Media Releases

Paris/Plovdiv, 16 May, 2013:  The jury of the 17th International Fair Poster Competition has announced the winners for the 2013 international graphic design competition.  Organized by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and International Fair Plovdiv (Bulgaria), this unique forum recognizes contemporary poster art, which supports the international exhibition industry.  A total of 64 posters from 24 fair and exhibition organizers in 17 countries were submitted.  Each poster promoted a specific exhibition.  

The international jury of exhibition industry professionals and graphic designers assessed the 64 posters based on the originality of the design concept, successful interpretation of the exhibition topic and clear presentation of the marketing message and exhibition's technical details.  

The poster presented by Toulouse Expo – Toulouse, France and designed by Bernard Cadène, was unanimously chosen as this year’s Grand Award winner.  The complete list of awarded posters follows:

Grand award
Toulouse Expo – Parc des Expositions – Toulouse, France
International Fair of Toulouse
Dates: 6 – 15 April 2013
Designer: Bernard Cadène
Runner-up finalists:
1. UBM Asia Ltd. - Hong Kong, CHINA
COSMOPROF ASIA
Dates: 13 – 15 November 2013
Designer: Leo Burnett
2. Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company - Zimbabwe
ZITF – Zimbabwe Internationa Trade fair
Dates: 23 – 27 April 2013
Designer: Charisma Agency
3. Inter Expo Center – Sofia, Bulgaria
Water Sofia 2013
Dates: 29-31 May 2013
Designer: Miroslava Rangelova
4. Inter Expo Center – Sofia, Bulgaria
BULCONTROLA 2013
Dates: 29-31 May 2013
Designer: Miroslava Rangelova

The Grand Award winner will be presented with a unique statuette created by the sculptor Yanko Nenov.  Certificates of recognition will be provided to the runners-up, their advertising agencies and designers.  
The Grand Award will be presented at the 80th Congress to be hosted by AKEI from 13 -16 November 2013 in Seoul, South Korea.

Paris – April 26, 2013:  The Adsale Group (Hong Kong) has been selected as the winner
of UFI’s first education award.  In recognition of the need for continuing education in the trade fair sector, UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, called for entries related to education programmes which had been successfully implemented and measured in both quantitative and qualitative terms.  Exhibition-related submissions related to the theme “best in-house education programme of the year” were invited from the global exhibition community.  From these, UFI’s Education Committee selected three finalists: The Adsale Group (Hong Kong), Fiera Milano SpA (Milan), and VNU Exhibitions Europe (Utrecht).  Participants at the recent UFI Education Focus Meeting held in Shanghai, selected the final winner after in-depth presentations by each finalist.  Enrica Baccini, Chair of the UFI Education Committee, noted the very high level of the entries received, adding, “The training of exhibition professionals is a critical topic for organizers, venue managers and service providers. The quality of the projects submitted for our first UFI education competition was very high.  It was difficult to select just one winner, but Adsale’s entry was definitely the “best in-house education programme of the year”.  

The Adsale Group entry related to an annual two-day conference programme aimed at enhancing management level leadership skills.  The theme for their 2012 programme, “Managing and Leading Change” was aimed at broadening knowledge of market changes with a particular focus on China, promoting team spirit and a boundaryless corporate culture, and equipping Adsale managers with the necessary skills to treat change as an opportunity. Stanley Chu, Adsale Chairman, commented that “people focus is one of the core values of Adsale as people are the main asset of our company.  We are committed to providing learning opportunities to groom our staff.  This annual conference is one of our most important in-house training programmes.”  The programme reached out to the entire Adsale management team through preliminary discussions drawing on presentations related to economic trends.  During the 2-day session, workshops and team building exercises drew on practical cases to encourage team spirit and encourage participation.  During the follow-up period, Adsale managers led their respective teams in the development of “change programmes”.  A progress review conducted several months later identified a number of creative ideas had been generated, company confidence in dealing which change increased and an innovative and proactive approach towards changing user needs was developing.

Chu welcomed the UFI education award saying, “UFI’s honouring of our programme “Managing & Leading Changes” is recognition of Adsale’s initiatives and efforts to develop a professional team through continuing education.” Through its annual programme of education, ICT, marketing, operations, sustainable development and art of the fair poster competitions, UFI recognizes notable achievements in the field of exhibitions.  Adsale will receive their UFI Education Award trophy before an audience of industry leaders at the 80th UFI Congress in Seoul in November 2013.