HANNOVER MESSE 2026: From conference planning to the central digital platform of the world's leading industrial trade fair
Participant and application management, digital ticket, interactive hall plan and almost 30 stages and formats in the branded HANNOVER MESSE app.
Kunde:
Deutsche Messe AG: HANNOVER MESSE
Event:
Multi-track conference
Ausrichtung:
International
Häufigkeit:
Annually
Lösungen:
- 1 branded app for tickets, hall plan, program, exhibitor profiles, products and meetings
- 1,600+ sessions on around 30 stages
- 2 expansion stages: conference management in 2025, plus participant and application management and the app in 2026
Starting point
A world-leading trade fair needs more than a digital directory
HANNOVER MESSE is the world's leading trade fair for industry. From April 20 to 24, 2026, around 110,000 visitors came to Hannover to meet around 3,000 exhibitors, roughly 40 percent of them from abroad. For conference management, that means a packed supporting program of stages, forums and masterclasses, and visitors who need to find their way around a vast exhibition grounds.
talque was already in use for conference management and digital participant management, both for HANNOVER MESSE and for other Deutsche Messe events, from LIGNA and Infa to DOMOTEX. For 2026, a bigger question was on the table: How do many individual digital offerings become one central digital touchpoint that gives visitors orientation and connects them with exhibitors?
The previous HANNOVER MESSE app was heavily directory-based: it showed who was there. The new app was meant to focus on interaction.
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Challenge
Three stakeholder groups, one system and no room for failure
At a trade fair of this size, the requirements of three teams come together:
- Conference management: a consistent program across all stages and an application process for masterclasses.
- Digital and IT project management: integration with existing systems such as login and ticketing, and clean data flows between them.
- Sponsoring and digital services: an app that lets the organizer sell advertising slots and digital packages to exhibitors.
Then there is a reality every trade fair knows: in the days before opening, visitors are at their most active and exhibitors at their least, because they are busy with stand construction. A system therefore has to work in a way that keeps exhibitor effort to a minimum during this phase.
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Solution
One branded app that brings together ticket, orientation, program and networking
For HANNOVER MESSE 2026, talque delivered digital participant and application management and the branded HANNOVER MESSE app.
For visitors: orientation instead of searching
A digital ticket right in the app, an interactive hall plan with points of interest, and a program that brings together more than 1,600 sessions across all stages, forums and interactive formats in one place: from the Center Stage to Expert and Spotlight Stages to round tables, speed dating and dynamic tours.
For exhibitors: encounters instead of a profile page
Exhibitors present themselves with a profile and products, attendees book meetings with them, and masterclasses, speed dating and round tables bring exhibitors together with interested attendees in a targeted way.
For conference management: formats you can control
Application management for masterclasses and digital signage screens for around 30 stages and formats that automatically hide past sessions and make program changes visible on site.
For digital and IT: integration instead of an isolated solution
Login via the trade fair's existing registration and transfer of attendee data via a ticket webhook.
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Implementation
How a conference tool became the digital infrastructure of a world-leading trade fair
The road to HANNOVER MESSE 2026 was not a big bang but a step-by-step expansion. talque first took over conference management for HANNOVER MESSE and other Deutsche Messe events. In 2026, digital participant and application management and the branded app were added.
In the weeks before the fair, the project ran on a central task list, from configuring the formats and the hall plan to the app releases. On site, talque's project management was involved from the hostess briefing onward.
The goal: an app that doesn't just show who is at the fair, but makes encounters happen. In speed dating, round tables and masterclasses, between visitors and exhibitors, and between audiences and speakers on every stage.
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Why talque
What trade fair organizers can take away from HANNOVER MESSE 2026
- Interactive formats need digital control. Masterclasses with applications, speed dating and round tables can be planned on one platform, shown in the program and displayed on digital signage screens on site.
- One system reduces effort for everyone involved. Program, hall plan, ticket and networking from a single source mean fewer interfaces, less duplicate data maintenance and clear responsibility.
- Land & expand reduces risk. Instead of switching everything over at once, Deutsche Messe started with conference management and expanded in 2026 with participant and application management and the app.
- People, not a ticket system. A dedicated project team that knows the event and is on site makes the difference at a trade fair of this size.
Planning a trade fair with exhibitors, a supporting program and high visitor numbers? Let's talk about how talque can bring your trade fair together digitally.
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