What makes the IFES network so special?

Scan Display was the first African company to become a member of IFES when we joined the association in 2007. We have benefited from IFES’ international network, as we regularly assist fellow IFES members with their projects on the African continent and contract IFES members to assist with our overseas projects.

The sharing of knowledge and the collaboration that IFES membership provides is invaluable.

During my first IFES event in Amsterdam, I can only say that it is a true family who gave me an extremely warm welcome. The network opportunities are unique and unprecedented. Moreover, we collected insight into various topics we can apply directly to our organization.

I am happy to say that I am a proud IFES member.

Especially after the last couple of years, the value of IFES virtually and physically meeting has been incalculable. In our disconnected realities, it was important to remain engaged. IFES does a great job with communications.

IFES is also unique in that it really feels like a collaborative, supportive community, without tribalism. The sharing of ideas and sense of community definitely makes it worth the cost.

I have been to all of the IFES meetings since roughly 2005. Each had its unique personality based on the local influence of the region. Education was my primary focus, followed by networking, but looking back I have also created lifelong friendships and adopted a family along the way!

The rewards dwarf the annual investment. The members are serious business planners with a diverse build mentality based on their regional norms. “Sharing is caring!” could be our new motto, just as we teach our children, except that we swap information rather than toys.

We like to get new partners and friends in B2B and B2C. Thanks to IFES we are now looking forward to being part of the “world-family”.

The passion for events motivates all our teams daily and this on its own is a good reason to be a part of IFES.

If you deal with challenges on your own, most likely you are only dealing with the problem.

Joining IFES will most likely mean that you become part of the solution, rather than the problem.

We are so glad that the World Summit 22 was able to take place again so that we could meet again personally. Because in IFES it’s all about the trust and confidence we have in each other. You have to know each other before you pass on a project to a partner in an overseas market. And partnering is a crucial task if we want to be more sustainable in our industry. And sustainability needs collaboration, exchange of ideas and experience – that is global networking – that is IFES!

We have had many excellent experiences of collaboration, with our company in Germany giving work to colleagues in the US, Canada, Japan and Singapore.

IFES is an international network of contacts between exhibition providers which you can rely on to supportyou with your projects wherever you are in the world. Through the IFES network, I connected witha partner in India who assisted me in the manufacture of an exhibition stand. I was also able to share contacts with a Spanish member during his build-up in France.

This is a network ofhigh-quality members who share a common desire to come together to improve our industry by building on our shared knowledge. We value the importance of exchanges, of shared experience, of collective intelligence and solidarity which we use to develop the exhibition industry more responsibly and with respect for each other.

After almost two decades of being part of the IFES family, I still firmly believe that amongst the most important moves I ever made was joining this association.

Friendships have evolved alongside my passion for working and growing awareness of our brand name all over the world, but most importantly, the business opportunities which have been provided both ways are unique. It is this uniqueness that makes IFES so beneficial for our members as we strive each time to make things easier to work amongst each other. Thanks to everyone involved for making all these years worth every euro spent.

I wish IFES everything of the best in the years to come.