Inside MEED, the first university Master's degree on the design of major events

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meed, fondazione fiera milano, salonemilano

Fondazione Fiera Milano, Accademia Archivio storico

Courses held entirely in English, international teachers and experience in the field at the Salone del Mobile.Milano to learn how to design, manage and communicate the complex world of trade fairs

Accademia Fiera Milano, the Scuola Politecnica di Design and the IULM University have established a new first-level university Master's degree. Called MEED Master in Event and Exhibition Design, it meets a practical need for many players in the system of major events and large trade fairs that is rapidly evolving in Milan: the training of a new professional figure, capable of applying the design thinking approach to specific management, marketing and communication skills in exhibit and event design.

enrica baccini, fondazione fiera milano, salonemilano — Enrica Baccini, Fondazione Fiera Milano

The market demands a new professionalism and young people from 9 countries respond

Sixteen students from 9 different countries enrolled in the first edition and over twenty in the second, starting in October, for which registration is still open. “Everyone arrives here with a great urge to enter the sector professionally,” says Enrica Baccini of Fondazione Fiera Milano, scientific director of the Master’s course. “And MEED is probably the only university course in Europe completely in English and aimed at an international market, which includes experience in the field and internships in the heart of Milan’s exhibition and events circuit. It matches supply and demand in a new profession. Fairs, congresses and major events in general are complex, each with its own specifics, requiring three-dimensional communication aimed at thousands of users. Not only for the production, exhibition spaces and stands, but in terms of organization. Fairs have many different clients at the same time, so they have be approached as if they were a veritable project, as in design.”

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Master in Event and Exhibition Design, soon to be also a Campus

For this reason the new Event and Exhibition Designers have the skills to understand the contexts in which major events and large trade fairs unfold, as well as their economic and organizational implications. They know how to design successful encounters between different groups of clients and stakeholders in physical and digital spaces, designing and implementing them from concept to installation, with a multidisciplinary vision based on design, management, marketing and communication skills. The educational offering of Accademia Fiera Milano includes a university Master's degree already active for 17 editions, the Progea master, which trains exhibition managers, and will soon offer even greater services to students. After the construction of Fieramilano in Rho, the Conference Center and many other projects, Fondazione Fiera Milano plans to build a veritable Campus, with multifunctional spaces devoted to training, hospitality and culture for students and teachers. ”The city’s vocation for training is increasingly evident,” explains Baccini, “and the Campus is the link that will enable us to further enhance the Historical Archive, already involved in a fruitful collaboration with the Salone del Mobile.Milano and the collection of contemporary art.”

fiera di milano, salonemilano — Salone del Mobile, 1971

Experience in the field at the Salone del Mobile.Milano

“The experience in the field in the first edition of MEED confirmed the expectations about the importance of this new professional role,” says Baccini. “Collaborating with the Salone del Mobile.Milano in a dedicated project was, as expected, fundamental. The students participated in all the days of the event, in particular studying the new Euroluce and the SaloneSatellite. One of the added values is certainly the possibility of a close dialogue with the designers and all the people who work on the production of one of the major world fairs.” The curator and founder of the SaloneSatellite, Marva Griffin, who is known as a great supporter of young designers, appreciated the posters that the students produced this year reflecting on the exhibition, so much so that she invited them to exhibit this series at the SaloneSatellite 2024 together with prestigious schools.

Eddie Choi in Milan on 14 September

An opportunity not to be missed is the meeting with Eddie Choi, the famous designer from Singapore, who specializes in the field of major technological events and is a professor at MEED and Progea. He will be the protagonist of an event open to the city on Thursday 14 September at 6 p.m. held at the Palazzo Giureconsulti.