The restart of the master of trade fairs, the Progea of Fiera Milano, takes place with a varied class of graduates in the humanities or social, economic, scientific and artistic disciplines. This is a path that, to date, has been completed by over 400 students and which has guaranteed employability peaks of 90% among those who have attended it.
The master prepares those who want to work in the sector both through the perspective of the company that communicates with fairs, events and points of sale, and through that of the organizers of fairs and specialized communication agencies. The courses are scheduled in person, but in the event that external conditions do not allow it, the lessons will be held in distance learning. It will last 500 hours which are divided into four modules with theory lessons, practical exercises, project work and orientation courses. The program also includes an extracurricular internship from 3 to 6 months, activated within six months of the end of the master. To have the certificate of participation it is necessary to have attended at least 75% of the hours and pass the final exam.
As Enrico Pazzali, president of the Fiera Milano Foundation explains, “it is precisely through trade fairs and events that brands, especially SMEs, which constitute the real backbone of the Italian production system, can establish a profound dialogue with customers”. The fairs represent “contexts in which the immersive dimension arouses an emotional involvement and attention that other media hardly allow – continues Pazzali -. Especially in the light of the events of the last two years, the boundaries between formats are increasingly blurred: fairs, congresses, conferences, exhibitions and events are hybridizing to give life to new models, in response to the needs of the market that changes and asks for more. originality in the concepts, set-ups and installations. Forming young people means forming the future. A future that today, after what we have seen, must be founded on the knowledge economy “.
The exhibition sector, like others, feels the difficulty of finding the profiles and skills they need. Luca Palermo, managing director of Fiera Milano spa, explains that the sector «suffers from the difficulty of being able to attract young, highly specialized and qualified professionals capable of operating in trade fairs and congresses. The current increasingly competitive context, the new needs of the consumer, the evolution of the business meeting, the new digital technologies and, last but not least, the period we are going through at the healthcare level, therefore require professionalism capable of developing innovative solutions. For this reason, the mission that Fondazione Fiera Milano has been carrying out for 20 years with its Academy is a fundamental asset for us ».