The Gathering Economy Takes
Signals and Shifts in Live Experience by the Convening Class
Welcome to this edition of Gathering Economy Takes—a front-row scan of where live experiences are gaining authority, losing control, and quietly reinventing themselves.
We start with UFI’s Global Exhibition Barometer, which does something rare in our industry: it strips away hype and shows, with real data, why exhibitions remain one of the most reliable indicators of economic confidence—even as formats, footprints, and expectations evolve.
From there, we step into the cultural phenomenon of BravoCon—not as fandom fluff, but as a masterclass in emotional stickiness. Why is it so addictive? And more importantly, what can every conference, trade show, and brand gathering steal from its playbook without becoming cosplay?
We then widen the lens globally, tracking how international destinations are now competing for events the way cities once chased film productions—using incentives, infrastructure, and narrative positioning borrowed straight from the movie business. The bidding war for gatherings has officially gone cinematic.
Inside the agencies, the ground is shifting too. Jack Morton’s latest Outlook Report lands on a quiet but radical conclusion: veracity now matters more than spectacle. In a world flooded with experiences, truth and trust are becoming the real production values.
That insight helps explain why Encore just acquired First, an agency built around embedding planners directly inside major corporations. This isn’t a bolt-on—it’s a bet that corporate events are about to explode, and that proximity, not pageantry, is how you win the next decade.
We also look at the cautionary side of power and platforms, unpacking what happened when the World Economic Forum effectively surrendered its stage during a recent Donald Trump appearance—and what every event organizer should learn about narrative control, risk, and responsibility.
Finally, we lift our eyes to the horizon and imagine what a trade show floor plan could look like in 2035—when booths may matter less than flows, facilitation may matter more than square footage, and the real design challenge is behavioral, not architectural.
This isn’t trend-spotting. It’s signal-reading.
