If there’s one corner of corporate life that’s managed to stay blissfully unmeasured, it’s the trade show. You know the scene — miles of carpet, forests of pop-up banners, oceans of coffee, and enough branded tote bags to start a small retail chain. All in the noble pursuit of “connection.”
Now, though, it seems the ESG spotlight has finally found the exhibition hall. Enter tim — the Tradeshow Impact Manager from PIE Factory — a new platform designed to measure and improve the environmental and social footprint of global trade show campaigns.
Created by Nick Marks and sustainability specialist Simon Evans, tim helps companies see what’s really happening beneath the bunting: the carbon, waste, materials, and human impact of the big show. It’s already been picked up by brands like CBRE, Pernod Ricard, Knight Frank and Dolby, with early adopters calling it a “game changer.”
As Marks puts it, “tim makes the invisible visible.”
Which sounds obvious — but only once someone else says it.
It’s clever stuff. And as I read about it, a thought struck me.
There must be hundreds of sustainability trade shows out there — packed with people talking about measurement, accountability, and the circular economy — all having dutifully travelled to the ExCeL, NEC, Olympia, or Manchester Central by plane, train, helicopter, or gas-guzzling car.
And I caught myself wondering, in all innocence, whether they’re using tim too.
Probably they are.
Or maybe that’s just the sort of thing I’d forget to measure.
https://micebook.com/blog/2025/10/17/new-platform-helps-clients-measure-esg-impact-of-exhibitions/