CHICAGO — Commodity Classic 2025 was held March 2-4 at the Colorado Convention Center, breaking its record for farmer attendees. Trade Show Executive (TSE) connected with Maureen Feck, Commodity Classic’s Show Director, about its record-breaking growth, altered 2025 date pattern and how the event is attracting younger attendees.
ANDREW: What do you think is driving Commodity Classic’s growth?
MAUREEN: We’ve had momentum building for the last few years and saw strong attendance coming out of the pandemic. We’ve been spreading the word and trying to get people to know more about Commodity Classic and make their way back to it.
Something else that was helpful was having the 2025 show in Denver, which was a new location for us. We saw groups of growers who don’t typically come … [and] the weather helped us out there too.
ANDREW: How is the show’s farmer planning committee instrumental to its success?
MAUREEN: The fact that Commodity Classic is designed and created by farmers for farmers is instrumental. We can plan the programming around what they’re experiencing every day and react as we get closer to the event if we need to add or change something.
The key for us is to be able to provide what those growers need and be the place where they get the information that they need — and engage with the companies that they’re doing business with — regardless of what’s happening in the economy.
ANDREW: How does Commodity Classic allow attendees to be flexible?
MAUREEN: We’re trying to be thoughtful around our schedule. If you can’t be there for four days, there is enough happening that you could pop in for a day and still feel like you’re getting a worthwhile experience.
That has helped us with our growth too: finding ways to plan that schedule so that no matter where [attendees are] at and what their personal schedule is like, they can make time to be there.
ANDREW: Other than its location, what was new about Commodity Classic this year?
MAUREEN: For 2025, we were on a different date pattern. Typically, our show is a Wednesday through Friday show and we were a Sunday through Tuesday show [this year] based on availability.
Because [the show’s first day] happened to be on a Sunday, we thought a pancake breakfast would be an interesting aspect and it was an overwhelming success. It ended up being a great sponsorship opportunity [and] a great education opportunity as well.
We added a closing reception … [and] changed the time of our general session this year to flow with that new pattern.
Typically, we have a government official speak at the general session and, schedule-wise, that didn’t work for this year.
We had the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary Rollins, speak on the trade show floor the first day. It was incredibly successful for us and a great addition.
Related. Commodity Classic Finds Opportunities with New Date Pattern and Younger Attendees
ANDREW: How did you communicate the show’s date change to event participants?
MAUREEN: We communicated it everywhere. It was a combination of e-mail blasts to registered attendees … [and] social media.
With our exhibitors, we communicated it way in advance because they needed to plan differently.
ANDREW: How did exhibitors and attendees respond to this change?
MAUREEN: We heard a lot of a lot of, “Wait, is this a permanent change? Is this going to happen all the time?”
There was a lot of hesitation about the schedule change and Denver as a city, and we proved that … if you’ve got enough content and you’re creating an experience that is worthwhile, they’re going to come.
ANDREW: The age of Commodity Classic attendees is trending downwards while the age of farmers is trending upwards. How is the event’s team attracting younger attendees? MAUREEN: We’re very excited about that. We’ve made some strides there in a couple of different ways… [including by] ensuring that the programming that we have is what they want to see and thinking about what some of those session topics are.
Also, it’s meeting [young professionals] where they are. This is something that is ongoing and we’ve just scratched the surface from a marketing perspective. What other social media platforms are we not utilizing? That’s going to be a continuous opportunity for us.
Also, so much of farming is generational … [and we are] ensuring that there are opportunities for younger people to attend. We welcome kids at our event and try to create opportunities and experiences for them as well because they’re part of those families, and then we keep them coming back here for years.
ANDREW: What advice would you give to an organizer who wants to bring in younger attendees?
MAUREEN: Think about who that younger audience is and meet them where they are, both from the marketing aspect of things and from the experience.
They might have younger families and might not be able to come for four days. What can you offer them so that they can make it a short trip and still find it effective? Or can they bring their young families? What does that look like?
Also, they might be looking for education in shorter segments. They might not want to sit for 90 minutes, but they might want to hear something for 20 minutes.
We have a stage on our trade show floor that offers education in a very different way than what we do in a classroom setting … and having that variety has worked for us.
It’s important not to forget about the existing audience that might not fall into that younger attendee demographic but are an important element. We want to make sure that the programming works for them too.
ANDREW: How have you kept the show fresh?
MAUREEN: We try to be open to all new ideas, whether [they] are coming from our attendees … or from our exhibitors.
When you do a show once a year, have a routine and have something that’s been booked for 10-12 years … it’s hard to mix it up and do something different, but we always go down that path.
If it works, we grow upon it. If it doesn’t, then we adjust. That’s really been an element of our success: being open to those new thoughts and ideas that people bring us.
ANDREW: What can you share about Commodity Classic 2026?
MAUREEN: For 2026, we’re back in San Antonio, which is a favorite for Commodity Classic — our attendees love it — and we’re back to that Wednesday to Friday pattern.
Also, it is the 30th anniversary of Commodity Classic in 2026. We’re working through how we want to recognize that and how far we’ve come in the last 30 years.
