The following Five Friday Facts come courtesy of Wild Blue Yonder In-flight Magazine (May/June 2010). These facts are all about trade shows and conventions.

• According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, there are 14,000 trade shows and exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada each year. Comprised of 11,000 industry events and 3,000 consumer shows, they draw upwards of 60 million annual visitors.
• The ski and snowboard industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas last year: More than 95% of the show’s leftover materials – 1,621 cubic yards of garbage – didn’t end up in a landfill.
• According to an EPA report (2000) trade shows and exhibitions produce 20 pounds of waste per person, per day.
• The study also estimated that convention-goers generated up to 730,000 tons of trash per year in the United States alone.
• The American Association of Neurological Surgeons will hand out iPod touch’s to the 3,500 attendees at its annual meeting this year. Pre-loaded with a show-specific app, the devices will replace the thousands of 165-page, two pound show guides and can be reused year after year.

[Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art]