Message from UFI’s President

Dear UFI Colleagues,
In preparation for our upcoming Annual Congress in Istanbul, your senior officers, Executive Committee, Board, and staff have been actively meeting and preparing in order to share current information about various projects with UFI’s membership.

You will receive summary reports from strategic thinking sessions that have been held with the objective
of strengthening the value of UFI to its members. You will learn of the recent results of a
members’ satisfaction survey to which almost 20% of you responded for the purpose of determining
which member services were the most valued and how we might strengthen those services and others
in the future.
Only a few days ago, I attended the very impressive Trade Show Executive Gold Gala Awards and
Summit in the US. This event honoured the top 100 tradeshows in the US and included a brilliant
program to help US organizers understand how the downturn in the US economy might impact
them. The networking opportunity was extraordinary. The global impact of what is occurring in the
US now, and the oil crisis, are matters with which we must stay current.
As global economic challenges continue to evolve, pessimism has arisen within the industry. At our
UFI Congress in Istanbul, Dominic Swords, a leading economist and business intelligence strategist,
will share his insight on the current volatile economic situation with us. Building on such information,
we must use our UFI network to learn more in order to remain on top of things in today's business
environment.
I look forward to record attendance in our 75th UFI Annual Congress in Istanbul to be held 12-15
November. I do not think there is a better time to gather and network among ourselves as the global
exhibition industry’s key decision makers. Please register to participate today. I look forward to
seeing you all there.
Cliff Wallace, CFE
UFI President