What You Do Is Important

If it is easy for me, one who merely reports on the tradeshow industry, to lose sight of the proverbial forest for the trees, it must be particularly tempting for those of you who work in the trenches day and night to forget sometimes the reason why what you do is so important.

I was reminded of that earlier this month during the Doing Business in the European Union conference, co-hosted by the Intl. Assn. for Exhibitions and Events and Tradeshow Week.

This was the third such "Doing Business in ..." conference I have been involved with as editor-in-chief of TSW. The first two were held in Mexico City, where perhaps the most important thing participants learned is that Mexico, a short plane ride from most American cities, is an advanced country with convention centers on a par with those in major U.S. urban centers.

Doing Business in the European Union was different. Before visiting Brussels, Belgium, and Duesseldorf, Germany, there were few — if any — of the Mexico-style stereotypes to be unseated.

The main realization I think many came away with was the size and sophistication of the European Union and the economy it represents. The EU has grown and changed over the last half-century, and it is now one of the two or three largest economies in the world. What's more, it has a tradeshow culture that goes back 1,000 years. It's easy to be impressed, for instance, by the modern facilities at Messe Duesseldorf, but it's even more impressive when you learn that what we call face-to-face marketing has been practiced there for hundreds and hundreds of years.

I'm sure we will all continue to speculate on the future of the tradeshow industry, but getting an up-close look at its roots is comforting. We have before in these pages noted the words of Hanley Wood Exhibitions President Galen Poss who, at least year's TSW Fastest 50 event in Boston, said, "We change lives with the commerce we create."

It is sometimes appropriate to reflect on the fact that what you do every day isn't just about selling more booth space or getting the best deal on aisle carpet. It is also about providing entrepreneurs with access to markets and, in turn, changing lives.