Beijing Meeting Explores the 'Wild East'
By Gary Tufel -- Tradeshow Week, 2/7/2005
Participants in the China Forum for Intl. Cooperation, or CEFCO, Jan. 11–13 in Beijing, said the meeting was worthwhile — if only because it put a realistic slant on the mad rush to China.
CEFCO brought together overseas exhibition organizers and Chinese industry, government and venue officials, and offered insights into the country's booming tradeshow business. The conference was organized by the China Council for the Promotion of Intl. Trade; UFI, the Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry; the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management; and the Society of Independent Show Organizers. Speakers, who addressed governmental control and intellectual property concerns, included presidents of the German messes, representatives from sponsoring organizations and Chinese officials.
Attendees learned that much of the Chinese market is already over-served by shows, and while established exhibition firms like E. J. Krause & Associates and CMP Asia can do well in China, Germany's dominance means it may be too late for other U.S. firms to enter the market.
Don Pazour, CEO of Access Intelligence, noted that rural Chinese cities are building new facilities at a rapid pace while the big cities are often strapped for dates.
Any U.S. firms that want to break into the market should do so now, said Steve Sind, president and CEO of Global Event Strategies. He likened China to the "Wild West," where caution should be exercised in selecting partners. But, he added, CEFCO was a good way for both new and experienced companies to enter the market.
Sind estimated that the event attracted about 500 participants, including 10 to 15 North Americans, with Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore comprising most of the rest of the non-Chinese presence.
Wolfgang Schellkes, president of Germany-based show management firm Fair Relations, said about 100 attendees were non-Chinese. As a tradeshow consultant with a focus on China, the meeting presented a good opportunity for him to catch up with old contacts and establish new ones, he said. However, "the presentation content was of less interest," he added, than the networking, because the content had "a lot of political statements and self-presentations of organizers, venue owners and other companies."
Like Schellkes, Galen Poss, president of Hanley Wood Exhibitions, which has been eyeing the Chinese market for some time, felt the opportunity to make contacts was the most valuable part of the meeting. Although most participants liked the content, some — like Al Cervero, senior vice president of the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers, which owns and operates CONEXPO/CON-AGG — thought that the sessions were overscheduled, shortening networking time.
Pazour added that the conference differed from typical U.S. conferences in that speakers briefly covered many topics. Although it was a long way to travel to hear five-minute speeches, he said the rapid-fire pace kept him engaged and made it easy to pick up on common threads.
In addition to the market's potential, cultural difference was one of the most important things that Margaret Pederson, president of Primedia Business Exhibitions, learned about at CEFCO. She noted that Chinese representatives will attend the Apr. 10–12 Lake Las Vegas CEO Summit produced by SISO, of which she is current chair.
Peter Sutton, president and chief executive of CMP Asia, said he hopes CEFCO will become the definitive central industry event in China. "CEFCO provides a good opportunity for business-matching. We endorse it and will support the event in 2006," he said.
CEFCO 2006 is expected to take place in mid-January 2006 in Guangzhou, China.
