If you’ve ever felt like trade shows and events are an invisible industry – especially these past two years – you’re not alone.
But that’s all about to change, beginning on June 1, when a new tour hits the road.
The Invisible Industry Tour is a mobile marketing initiative that will bring awareness to the tradeshow, convention, meeting, and live events industry. Most importantly, it will help create jobs, connect, support, and develop the industry’s workforce.
The year-long tour is a collective effort across the live events industry including show organizers/associations, general contractors, trades/unions, experiential designers/producers, trade show suppliers, venues, convention/visitors’ bureaus, and STEAM/workforce development. It will feature a 49-foot expandable quad trailer that will visit multiple U.S. cities hosting industry events, including a stop in Las Vegas for EXHIBITORLIVE June 20-24.
Visitors to the trailer will be immersed in interactive presentations, exhibits and time-lapse videos created by industry leaders, showing the work that goes into producing a trade show, from setup to tear-down, and behind-the-scenes in proposals and design.
The tour plans to roll out on Global Exhibitions Day from Washington, D.C. with the goal of meeting with public officials, economic development directors, labor unions, and other groups to emphasize the importance of the trade show industry in those cities, says National Trade Show Alliance Founder Laura Palker.
The NTSA is collaborating with industry veterans across the entire spectrum of the 6.6 million jobs that are involved in the live events industry to create a library of knowledge that will help train the next generation of trade show workers. By taking that mobile exhibit on the road for the coming year, the hope is that the industry’s anonymity can finally be ended by introducing the next generation to the wide variety of work opportunities that the live events industry provides.
“It is time to tell our story in person. This grassroots initiative will speak to the next generation workforce about jobs that will provide skills for a lifetime and career opportunities,” Palker said. “While our industry leaders and advocacy groups focus on a federal level, the Invisible Industry Tour will target local communities, to help build awareness and support.”
To learn more about the Tour, visit the NTSA website or follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. If your organization would like to get involved, contact Laura Palker at NTSA – 888-713-2083.
