UFI Info - December 2009

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Page

2 • Calendar of UFI meetings and events

3 • Message from UFI’s President

4 • This is what I expect to happen by Roger Martin Fagg

5 • War on business travel: let’s put things into perspective!

6 • UFI Open Seminar in Asia io put focus on innovation

7 • 7th UFI Exhibition Management Degree kicks off in Bangkok!

8 • UFI 2010 Open Seminar in the Middle East will take

participants to Bahrain

8 • CEFCO theme to "build up confidence in revival"

9 • Logistics during build-up and dismantling

9 • IFES membership restructures to permit new initiatives

10-11 • UFI recommendations on H1N1 Flu

12 • "How to" foster in-house education

12 • UFI Education Focus Meeting: Save the date

13 • UFI Operations Committee meets in Brussels

14 • UFI approves 56th event in China

14 • UFI in Zhongshan & Taipei

15 • An end to the ISO congress centre initiative?

15 • UFI Members in the news

15 • UFI Survey on Training and Educational needs underway

15 • Scam artists hit exhibitors again

16-18 • UCF 2010 Programme: Palexpo, Geneva

19 • UFI Seasons Greetings

UFI INFODec.'09/Jan.'10

UFI Meetingand Events Calendar

UFI INFO - Dec.'09/Jan.'10 - 2

2009

UFI Marketing Committee Meeting 10 December Amsterdam (Netherlands)

UFI Marketing Focus Meeting 11 December Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2010

UFI Executive Committee Meeting 3 February Geneva (Switzerland)

UFI Global CEO Forum (UCF)* 3 - 5 February Geneva (Switzerland)

UFI Education Committee Meeting 2 March Taipei

UFI Education Focus Meeting 3 March Taipei

UFI Asia/Pacific Chapter Meeting 4 March Taipei

UFI Open Seminar in Asia* 4 - 5 March Taipei

UFI Operations Committee Meeting 18 March Frankfurt (Germany)

UFI Middle East/Africa Chapter Meeting 29 March Manama (Bahrain)

UFI Open Seminar in the Middle East* 29 –31 March Manama (Bahrain)

UFI Executive Committee Meeting 10 -11 May Munich (Germany)

UFI Executive Committee Meeting 21 June Budapest (Hungary)

UFI Board of Directors Meeting 21 June Budapest (Hungary)

UFI Associations’ Committee Meeting 21 June Budapest (Hungary)

UFI European Chapter Meeting 22 June Budapest (Hungary)

UFI Open Seminar In Europe* 21- 23 June Budapest (Hungary)

UFI 77th Congress 10 - 13 November Singapore

* UFI events also open to non-members

UFI Media PartnersUFI Platinum Sponsor

UFI Supported Events

CEFCO 14-16 January Xi’an City (China)

SISO CEO Summit 11-14 April Austin, TX (USA)


Message fromUFI’s President

Dear UFI Colleagues,

The 76th UFI Congress in Zagreb showed once again how strong and how popular our asso-ciation really is. The 19 new members now bring our number to 535 worldwide – trade fairorganizers, venue managers, partners from the trade-fair sector as well as national and inter-national associations – all united under the global umbrella of UFI.

In tough times the special value of our international industry association becomes quite clear.As a result of UFI’s events, and by the players that participate in them, we share a globaltransfer of know-how. Business relationships are initiated and developed, trends identifiedand visions discussed. Through UFI, we work together to promote the concentrated eco-nomic power of trade fairs, showing how exhibitions play a unique role in supporting our cus-tomers, in generating business and in encouraging the further development of internationaltrading activities.

UFI, as the only global association representing the exhibition industry, regularly providesresearch and information on the trade fair business. The information gained from this re-search is helpful and important not only for our members but also for the media. On the basisof the data we collect, we can emphasize even more strongly that trade fairs are true eco-nomic indicators. The faster the pace of development in a country, the faster, too, is thegrowth of its trade-fair sector, which in turn brings with it an increase in exhibition activity. UFImembers can therefore identify economic trends as they develop and take appropriatemeasures for the future. By applying this information to our local context, I see an excellentopportunity for us all to highlight even more clearly the significance of our trade fair sector. Istrongly recommend that you take advantage of this data to promote the benefits of thisunique face-to-face business model.

As we look forward to beginning a new year, I would like to say how very much I am lookingforward to continuing to work together with all the members of UFI. I send to you and yourfamilies and colleagues my best wishes for your good health, happiness and success in2010.

Manfred WutzlhoferUFI President

UFI INFO - DEC'09/JAN'10 - 3



This is whatI expect to happen

“We devote our intelligences to anticipatingwhat average opinion expects the averageopinion to be.”

John Maynard Keynes wrote this in 1936. Noth-ing has changed since then. In the absence ofreliable econometric models we rely on opinion,guesstimates, and tend to believe the crowd.

