Industry News
Curated headlines from the trade show and exhibition industry's top publications, associations, and expert blogs. Stay current with exhibitor announcements, show openings, industry trends, and market news from across the events world. Whether you follow technology, healthcare, food, or manufacturing events, our news feed surfaces the stories that matter to trade show professionals, exhibitors, and event marketers.
Meet the 2026 TSE Trailblazers: Kelley McCarthy
CHICAGO — Trade Show Executive’s (TSE) celebration of the TSE Trailblazers continues with Kelley McCarthy, Senior Conference Producer – Beauty & Wellness Group, Questex. McCarthy has transformed education in Questex’s Be+Well show portfolio into a strategic growth engine, and helped deliver…
Windy City Boat & Yacht Show Launches in Chicago’s Burnham Harbor
CHICAGO — On June 12-14, 2026, Informa Markets’ South Florida Ventures launched the Windy City Boat & Yacht Show at Burnham Harbor. The event featured more than 100 vessels, including powerboats, yachts, sailboats and brokerage vessels, and shoreside exhibits showcasing the latest marine…
Adaptability in Action: A Q&A with Caitlin Rodgers of the National Restaurant Association Show
CHICAGO — When Trade Show Executive (TSE) connects with industry leaders and asks what advice they have for emerging professionals, one common response is to be adaptable. It sounds simple enough, but what does that actually look like in the day-to-day responsibilities of an event organizer? To…
PCMA’s Capital Chapter Thinks Outside the Box for Sponsorships
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of this year’s calendar of events for the Capital Chapter of PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), chapter leaders challenged themselves to think bigger about sponsorships, and what would drive higher value and engagement for attendees and sponsors alike.…
XPONENTIAL 2026 Proves the Motor City’s Meetings Momentum
DETROIT — On May 11-14, Huntington Place hosted AUVSI’s™ XPONENTIAL, the world’s largest autonomy, drone and robotics trade show. XPONENTIAL united the defense community across more than 25,000 square feet of programming and exhibits, and showcased how uncrewed systems are bolstering national…
Dark Social: The Hidden Channel Driving Event Registrations
Dark Social: The Hidden Channel Driving Event Registrations is a contributed article from Ian Davis, VP of Marketing at Snöball Deciding to attend an event is not a small commitment. Someone is weighing travel, time out of the office and whether the trip is worth the disruption. That decision…
Meet the 2026 TSE Trailblazers: Courtney Ford
As an emerging leader behind the marketing and audience growth strategy for CES®, Courtney Ford, Director, Digital Engagement, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, translates data and audience insights into strategies that produce measurable results and manages the operational demands of…
Full Steam Ahead for Nineteen Group as Chicago Build 2026 Poised for Growth at McCormick Place
CHICAGO — Chicago Build 2026 is gearing up for its biggest edition to date at McCormick Place this October. With a 20% increase in exhibitors being projected and attendance expected to climb to more than 30,000 attendees this year, the show is enhancing its programming and design to meet the…
Meet the 2026 TSE Trailblazers: Vanessa Dang
CHICAGO — Trade Show Executive’s (TSE) next 2026 Trailblazer spotlight is on Vanessa Dang, Audience Development Manager at CommerceNext, which CloserStill Media has a majority investment in. When Dang first joined the organization, she recognized an opportunity to improve how it generated and…
Exploring Non-Alcoholic Beverages with McCormick Place’s Donna Mackey
CHICAGO — Across the events industry, non-alcoholic beverages are becoming more popular. While it’s fun to celebrate, many professionals prefer to keep their wits about them and avoid hard early wakeups. Donna Mackey, Beverage Director at McCormick Place, has observed this trend, which goes beyond…
Events Industry Vocabulary 102: An Update to the Original Guide
CHICAGO — When Trade Show Executive (TSE) first launched the Young Professionals Corner in 2024, one of the first Resource Rundowns it published was the Events Industry Vocabulary 101: An Informal Guide to Understanding Event Lingo. In it, events industry leaders shared what they thought were the…
Encore’s SEC Filing Gives Show Organizers a Look Under the Hood of the In-House AV Business
SCHILLER PARK, Ill. — The recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Encore® did something rare: It turned one of the trade show industry’s most persistent complaints — the rising cost and rigidity of in-house event production — into a public-market business model. The filing showed…
Fast-Growing SC26 Designs Educational Content to Meet Attendee Needs and Expectations
CHICAGO — When SC25: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC for short), took place in St. Louis in November of 2025, it was already recognized as a Trade Show Executive Gold 100 and Fastest 50 show for its size and fast growth the year…
Billington CyberSecurity Launches Critical Infrastructure CyberSecurity Summit
CHICAGO — Billington CyberSecurity, a CloserStill Media-owned leading cyber education company for executives in the public and private sector, announced the launch of Billington Critical Infrastructure CyberSecurity Summit. “The inaugural Billington Critical Infrastructure CyberSecurity Summit in…
San Antonio Hosts MPI WEC 2026 and Debuts New Venues and Experiences
SAN ANTONIO, Texas —Visit San Antonio invited Trade Show Executive (TSE) to see what’s new in the flourishing event destination and experience the kickoff of Meeting Professionals International’s World Education Conference on June 2, 2026. “As the seventh largest city in the U.S., and one of the…
TSE Reveals the Gold 100 Class of 2025
CHICAGO — The results are in, and Trade Show Executive (TSE) has released the honorees for the Gold 100 Class of 2025, representing the largest trade shows that took place in the U.S. last year. Gold 100 Class of 2025 This year’s honorees are comprised of iconic brands and staples on the Gold 100…
The Events Industry Gave Me More Than My Career — It Gave Me the Permission to Be Myself
The Events Industry Gave Me More Than My Career — It Gave Me the Permission to Be Myself is a contributed article from Don Pietranczyk, CEM, CX Director, Informa That title may sound a little dramatic, but it’s the truth. Here’s the way it went down. Like a lot of members of the LGBTQIA+ community,…
Meet the 2026 TSE Trailblazers: Rebecca Burns
CHICAGO — Trade Show Executive (TSE) is celebrating the 2026 TSE Trailblazers throughout the month of June. These 10 up-and-comers were selected due to their exceptional innovation, leadership and impact in the events industry, and were celebrated at the 2026 TSE Fastest 50 Awards & Summit. We are…
JCK and Luxury’s Continued Success Proves the Events Are in Their Element
LAS VEGAS — 2026’s JCK and Luxury, the RX sister shows for the jewelry and watch communities, returned to The Venetian Expo and The Venetian Resort. The events were woven together by this year’s theme, “In Your Element,” which could be seen throughout their entire life cycles. A nod to the raw…
New Orleans Hosts Sail250 and North America’s 50 Best Restaurants Celebrations; Introduces Upgraded and New Event Facilities
NEW ORLEANS — At the end of May 2026, New Orleans & Company invited Trade Show Executive (TSE) and other industry journalists to town as it was hosting two major events: Sail250, the U.S. Semiquincentennial maritime celebration, and the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony. Signature…