EXHIBITORLIVE 2024, an annual event for exhibitors produced by Exhibitor Group, reported a more than 20% bump in total attendance and 40% increase in buyers year over year, according to David DuBois, president and CEO of Exhibitor Group and publisher of EXHIBITOR magazine, who joined the privately held company in October after serving for 11 years as president and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE).

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Held Feb. 25-28 in Nashville, the event featured four days of education, networking opportunities and a trade show, as well as co-located events with the Experiential Designers and Producers Association (EDPA).

By the numbers: The 2024 show, held Feb. 27-28 at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, featured 108 exhibitors across a variety of categories, including exhibit builders, event marketing agencies, freight providers, event tech companies and more. The number of exhibitors was about the same as it was last year, but the show was condensed from three days to two in 2024. The exhibit hall was open to buyers for 9.5 hours this year, compared with 10.5 hours last year.

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What they are saying: “EXHIBITORLIVE is in a period of growth and rejuvenation, and the impressive number of attendees here in Nashville shows that industry professionals like the practical educational content and meaningful connections they can find at our show,” DuBois said. “The new approaches, technologies and performance metrics available at EXHIBITORLIVE will ensure events remain business drivers.” 

Future locations and dates announced: Exhibitor Group revealed its plans for the next three years. EXHIBITORLIVE 2025 will take place March 16-19, 2025 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. The 2026 show will take place March 29-April 1, 2026, at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida, and the 2027 show will be held Feb. 14-17, 2027 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. 

Contractor agreement extended: Exhibitor Group also announced that it has signed a multi-year partnership with Fern Exposition Services, which will serve as EXHIBITORLIVE’s general services contractor through 2027. DuBois said, “We hope that by providing exhibitors with consistency in operations, not only will they be able to more accurately predict budgets, their imaginations will be free to create interesting activations and stellar designs that drive the top-notch networking opportunities EXHIBITORLIVE is known for.”