So what is the average view currently? It is thatthe recession is at an end and the recovery willtake place from now, gathering momentumthrough next year and beyond. As a conse-quence house prices have stopped falling, themost equities are up 40% since March, the Ger-man and French economies expanded in thesecond quarter, the rate of increase in USA un-employment has slowed, and the S&P 500 is up60% since March. In short it was a severe,sharp downturn but it will be a V shaped recov-ery.

In this update I will explain my view which isoutside the average, you do not have to agreewith me but I present it in good faith and hopethat it will help you make better decisions.

There will be a recovery in investment spendingas companies rebuild their stocks both of fin-ished goods and raw materials. This will happenbecause last autumn the stock reduction in thesystem was substantial, mostly due to the lackof finance. Stock building results in overtimeworking as firms run their reduced workforceharder. The new incomes generated, under nor-mal circumstances, drive up consumptionspending, which in turn increases the demandfor more goods and services and the recoverybecomes fully established over two years. In thethird year the automatic stabilisers reduce thebudget deficit, and then in subsequent years itdrops to zero.

If, however, the new incomes earned are used topay down debt, the recovery is not sustained, andthere is another downturn as companies find thenew stocks remain unsold. This creates a Wshaped upturn which I expect across the WesternWorld.

The reason why this will happen is that our bank-ing system is both unable and unwilling to createsufficient new credit to oil the system. Under nor-mal circumstances if bank customer A pays downdebt, the bank will look to match this with an in-crease in lending to customer B, C, and D etc. Butnot this time.

The banks welcome the opportunity to reduce theirloan book, thus boosting their core tier one capitalas a percentage of their total liabilities. They aredoing this because they know that it is always yearthree of the downturn when their non-performingloans grow rapidly and this absorbs lots of corecapital. So next year expect lots of bad news fromthe banking system.

In 2010 I expect the combined profits of WesternBanks to be fully absorbed by provisions. Indeedthey will over provide, so in 2011 they will be ableto write back these provisions, and for the first timein four years be willing to expand their net lending.It will be this which will drive the expansion in2012. The next nine months will be a false dawn.

Do not expect sustainable growth until beyond2012.

Roger Martin Fagg will provide additional insightsat the UCF in Geneva in February. The completeUCF programme can be found at www.ufi.org/ucfand at the end of this edition of UFI Info.

By Roger Martin Fagg

Roger will provide additional insights at the UCF in Geneva in February. Thecomplete UCF programme can be found at www.ufi.org/ucf and at the end ofthis edition of UFI Info.



As this edition of UFI Info arrives in your mailbox, participants at the 15th United Nations Cli-mate Change Conference will be busy tacklingissues concerning the very complicated climateissue.

You are undoubtedly also aware of recent decla-rations, from various sources including the Euro-pean Union, concerning the need to reduce busi-ness travel by 20%, theEU could "save morethan 22 million tons ofCO2 per year". Thisstatement is alleged tobe based on a report onthe ICT sector, in whichit is considered that thepotential to reduceemissions via ICT isestimated to be fivetimes the industry's owncarbon footprint ICT(which is likely to double by 2020). It is also con-sidered that the "dematerialization" of the econ-omy "is only one part (6%) of the estimated lowcarbon benefits the ICT sector can deliver" andthe report identifies four major areas wherein ICTsolutions could be more systematically appliedand which would save, for each respective indus-try, 40 to 90 times more CO2 than the proposedbusiness trip reduction! That’s a bigdifference.

In addition, the necessary technical infrastructureto hold virtual meetings is not present across theglobe – this option is therefore limited. AlthoughICT provides very effective proven means ofcommunication and is a very necessary tool intoday’s modern world, human beings need tointeract physically with one another, eye to eyecontact is impossible otherwise. Why else dofans attend concerts (sometimes paying impor-tant sums of money), when ICT solutions canprovide a higher quality sound result digitally?

Representatives from the meeting industry’s ma-

jor global associations discussed this issue at therecent Joint Meetings Industry Council meetingin Barcelona. These associations include theInternational Association of Professional Con-gress Organizers (IAPCO), the InternationalConvention & Congress Association (ICCA),Meeting Planners International (MPI) and ofcourse UFI, representing the exhibition industry.During that meeting, the economical contribution

of live meetings and tradefairs was once more under-lined but other aspectswere brought to the fore-front. The representativefrom the International Asso-ciation of Congress Cen-tres, AIPC, reflected on theimportance of a medicalcongress, for example, inpromoting and sharingmedical advances world-wide. Such events are edu-

cative, and provide access to information whichis not available otherwise.

With regards to exhibitions in particular, bringingdifferent companies from a specific businesssector together in the same place and at thesame time actually reduces the multiple travelthat participants would have to undertake to visitthe same contacts separately, whilst providingnumerous opportunities to meet new contacts!

It should also be pointed out that many compa-nies involved in the meetings industry, whetherthey be venues, organizers or participants, aretaking serious steps towards “greening” theirevents.

