Trade Show News Network (TSNN)

TSNN - Trade Show News Network, the industry's leading media brand with over 30 years of authority, today announced the launch of The EXHIEs™ (ex-ees), the first comprehensive, industry-wide awards program dedicated to recognizing exhibitor excellence across all trade shows and industries. The inaugural EXHIEs program will debut at Connect Marketplace in Tampa, FL, this August, followed by Longevityfest in December in Las Vegas, with additional events to be announced throughout the year.

Festival producer behind Pier Play to apply open-air production to Oct. 1 business gathering RASA World has produced music-driven cultural events across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, London, Dubai, Beirut, Ibiza and Paris. Hawke Media, a Los Angeles marketing consultancy, has selected RASA World to produce HawkeFest 2026—an invite-only event for founders, CMOs, operators, marketers and brand leaders focused on commerce, marketing, AI and innovation—set for Oct.

The Freeman Company (TFC), a collective of event and marketing services brands that delivers events at scale for organizers, brands and sports leagues, has promoted Chris Schimek to the newly created position of president of Freeman Events & Exhibits, the company said in a release.

Informa, a company that’s traded on the London Stock Exchange, has appointed Tom Glocer as Chair-Elect of Informa PLC, the company said. The succession process, advised by Russell Reynolds and begun in early 2026, provides for Glocer to join the board as a non-executive director on October 1 and assume the role of non-executive chair in 2027.

Event Technology We're Excited About This Month To help travelers discover hotels through conversational AI search Marriott International has launched Ask Bonvoy, a new AI-powered search experience that allows travelers to explore Marriott's portfolio of nearly 10,000 properties using natural language prompts.

Despite geopolitical and economic challenges, the global and U.S. exhibition industry is expressing optimism amid self-reflection, according to UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry’s 37th edition of its flagship Global Exhibition Barometer report, which takes the pulse of the industry. Zooming out: The survey, completed in June and released on July 8, gives a precise snapshot of the industry at large.

The global exhibitions industry has always been resilient. It survived the near-total shutdown of 2020 and 2021, returned with extraordinary momentum, and has continued to grow. But a new set of pressures is emerging, slower-burning, harder to predict, and in many ways more structurally challenging than anything the industry has faced before.

Over the past 50 years, highly specialized robots have transformed industries and increased productivity by performing simple, repetitive tasks. Now, robots are moving beyond factories and warehouses into everyday settings, and the latest edition of the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) addressed these advancements, exploring how the future of robotics will impact everyone.

Hyve has acquired LegalTechTalk, a Europe-based event focused on legal technology and transformation, marking the company’s entry into what it calls the legal “SuperVertical.” The move is Hyve’s eighth acquisition since 2024 and the first under its new value-creation plan, Ascend30,, the company said. Founded in 2023 by Bradley Collins and Mikkel Jensen, LegalTechTalk launched in London in June 2024 and has quickly grown its footprint.

The historic Grand Galvez in Galveston has unveiled a new 5,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom that can accommodate up to 500 guests. If this month’s Venue News column makes anything clear, it’s that convention centers are no longer the only choice for large-scale trade shows, conventions, and corporate meetings. Headquarters hotels, unique off-site venues, and expanded event spaces that offer attendees more reasons to linger are increasingly shaping planner decisions.