Snöball spotlighted as one of Trade Show Executive Magazine’s event tech picks for February

Happy Friday! Snöcap is back with this week’s roundup of the key events and exhibitions news.

Spotlight: Snöball has been featured as an event tech spotlight in Trade Show Executive Magazine’s February edition. You will read about peer-to-peer marketing (for which we advocate all the time) and how you can implement and scale it in your own events through our solutions. Get the details below!

Here are all the headlines from our weekly roundup:

Get the full stories below:

Snöball spotlighted as one of Trade Show Executive Magazine’s event tech picks for February

Snöball has been featured as one of the event technologies by Trade Show Executive Magazine in its February 2026 print edition, as part of the publication’s monthly Tech Trek series.

The platform was the fourth and final spotlight in the series, which ran every Friday in February 2026. Snöball is a peer-to-peer marketing platform that enables event advocates — including attendees, speakers and exhibitors — to share personalized, trackable invitations that convert interest into registrations.

Snöball’s campaign managers handle asset creation, execution and optimization on behalf of organizers.

“Clients approve campaigns before they go live,” said Rachel Stephan, founder and CEO of Snöball. “They provide their branding and guidelines, and we execute and optimize the campaign on their behalf.”

The platform reports an average share-to-registration conversion rate of 31.9%, with top-performing events reaching 53.7%. LinkedIn accounts for approximately 34.8% of peer-driven shares, while private messaging channels collectively account for 32.6%.

“Our analytics show not just traffic, but actual sign-ups driven by referrals,” Rachel said. “That level of attribution is essential for organizers evaluating marketing performance.”

Snöball integrates with more than 70 event and marketing technology platforms. Beyond attendee acquisition, organizers use the platform for exhibitor promotion, membership growth, awards programs and post-event engagement.

RX Global names Allison Jarvis-Powell as its first global CMO

RX has created a new Global Chief Marketing Officer position, naming Alison Jarvis-Powell to the role as the company looks to sharpen its marketing operations and fuel long-term growth.

Alison, who most recently led marketing at Elsevier Health, has spent over two decades in senior marketing roles at organisations spanning both B2B and B2C sectors, including BP, AstraZeneca, and Kellogg’s. At Elsevier, she managed a team of more than 190 marketers worldwide.

Reporting directly to CEO Hugh Jones, Alison will oversee global marketing strategy, digital and AI-driven capabilities, and a unified marketing function, with all Business Unit Hub marketing leaders under her remit. She will also join the Executive Leadership Team.

“I am delighted to welcome Alison to RX. Her deep global experience, her proven track record of driving transformational marketing performance, and her passion for customer-focused innovation make her the ideal leader to help accelerate our growth. Alison brings exactly the capabilities we need as we strengthen our marketing foundations and build for the future,” said Jones.

“I’m thrilled to be joining RX at such a pivotal moment. The company’s focus on innovation, customer value, and operational excellence is truly inspiring, and I look forward to working with colleagues around the world to elevate our marketing impact and help unlock the next chapter of growth for RX’s brands, exhibitors, and visitors,” Alison said.

UFI opens applications for its 2026 next-gen leadership program

UFI has opened applications for the 2026 edition of its Next Generation Leadership Programme, now in its 10th year.

The programme supports emerging industry professionals with less than 10 years of full-time experience in the exhibition sector. Up to five candidates will be selected by an international jury chaired by UFI President Panittha Buri. Applications close on 25 March 2026, with selected participants announced in late April.

This year’s cohort will examine how exhibitions can remain relevant for Gen Z and younger Millennials, whose expectations around purpose, sustainability, and digital engagement are reshaping live events. The seven-month programme will kick off at the UFI European Conference in Izmir, Türkiye, from 3-5 June 2026, and culminate at the 93rd UFI Global Congress in Bahrain on 2-5 November 2026. The programme is supported by Clarion, dmg events, Informa Markets, Messe Düsseldorf, and RX.

“Changing audience expectations present both a challenge and an opportunity for exhibitions. Through the NGL Programme, I encourage organisations to support strong talent and invite ambitious professionals to contribute ideas that will influence the future of exhibitions. Being part of the NGL Programme is widely regarded as the experience of a career, creating lifelong friendships and a powerful network that benefits both the individual and their organisation,” said Chris Skeith OBE, UFI Managing Director and CEO.

Excel London set for record-breaking year in new business as major events make venue switch

Excel London set for record-breaking year in new business as major events make venue switch.

Excel London is on course for its strongest year of new business, with 23 major events scheduled to join its 2026 calendar — bringing the total number of shows that have launched or relocated to the venue since 2019 to 73.

The incoming events span launches, relocations, and international shows, with London Build, the Digital Accountancy Show, and NoVacancy London among the notable additions. London Book Fair has also confirmed a multi-year deal to move to Excel from 2027. Key figures from the 2026 programme include:

• 23 new, relocated, and international events joining the calendar
• 73 total events launched or relocated to Excel since 2019
• Nearly 250,000sqm of event space across the additional shows
• £350 million investment programme spanning food and beverage, technology, and digital infrastructure

Organisers have pointed to Excel’s investment programme, transport connections, and shared growth model as key factors in their decisions. RX Global, Terrapinn, Nineteen Group, and Easyfairs are among the major players driving the trend, alongside independent operators such as Step2Connect.

Italian associations agree to collaborate to strengthen trade fair industry

Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association and IT-EX have formed a Joint Coordination Committee aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Italy’s trade fair sector on international markets, following a meeting in Milan held in the presence of Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso.

Minister Urso described the initiative as a turning point for the Italian system, pointing to trade fairs as a platform for companies and a lever of industrial policy. He referenced 2025 export data, which he said “had grown by 3.3% and rose to a record €643 billion” as evidence of the sector’s broader strategic value.

The committee, chaired by Giovanni Bozzetti, president of Fondazione Fiera Milano, identified three priorities:

• Building a single entity to represent the exhibition system
• Enhancing trade fairs as a strategic asset for industrial policies
• Developing key themes including internationalisation, tourism, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence

“It is essential that trade fairs work together and work in synergy to support growth of the country, in particular SMEs and micro-enterprises, and to promote the value of Made in Italy in the world,” said Giovanni.

Vice-presidents Maurizio Danese of AEFI and Raffaello Napoleone of IT-EX will lead efforts toward a unified representation of the sector and a more effective dialogue with national and international institutions.

Who is hiring?

Fanduel Events Coordinator

Convene Hospitality Group Head of Field Marketing

Warner Bros Discovery Manager, Special Events

DoubleVerify Global Events Coordinator

Pacvue Associate Director, Events Marketing

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Product Manager

RainFocus Director, Sales Enablement