I’ve been Manifested.
That is my quick reaction after having spent three days plus a day both coming and going at the Manifest 2025 conference and trade show this week at the Venetian Expo Center in Las Vegas.
It was my first time at this event, which was held in Sin City for just the fourth time.
I got a bit of a preview waiting in the boarding line for my Southwest flight from Columbus to Vegas, when two groups of strangers also somehow recognized they were both headed to Manifest as well. So that was at least three of us in one Southwest line.
Gilmore Says.... |
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The show organizers certainly know to market, creating a buzz that Manifest is on the “leading edge” of strategy and technology.
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Manifest is the brainchild of Courtney Muller, whom I am told has done this before, where she starts a new show, makes it a success, and then sells it off to someone at a nice profit.
The growth of Manifest has been incredible. After three years at Caeser’s, the event moved to the more prestigious Venetian for 2025.
Good move. The event brought in almost 7000 attendees, an incredible number for a new show just in its fourth year. The trade show aspect is not surprisingly growing along with the increase in attendees, and this year featured some 400 exhibitors, up substantially from 2024’s show.
As a note, a surprisingly large number of vendors brought material handling equipment to their booths, including two full sized green semi-trucks on the floor, drones, and warehouse picking robots.
What’s the show’s secret sauce? I spoke with several pros who have great experience in supply chain trade shows, and all of us were rather perplexed about the rapid rise of Manifest.
It has obviously found a niche that wasn’t being filled by other events, whether that’s the time of the year, the focus (much more picking/shipping than say strategy/planning, from its “manifest” roots), or something else I am not sure. If you went to the show and want to send your thoughts on this, I would appreciate the feedback.
The show organizers certainly know to market, creating a buzz that Manifest is on the “leading edge” of strategy and technology.
I am not sure that is true – the many sessions I attended, both keynote and breakout, were on par with that at most others, it seemed to me, but I agree an impression has been created.
The show marketed itself with an impressive list of dozens of speakers, most of them, it turned out, participating on panel discussions on one topic or another, which as I have written about many times before in my view limits the information sharing, but the marketing effect of all these faces as speakers certainly had an effect on getting attendees.
 The event itself is quite a production, starting with the fact that it was “Manifest 2025, presented by DHL,” a spot for which I am sure DHL paid dearly and included an opening day keynote presentation by Patrick Kelleher, CEO of DHL Supply Chain North America, which was a solid, mostly non-commercial look at logistic trends (top 5: changes in global trade, continued rise in ecommerce, climate change, digitization, and the evolving workforce, blue and white collar).
Each day opened with high powered video intros that got your blood pumping just a bit.
The last night featured a “party” that included an off-site performance by someone name Flor Ida, whom I am told by my kids was a big deal a decade or so ago but has lost some luster in recent years, but I am sure between his fees and booking the venue cost show organizers a pretty penny indeed.
Manifest 2025 – I would say the hype exceeded the reality by a bit, but it is a show on the move nevertheless, and I will be back next year for sure.
I will also note I spent three days in search of bottled water and a Diet Coke, but that’s another matter.
Did you attend Manifest 2025? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback section below.
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