This article**"Event Studies (ID: EventStudies)" *January 7, 2024 article, original title: Revisiting the Development Model of the American Convention and Exhibition Industry, edited by MICE Ben**.
On January 4th, MEN published an article written by Mr. Zheng Luyi, a partner of Shanghai Huizhan Exhibition, what is the significance of the American model of the exhibition industry for us?The article is very informative and worth reading carefully.
In fact, I personally believe that there is no so-called American model of the exhibition industry, but the development of the American exhibition industry does have many characteristics or unique experiences. In today's tweet, I would like to add a few more words as an echo of Luyi's masterpiece. In 2005, I was a six-month visiting scholar at George Washington University (GWU) in the United States, and since then I have been closely following the development of the exhibition and events industry in the United States. On February 3, 2015, I was invited by the Convention and Exhibition Cafe to give a special sharing on the topic of "The Development of the Convention and Exhibition Industry: American Experience and China's Practice", and later made a sharing on the micro-broadcast of the exhibition people, which attracted wide attention.
The Development of the Conference and Exhibition Industry: American Experience and Chinese Practice.
At the beginning of the sharing, I threw out 3 questions:
In "2The basic characteristics of the convention and exhibition industry in the United States", I summarized five major aspects at that time. Now that 8 years have passed, if I want to amend, I will add content such as capital operation and market research. 
Under the tweet of MICE Ben, I left a message and wrote a paragraph:
Personally, I think that the following practices are particularly worthy of reference in China: event is a big umbrella;Industry associations (in 2005, 68% of the more than 11,300 exhibitions were organized by associations) complement the exhibitions organized by independent exhibitorsAssociations in various fields of the event industry are subdivided and specialized;Industry management is highly self-disciplined;Most associations and independent companies host exhibitions and business conferences based on the ecosystemStrive to promote the application of various new technologies (PCMA and other associations have a special technology display area at the annual meeting);Practitioner certification training specifications.event is an umbrella
There have always been different opinions in China on what the connotation of MICE is and the relationship between MICE and events. I remember that at an international conference organized by Shanghai Institute of Technology in 2008, Professor George Fenich proposed that more and more scholars and industry professionals in the United States tend to use a common word - event. It can be seen that there was a similar controversy in the United States at that time.
In 2017, the Convention Industry Council was officially renamed the Event Industry Council, with the official interpretation being "to be inclusive all member segments and more global representation". In fact, "member segments" here refers to various fields such as conferences, exhibitions, and corporate events.
The Past and Present of the Event Industry Council (EIC).
At the city level, the vast majority of cities in the U.S. have Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) and view cities as integrated destinations for tourism, business, conventions, and sporting events.
In particular, no matter how to understand the boundaries and connotations of exhibitions, the exhibition industry must be united. In the United States, the "Meetings Mean Business" coalition was formed, consisting of more than 70 member institutions, and is now part of the American Travel Association (US TR**EL), which meets quarterly to raise the profile and importance of exhibitions and events in the minds of and legislators, and to demonstrate the undeniable value that business meetings, exhibitions, incentive travel, etc. bring to people, businesses and communities.
The exhibitions organized by industry associations and independent exhibitors complement each other
In 2005, more than 11,300 exhibitions were held in the United States, about 68 percent of which were sponsored by associations. According to a report released by the CIC at the time, in 2012, a total of 1.83 million MICE events were held in the United States, of which 1.3 million were corporate events, 27370,000 meetings, 1090,000** Exhibitions and 6770,000 incentive travel activities.
In the past many years, the total number of exhibitions held in the United States has been about 10,000. Among them, various industry associations are still the main force of the exhibition, but the power of independent exhibition companies should not be underestimated, and the two are the main members of IAEE and SISO respectively.
Associations in various fields of the event industry are subdivided and specialized;
How big is the U.S. convention and exhibition industry?
The following is a PPT when I shared it in 2015. In all areas of the convention and exhibition industry, the United States has corresponding industry associations, and most of them have international influence, which is particularly worthy of our learning. 
These associations are synergistic with each other and have their own positioning.
For example, PCMA focuses on business activities, while ISES refers to special events in general. There was also a very special association in the United States, the Exhibit & Event Marketers Association, which was the trade show exhibitors association and the exhibitor appointed contractor association) cooperation products represent the interests of the majority of exhibitors.
China's exhibition industry is particularly lacking such an organization that can represent the interests of the majority of exhibitors and guide enterprises to participate in the exhibition effectively.
Industry management is highly self-disciplined;
The management of the exhibition industry in the United States is highly self-disciplined, and the competent authorities, industry associations, sponsors, venues, service providers, professionals and colleges and universities perform their duties to jointly promote the development of the industry.
