Most of us are familiar with trade shows and expos that are targeted at a specific industry. Many times trade shows are also localized to a particular geographical area as well, but recently there have also been a few trade shows which are targeted at a specific ethnicity or cultural group. Is this a trend that we can expect to see more as some groups push to take a larger presence in various industries?
The recent Hispanic Business Expo held in New Brunswick, New Jersey could be an example of a growing trend. The show featured display booths which touted businesses owned and operated by Hispanics in the area. Instead of being united across a particular industry, the display booths were all featuring a common theme of products and services that appealed to Hispanic individuals in the area.
This might be a growing theme across other ethnicities and cultural groups, or just more generally towards the broadening of what constitutes an appropriate commonality for a trade show. Perhaps in the future we can expect to see more expos across other commonalities which span several industries. For example, businesses with a cooperative structure or perhaps those which take advantage of a particular technology or other mode of doing business.
Who is to say that expos have to necessarily feature a single industry? There are already several shows that cut across industries and more shows based on other features such as minority-owned businesses could be more common in the near future. As the demographics of this country shift and as our world as a whole becomes increasingly globalized, we can expect to see more awareness of the differences as well as the commonalities that unite us all. Trade shows and expos are uniquely positioned to reflect and take advantage of this.
The future is truly exciting for expos and we can expect to see a lot more diversity and innovative structures when browsing the display booths of future trade shows and collective events.