account the physical and mental needs of participants could feel […] The post Wellness Experience Flexed Relationship Muscles appeared first on Smart Meetings.