Bringing the World Expo Movement Back to America

Mr. Ritchie will speak on Minnesota’s efforts to host an international exposition in 2027. This session will cover the historical context, including Minnesota’s highly regarded participation in New York’s Exhibition of the Products of Arts and Industry of All Nations in 1853, the second World Exposition. This session will explore the circumstances that led to the withdrawal of the United States from the Bureau of International Expositions in 2001 and the incredible political saga of how citizen diplomacy was mobilized to get the US government to rejoin the BIE. The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on current Expos, and expo candidacies, and speculation on how this era will shape the future of Expos will be covered as well.

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Bio

Mark Ritchie is a former Secretary of State of Minnesota and President of Global Minnesota, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization devoted to advancing international understanding and engagement. He currently a co-chair of the Minnesota USA Expo 2027 bid committee and was instrumental in the United States rejoining the Bureau of International Expositions in 2017. Mark is a co-founder of the World’s Fair Bid Committee Educational Fund, a not-for-profit organization created to support the global expo movement within the United States and beyond through a USA Expo Fund and a Global Expo Fund.