Franchisors and Entrepreneurs Forge Valuable Connections at Franchise Trade Shows
- A mid-January Florida show is the first of MFV Expositions’ five franchise trade shows to be held during 2026.
- In a year-end review, MFV Expositions President Martin Joksimovic emphasized how important face-to-face meetings were for franchisors and entrepreneurs at this year’s shows.
MFV Expositions, whose trade shows connect established and emerging franchise brands with entrepreneurs, has announced its franchise expo schedule for 2026. The five events are:
- Franchise Expo South, Jan. 16-17 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- International Franchise Expo, May 29-30 in New York City.
- Franchise Expo Dallas, Sept. 18-19 in Irving, Texas.
- Franchise Expo Cincinnati, Oct. 23-24 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Franchise Expo West, Nov. 13-14 in Glendale, Ariz.
Future Focus for 2026 Franchise Expos
“As we look ahead to 2026, our focus remains clear,” MFV Expositions President Martin Joksimovic stated in a news release announcing the 2026 franchise expo schedule. “We aim to create dependable, welcoming environments where franchisors and future franchise owners can connect, ask questions and make informed decisions. The markets in next year’s lineup give brands strong opportunities to reach qualified prospects and foster relationships that support long-term growth.”
The news release also said that MFV Expositions has invested in marketing, on-site programming and digital tools that keep information flowing before and after each trade show. These upgrades strengthen the experience for exhibitors and expo attendees, according to the news release.
Registration information for all five of MFV’s 2026 shows can be found at FranchiseExpo.com.
The Importance of Franchise Trade Shows
In reviewing MFV’s completed 2025 show schedule, Joksimovic emphasized the importance of in-person communications between franchisors’ leaders and aspiring business owners. “Our 2025 events demonstrated once again how valuable face-to-face connections are,” he said. “This year’s shows brought motivated entrepreneurs together with brands looking to grow, resulting in strong engagement and productive conversations across every market.
“Franchise brands consistently tell us that the ability to have real conversations with high-intent attendees is unmatched. Exhibiting gives development teams access to people who are actively exploring business ownership and ready to gather the information they need. Those interactions shorten the learning curve, create stronger follow-up opportunities and help brands build trust from the very first conversation.”
Statistics from Cvent, a cloud-based software company that manages trade shows from planning to follow-up analysis, substantiate the importance of expositions such as MFV’s. Cvent found that 79% of exhibitors value the networking opportunities of being on-site and that 93% of exhibitors believe high-quality leads are the most important outcome of trade shows.
