Small Town to Big City - And Quick

Cliff Wallace is a seeming anomaly. He's the managing director of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) and of Hong Kong – Shanghai Venue Management (Zhengzhou), which operates the Zhengzhou Intl. Convention & Exhibition Centre. He's also president of UFI, The Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry. Hearing his folksy American Southern accent, some might wonder how this Greenville, S.C., native not only was handpicked to run a modern and successful Asian exhibition facility, but also became one of the global industry's movers and shakers.

While he was still in high school, Wallace stepped into the world of venues and still hasn't left. After college he worked in his hometown venue before heading off to Huntsville, Ala., to run the Von Braun Center. After stints at the Louisiana Superdome and Houston-based Leisure Management Intl., he was lured to Hong Kong – and the rest is history.

Today, Wallace is an erudite world traveler who brought Hong Kong and mainland China into the exhibition mainstream long before the rest of the tradeshow world recognized the region's potential.

And, he's accomplished a lot of firsts – he's the first venue manager to be president of UFI without being an organizer, the first from outside Europe, the first American and the first based in Asia.

TSW Contributing Editor Gary Tufel asked Wallace about his journey and his vision.

Question: What was your role in the HKCEC's conception?

Answer: I was in the right place at the right time with the right chemistry. When the HKCEC design began, they decided to seek professional, private management. ... I took the project over and designed the building and did a marketing study.

In 1986, Hong Kong tried to get me to move there, but I decided not to ... I helped them find Jerry Lawry, who had opened the Javits (in New York) and Seattle convention centers. I still maintained a relationship with Hong Kong and advised Jerry along the way.

In 1991, the HKCEC decided to expand, so I re-established my relationship with them and consulted on the design of the expansion until 1995. In 1993, the board sold Leisure Management Intl. to SMG. They then convinced me to move there and manage the building. I thought I'd only be there for three years, but it's been 13.

Q: What was the state of Hong Kong's convention facilities when you arrived?

A: When the HKCEC opened, it was the premier facility. On my first trip there in 1984, I did research to make sure we had a competitive advantage and found virtually no comparable facilities in Asia.

We effectively started the industry here. It was rewarding to see an international convention center being created in Hong Kong, and many Asian buildings were influenced by ours and still are.

Q: Is the ownership private, or does the government have some involvement?

A: In the early 1980s, the Hong Kong government decided they wanted a convention center. ... We said we'd build it for them, but we wanted to build our own two hotels and operations and office centers and to manage the HKCEC. The government got a $200 million convention and exhibition center for free and two hotels that helped ignite the industry.

In 1997, the government paid for the first (expansion). The second extension will be open in about 10 months, with the next one on the drawing board. For that expansion, the government paid for half and we paid for half, but the government will own it. We continue to manage and operate the building with a major investment in the different expansion phases.

Q: What's it like to work so far from the U.S.?

A: My trip here in 1984 was my first time in the Far East. There was a lot more here than I thought. It wasn't just neon and sampans; it was beautiful mountains, beaches, trails and villas. The first time I saw the skyline, I was amazed at its beauty.

I never felt any discomfort about the culture or not being able to speak Cantonese or Mandarin; Hong Kong was still a British colony, and many spoke English ... I felt right at home here.

Q: You also manage the Zhengzhou Intl. Convention & Exhibition Centre. How did that come about?

A: Right after we opened the HKCEC expansion in 1997, everyone in Asia, especially from mainland China, came to see us. ... Our parent company, New World, has subsidiaries there and wanted us to expand as a private management company into Asia, especially to the mainland.

I was reluctant. We had our hands full already, and we had no pool of experienced people to draw from except at the HKCEC, no IAAM (Intl. Assn. of Assembly Managers), no resources. The company pressured me to keep my eyes open for opportunities.

In 2005, we received a delegation from Zhengzhou, which I thought was too far away. Their building looked OK, but it would have been better if we'd been involved from the beginning. I saw that Zhengzhou met all the criteria regarding size of the area, gross domestic product and rail and road systems. However, it was in many respects an unknown and we knew that, although Zhengzhou couldn't become a major secondary market without a unique governmental structure and relationship with Beijing, it had great potential.

Q: What's the Zhengzhou tradeshow situation now?

A: We began operating the ZICEC after long and detailed negotiations. A big challenge was to find a general manager who was bilingual. I found Andrew Garcia, a Mexican-American from San Francisco who had married a mainland girl and was trilingual.

After five years, the ZICEC has become a major secondary market for exhibitions. It was also the first mainland IAAM member. The ZICEC mostly hosts exhibitions and some domestic conferences. Companies such as Tarsus and ITE organize shows there, which do not compete with Hong Kong shows.

Q: Back in Hong Kong, who are your customers?

A: In 1989, our first full year, our priorities were to host international trade fairs and conventions and then fill the rest of the space with local events, big dinners, celebrations and company banquets. Exhibitions still had to be developed, so there was lots of space available in the first few years.

In 1993, when I came here to start consulting on exhibitions, we had an average of nine events a day, five or six of which were small civic meetings. The rest were major exhibitions. ... They grew, which decreased the occupancy rate but increased revenue. As the shows grew, we weeded out the small events and forced them back to hotels. So we only averaged five events a day, but our revenue has increased every year since 1988.

Last year, we hosted 105 exhibitions, 299 banquets, 43 conferences and conventions (some with exhibitions), 134 corporate meetings and 70 entertainment events and civic-type activities. The expositions generated over 50 percent of our total revenue. Of our 4.9 million attendees, expos account for 3.9 million.

Q: Is U.S. participation in HKCEC shows a major factor?

A: About half the buyers at our exhibitions are Hong Kong-based, and the other half are international. Of these, a very small percentage are North Americans. Most U.S. products have so many shows, there's not a huge need for buyers to leave except for major U.S. gift distributors. Our gift show has the most exhibitors in the world, and U.S. buyers do come to that; so do U.S. jewelry distributors. We have big cosmetics and electronics shows as well, which attract some, but not many, U.S. attendees.

Many of our international exhibitors and buyers come from Europe, as well as the Middle East, Russia and the mainland.

Q: Do any of the regional Asian exhibition destinations loom as major competitors?

A: Northeastern China has cities whose industries will grow as China's relationship with Japan and Korea grows better and better.

Our company has invested in residential development in the region and is looking for other opportunities. We already operate a waterworks in Macau, a toll bridge and tunnel there, and own the Hong Kong-Macau ferry and bus system, which carries over 1 million people a day, and a bus system on the mainland.

Q: What have you done to change the face of UFI's membership?

A: UFI asked me to join. I said the only way was for them to agree that organizers had to join with other elements, such as venues. The managing director told me that if I joined, he'd let me help UFI do that. I was thrown on the board, and my big mouth got attention. I launched a major effort to get more emphasis on the venue component. Now, venues join solely as venues.

Q: What is UFI doing to encourage sustainability efforts among members?

A: The industry is in crisis because of oil and environmental issues, and many are urging people not to travel as much and are pressing for governmental regulations. There are also security issues. As an industry, we have to address the large volume of waste we create without recycling, or the government will step in. We can't be passive, and the recent UFI Open Seminar in Thessaloniki, Greece, addressed these things.

We have to help the global community develop venues that are more user- and environmentally friendly and address transportation issues in new and expanding facilities.