MIAMI — The Trade Show Executive (TSE) Fastest 50 Class of 2022 marked the trade show industry’s striking comeback following the pandemic, with the honored trade shows breaking TSE Fastest 50 records for growth by net square feet, number of exhibiting companies and total attendance.
The winners of the Trade Show Executive (TSE) Fastest 50 Grand Awards were revealed at the gala of the TSE Fastest 50 Awards and Summit in Miami on May 2, the first time the event was held since 2019. The Grand Awards for the Fastest 50 program are metric based and recognize the No. 1 ranked show by growth in various metrics and largest shows on the honoree list.
The honored shows and Grand Award winners brought trade shows back safely and securely, while instilling the confidence the industry needed to have the outstanding return to live events it had in 2022 and continues to build upon in 2023.
Earning the Outstanding Industry Stewardship Award was Charlie McCurdy, Non-Executive Chairman, Informa Markets & Strategic Advisor, Informa PLC, Informa Markets; Ken McAvoy, President, South Florida Ventures & Executive Vice President Corporate Development, Informa Markets; and Nancy Walsh, President, Informa Markets, North America. The Rock Star Award was given to Lydia Janow, Senior Vice President Events, Aviation Week Network, for her excellence in trade show management.
“The trade show industry experienced a great resurgence in 2022, and it’s great to see so many shows breaking records for their growth,” TSE President and Chairman and President and CEO of United Service Companies Rick Simon said. “The Fastest 50 Awards & Summit serves an important purpose, not only to recognize the fastest-growing shows, but also being the gathering place of the industry’s top executives to learn from each other and continue moving us forward.”
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World of Concrete took home two Grand Awards, The Largest Fastest 50 Show by NSF (629,539 nsf) and the Fastest-Growing Show in Sheer Numbers by Net Square Feet (grew by 363,239 nsf), while the show’s producer, Informa, was awarded The Top Show Organizer Overall in 2022, with 20 shows on the honoree lists. Informa’s Grand Award honors the trade show organizer with the most Fastest 50 and Next 50 shows.
Another Informa-produced show garnered two Grand Awards as well. Seatrade Cruise Global earned the awards for Fastest-Growing Show by Percentage of Growth in Exhibiting Companies (280% growth) and Fastest-Growing Show by Blended Percentage Growth (201% growth).
Other winners include LightFair®, which won the award for Fastest-Growing Show by Percentage of Growth in Net Square Feet (313.8% growth), and OFC won the award for the Fastest-Growing Show by Percentage of Growth in Total Attendance (265% growth).
AAPEX, produced by W.T. Glasgow Inc., won two awards, The Largest Fastest 50 Show by Total Attendance (126,071 attendees) and the Fastest-Growing Show in Sheer Numbers by Total Attendance (grew by 29,006 attendees), MHI’s MODEX gathered up the award for Fastest-Growing Biennial Show by Blended Percentage Growth (45.7% growth).
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IMEX America, which grew by 1,063 exhibiting companies, took to the main stage to collect its award for Fastest-Growing Show in Sheer Numbers by Exhibiting Companies, as did SC22 for Fastest-Growing Show Managed by an Association by Blended Percentage Growth (168.8% growth). The Fastest-Growing Semi-Annual Show by Blended Percentage Growth Grand Award went to COTERIE New York (53.3% growth), and PharmSci360 took home the Fastest-Growing Medical Show by Blended Percentage Growth (117.3% growth). Celebrating the oldest show on the Fastest 50 ranking, the Longevity Award went to Public Works Expo.
“It was an honor to present this year’s Fastest 50 Grand Awards to the well-deserving recipients. These show organizers served on the front lines in bringing us back from the pandemic securely and safely. Their work in 2022 will serve our industry for many years to come,” TSE Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Weiss said. “With that, we felt strongly about recognizing Charlie, Ken and Nancy’s leadership with a new award. The pandemic caused an extreme disruption in our industry and these leaders and industry icons led the lionshare of our Fastest 50 shows. I’m proud to award them and to know them.”
Reach Rick Simon at rsimon@unitedhq.com; Gabrielle Weiss at (312) 493-7753 or gweiss@tradeshowexecutive.com