For example, in 1949, the Convention Industry Council (CIC) was established in the context of the fact that four organizations, including the American Hotel Management Association and the American Association of Association Managers, "recognized the tripartite relationship between hotel executives and convention bureau representatives." Later, CIC introduced programs such as the Apex System for the Exchange of Accepted Practices in the MICE Industry, the Certified Conference Expert (CMP) certification, and the Industry Glossary, which greatly contributed to the standardization of the industry.
Taking the types of exhibition themes as an example, the United States has a generally recognized classification method of 11 categories of exhibition themes (2018), which is also convenient for national statistics and analysis. 
Note: Data for 2014.
For another example, PCMA Education** will launch the Twentty in Their Twenties (20*20) project every year, and the 20 selected industry newcomers will be fully funded to participate in the PCMA Annual Meeting.
Build the best ecosystemIn 2014, AMR int'The Shift of B2B Information report explains in detail the transformation of B2B business**. In fact, most associations and independent companies in the United States hold exhibitions and business conferences based on the ** ecosystem they have built.
In 2016, a TED executive saidThe success of TED and TEDx shows that conferences are moving from traditional face-to-face events to physical hubs of the virtual ecosystem.
I've been following Penton since the beginning of 2014, and the following is a screenshot of the company's official homepage in July 2014. Penton's model, including after its acquisition by Informa, is almost identical to the requirements in the framework described above.
Personally, I believe that China's exhibition companies and industry associations should actively build a first-class ecosystem and promote the development of exhibition projects on this basis.
We will strive to promote the application of various new technologiesThe U.S. convention and exhibition industry attaches great importance to the application of various new technologies in the association. For example, every year, the annual meeting of industry associations such as PCMA has a special technology exhibition area. As early as 2005, the floor plan of the American exhibition has been updated in real time and can effectively support sales work.
Since 2012, U.S. convention organizers have invested in technology as follows:
The basic situation of technological innovation in the exhibition industry in the United States.
New Trends in the Development of International Exhibition and Event Technology (2016-).
New technologies for MICE and events professionals to keep an eye on.
Mergers and acquisitions in the exhibition industry are frequent
M&A in the U.S. exhibition industry is relatively frequent, and AMR, JEGI and other companies specialize in investment, financing and consulting services in terms of **, exhibition activities, technology, etc.
For example, in June 2013, the Canadian integrated business company Onex Group started with 9Nielsen Expositions acquired the exhibition business of information giant Nielsen Holdings for $500 million and renamed Nielsen Expositions as Emerald Expositions.
Immediately afterward, Emerald Expositions announced that it would invest 3$3.5 billion acquisition of George Little Management, Inc., which closed January 22-25, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah. With that, GLM's Surf Expo Orlando will join the Salt Lake City Outdoors and Las Vegas families of Interbike.
What's particularly interesting is that the origins of Emerald Expositions have gone through a series of mergers and acquisitions, as follows:
Miller Freeman merged with Gralla Publishing Group in 1991 to own Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake CityIn 1995, I bought Interbike and AMD
VNU bought Bill Communications in 1994 and owns the Military and Hospitality Design ShowIn 2000, it acquired Miller Freeman USA, Inc., which has exhibitions on sports, clothing, jewelry, kitchen and bathroom themes
In 2006, VNU was acquired by Nielsen;
In 2013, the Onex Group acquired Nielsen Expositions and changed its name to Emerald Expositions
In 2014, Emerald Expositions acquired GLM
In 2016, Informa ended up with 15Acquired Penton from private equity firms Midocean and Wasserstein for $600 million. Penton is the owner of Special Events, a well-known magazine in the events industry.
Practitioner certification training specifications.
The certification training for MICE practitioners in the United States is launched by industry associations (and there are also a few institutions), and most of these certificates are developed based on a relatively complete knowledge system and are widely recognized in the industry.
Note: The above is the situation in 2015, and the CIC and other information are not up to date.
In 2009, the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council (CTHRC) and the International Embok Executive jointly developed the Event Management International Competency Standards (MBECS) with the joint efforts of industry representatives from more than 20 countries Competency Standards, abbreviated as EMICS). MBECS is the specific application of EMICS in the management of meetings and business events, aiming to summarize and summarize the knowledge areas and competencies that a conference expert must master in order to hold a successful conference and business event.
Regarding the development of the convention and exhibition industry in the United States, there are many aspects such as industrial policy, leading companies, and professional education, but because the article is already very long, I will write so much for the time being. Please criticize and correct all friends!