Systematically defined in 1986, Trade Shows (TSs) still represent today a leading business and development instrument for the global and European economy. However, over the years, TSs have acquired new functions and new roles. This evolution also happened in light of the major socio-economic changes of the new millennium. In particular, the XX and XXI centuries brought with them important socio-economic changes, thus forcing trade shows to deal with the effect of the globalization phenomenon, the consequences of the 2008 crisis, and the advent of the new media.
Faced with this background, the aim of the present book is to gain a deeper understanding of the adoption and use of the new media in the TSs context. In particular, the work intends to reach the following objectives: (i) analysis of the thirty-year evolution (1988-2018) of the trade show literature; (ii) identification of the main trends emerging from the more recent literature (2010-2018); (iii) exploration of the impact of new media (i.e., social media and virtual tools) in the trade show sector, especially from the organizers' perspective. Notably, the focus on the organizer's category represents an attempt to fill a specific research gap, emerged from the analysis of the existing TS literature, concerning the scant attention towards this stakeholders' target.

Ilaria Curina is a SECS-P/08 research fellow at the University of Urbino. Her research interests mainly concern the analysis and investigation of the web 2.0 communication tools in the SMEs context. Her research activities are documented by 10 articles in national and international journals, 3 book chapters, and 11 proceedings.