Do That Thing You Do — in China

I've just returned from a week in China, where Cliff Wallace, managing director of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, told me of an adage: A Westerner comes to China for a day, goes home and writes a book; he comes for a week, goes home and writes an article; he comes for a year, then puts down his pen to listen.

So, rather than try to pretend I understand China after one week there, let me tell you something I realized about American show organizers.

They are missing the boat, but not in the way you might think I'm going to suggest.

Far too often, when industry leaders tout the value of expanding into China, they focus on money making opportunities. China's booming, they say. The possibility for increasing revenues by tapping new markets is endless.

Recent headlines and economic indicators suggest there's some truth to all this. Yet, during my visit to the China Expo Forum for Intl. Cooperation in Guangzhou, Asian observers worried over the low turnout by American show organizers.

The fact is, many U.S. for-profits, or U.S. operations of international for-profits, are already active in China. Reed Exhibitions, CMP Media, IDG World Expo and others have been in China for ages. Recently, dmg world media, Hanley Wood Exhibitions and Natl. Trade Productions have dipped their toes in the water.

And U.S. suppliers were at CEFCO in force — from registration companies to facility managers to general service contractors.

Let's face it. If a for-profit tradeshow firm stood to make big bucks, it would send representatives to the moon (and it seems they might soon be able to do so, via a private spaceport in Albuquerque, N.M.). If companies like Advanstar Communications and George Little Management haven't shown an interest in China, chances are their market research has told them it's not worth it — or they're figuring out how to go now.

But all the money in the world won't persuade the board of directors of a U.S. nonprofit, tradeshow-producing group to organize a launch someplace where the risks are high and the comfort level low.

Associations, as the nonprofits ceaselessly remind me, aren't in show business for the money. Their first concern is serving their members. Their second is advancing their industry. The tradeshow exists to serve these primary purposes, they say.

If that's true, then it makes sense for associations to look at China first for its potential to serve their members and advance their industry — and save their tradeshow launch dreams for another day.

But even then, they wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel. In manufacturing, particularly, there are models to follow.

While in Guangzhou, I met Walt Bishop, vice president of tradeshows for the Society of the Plastics Industry. Although his association runs a Tradeshow Week 200-ranked event (NPE — the Intl. Plastics Showcase), Walt and his international consultant, Creative Expos' Cherif Moujabber, were not there scouting sites for an NPE China. They were on a more complicated and important mission: to build better international relations.

As Bishop explained, the plastics industry in China could learn a lot from its U.S. counterpart, and vice versa. Rather than invest a boatload of money in launching a show that could not compete with the market-leading China Plas, Bishop and Moujabber figured it made more sense to connect with the myriad plastics associations and trade groups there — to see how working with them could (you guessed it) help SPI members and advance the plastics industry.

What they came up with is a variety of collaborative projects. SPI members might organize and lead conferences at meetings in China. Chinese groups might organize trade missions to SPI member operations. A Chinese-U.S. team might develop international standards. The focus is on building mutual understanding of the two markets to the benefit of those involved.

It might take a while, but these efforts can't help but enhance NPE.

Granted, large groups like the Consumer Electronics Assn. have the resources to launch abroad if they want. But if you're a smaller association show organizer, don't miss out on an opportunity just because there's already a major Chinese (or Brazilian or Russian or Indian) show in your industry.

Just do what you do best. Get out there and help your members improve their business.