New for 2026

Allyson talks (or croaks - thanks sinus infection) through what's new for the 2026 expo!

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Welcome back to Fuse to Finale, the official podcast of the National Fireworks Association. I'm Allison Cowgill, and today we are talking about something I've been really excited to share with you, and that is what's new for 2026. One thing we did this year is we looked at the flow of traffic within the trade hall and we created what we called high visibility booths or maximum visibility booths. Essentially, all the booths were the same standard price. And if you wanted a higher visibility location, then you paid for that upgrade once your booth was assigned. So how we selected those booths is we looked at the map of the trade show and we said, okay, this is our main entrance right here. What is the natural flow of foot traffic going to be? You're going to come in and people are pretty much gonna go this way, and then they're either gonna go down these aisles or they're gonna go out and around. So that's how we kind of place those high visibility booths is we based it on what we're expecting the traffic flow to be inside the trade hall. Our goal is simple: help attendees discover more companies as they're walking the trade show floor and help companies get the visibility that they're hoping to have by attending and being a vendor at our trade show. This year you're going to notice more digital communication than ever before. So the last two years we've had a couple of different technology rollouts. We've offered the texting service that gives you updates about menus and changes in the schedule. And last year we unveiled the app. This year we are doing the same thing. We are doing an app, but we are doing our own branded app in the app store. So you'll go to the app store, you'll type in NFA, National Fireworks Association, and you will see our logo and an app in the app store, and it will be our conference app. It'll have our schedule, our sponsors, our speakers, everything that the app essentially had last year, but it's branded specifically for the NFA. I still need to play around with it, but I'm also hoping to add the menu for each day, as well as additional things about Fort Wayne, different restaurant recommendations, and so forth. You'll be able to expect daily updates, social media coverage, photography, videography, podcast content, and timely reminders to make sure you are up to date on the expo. As we talked about with Tom Wilson last week, the auction does continue to grow. It is our largest fundraiser for the organization, and we have so much fun putting it on every year. We're hoping to have more items this year to bid on, and we're hoping to hit our goal so that we can pie Tom Wilson in the face. In addition to that, we are also offering mobile payments. So last year we did offer Zell to be able to pay as well as cash, credit card, and check. If you missed all of that auction information last week, you can go back to the episode called Big Bids with Tom Wilson and you will be able to learn all about our annual auction. The Expo is so much more than just a trade show. It's networking, it's fun, it's friendship, mentorship, business opportunities, and industry collaboration. We're offering some new seminars this year, including one from PGI, as well as business-related seminars focusing on communication and conflict resolution from licensed psychologist Beth Tremell. We're also going to be offering lunch and learns this year, so you can choose to take your lunch into these sessions and learn a little bit more about who is presenting, as well as having regulatory keynotes join us again this year. Every improvement we make, big or small, is made to strengthen your experience as an attendee at our expo. It's why I'm always sending out surveys, asking for member feedback, attendee feedback, and I want to know your thoughts. Every year I pick one or two big things to focus on improving for the following year. That could be the auction, that could be registration, that could be the food, something that makes your experience better next year than it was this year. We hope that you are as excited about this year's expo as we are. Whether you're a first time attendee or a longtime member, we can't wait to welcome you in Fort Wayne in September. Be sure to subscribe to Fuse to Finale wherever you get your podcast, and be sure to tune in each week for our Fuse and Five, our short know before you go tip series. Until next time, I'm Allison Cowgill, and remember, everybody sees the finale. And now you're starting to notice the fuse.