US tradeshow sector forms new advocacy alliance
A coalition of eight US event industry associations has formed a new advocacy group, the Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance (ECA), to lobby the interests of the US exhibitions and conference sector with legislators.
ECA describes its role as being, “to help government officials understand the important role events have on economies and job creation. We promote the impact of the sector, drive general industry awareness, monitor legislative issues, advocate for the industry’s common interests, and work with partners globally as needed, to maintain a favorable operating environment within the US.
“ECA provides a long-term strategy focused on creating substantive relationships with policymakers and ensuring priority matters are heard”.
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has tapped
Marie-Laure Bellon to serve as its next COO, effective March 1. She will work out of the organization’s Paris headquarters.
Bellon is currently the CEO and general manager of French exhibition organizer Eurovet, a trade show organizer for lingerie and swimwear, and a subsidiary of Comexposium and the French Knitting and Lingerie Federation.
She has held various senior executive positions over the years at Eurovet, including the strategic positioning and restructuring of the business, launching new activities in Asia and the U.S. and leading the organization’s overall international development. Her career also includes leadership positions in management and business development for Reed Expositions France.
CEIR announces US third quarter results, reports its exhibition industry at a standstill
The US-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research (
CEIR) has reported that the US exhibition industry remained at a grinding halt in the third quarter of 2020, with approximately 97% of originally scheduled events cancelled. As a result, the CEIR Total Index, a measure of exhibition industry performance, registered a 98.1% decline from a year ago.
The US industry experienced a more moderate year-over-year decline of real (inflation-adjusted) GDP at 2.9%, which increased at an annual rate of 33.1% from the previous quarter. The latter had been somewhat boosted by continued reopening of businesses, strong residential investment, and online and other consumer goods purchases.