Coming back to the United Nations ClimateChange Conference, why is a “physical” meetingbeing held? Why are all the (numerous) partici-pants flying (or in any case, travelling) to Copen-hagen? A virtual meeting just wouldn’t be thesame….

War on business travel:let’s put things into perspective!



Programme details for UFI’s annual Open Semi-nar in Asia are now being finalised. The themeof the event, to be hosted from 4 – 5 March2010 at the Taipei International ConventionCenter by TAITRA, is “Innovation for Growth”.

Confirmed speakers include Kenny Lo, Manag-ing Director of Vertical Expo in Hong Kong. Hewill be talking about innovative new exhibitionsafter successfully bringing to Asia previouslytaboo subjects include the Adult Expo in Macauand the Funeral Expo which will take place inHong Kong this year.

Peter MacGillivray is the Vice President, Events& Communications at the Speciality EquipmentMarket Association (SEMA) in the USA. He willtalk about keeping a well-established eventlively and relevant to its audience and the inno-vative thinking required to do that. As well asSEMA’s well-established Las Vegas event, Pe-ter has also brought the fair to Beijing.

From outside the exhibitions industry, Mark Pix-ley of Leadership Inc. will speak about innova-tive approaches to managing internationalteams. A long-term resident of China – andpopular teacher on the UFI EMD programmes –Pixley argues that, as the exhibition industrydevelops in Asia, we must manage through in-creasingly diverse internal & external projectteams. This program will explore facilitative ap-proaches and creating innovation environments.Walter Yeh, Deputy Executive Director of ourhosts TAITRA, will talk about how the openingup of cross-straits business ties between Taiwanand the Chinese mainland is generating a seriesof new business opportunities. He will discusshow that is affecting the way in which TAITRA,Taiwan’s leading exhibition organiser, doesbusiness and how he sees this changing in thecoming years.

Chen Xianjin, UFI’s Asia/Pacific Chapter Chair-man and deputy director general of the Bureau

of Shanghai World Expo, will update attendeeson the latest innovations being incorporated intothe Shanghai World Expo project. A little undertwo months before opening of the World Expo,this will provide a glimpse into the remarkablescale of the event and of the exciting technolo-gies which have been incorporated into it.

Other speakers are now being confirmed for apanel discussion on innovative technologieswhich will help exhibition organisers demon-strate much more clearly the return on invest-ment they offer their clients. One speaker willfocus on how to generate new business oppor-tunities from outside traditional geographicalmarkets while another will talk about innovativemarketing programmes.

Finally, a leading expert in Asia will be speakingto delegates about the ways in which exhibitionorganisers have to take advantage of the latestonline, social media networks and how this isdeveloping in the region.

As well as the full seminar programme open tomembers and non-members, UFI’s Asia/PacificChapter will meet on the morning of 4th.

TAITRA is keen to welcome a large delegationof exhibition industry leaders from all over eastAsia to Taipei and is making special arrange-ments to provide simultaneous translation fromEnglish to and from Chinese.

UFI’s leadership, including President ManfredWutzlhofer, will join the audience in Taipei.

Booking information will be available very shortlyon the UFI website and from the Asia/Pacificoffice in Hong Kong ([email protected]).

Watch out for updates with the Twitter hash tag#ufitaipei.

UFI Open Seminar in Asiain March 2010 to putfocus on innovation



7th UFI Exhibition Management DegreeProgramme kicks off in Bangkok!

33 attendees from Thailand, Indonesia and Tai-wan started the 7th UFI Exhibition ManagementDegree Programme (UFI-EMD) at the end of No-vember in Bangkok. This is already the third timesince 2007 that UFI cooperates successfully withTCEB, the Thailand Convention and ExhibitionBureau, to provide this programme. Project man-agers, executive directors and sales managersmet for this intensive exhibition-related course inThailand’s capital. The UFI-EMD 150-hourcourse includes on-site seminars, along with ane-learning platform. This edition of the course willfinish in April 2010.

During the online session an additional five par-ticipants from Russia will join the programme.The UFI-EMD program is flexibly organized. At-tendees plan their course according to their busi-

ness life and are able to graduate if they pass allmodules of the programme within three years.

Graduates from the UFI-EMD program gain therequired special professional knowledge and skilltools to successfully organize exhibitions andmeetings. This is particularly valuable for eventorganizers whose businesses involve Industrialand Government Exhibitions.

The UFI-EMD course begins by covering market-ing, project, risk and congress management. Thelecturers come from England and Germany. Inlater modules, lecturers come from the Nether-land and China.

For additional information on the UFI-EMDprogramme, please go to www.ufi.org/EMD

Attendees from Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan started the 7th UFI Exhibition Management Degree Programme(UFI-EMD) at the end of November in Bangkok.



The UFI Open Seminar in the Middle East will beheld in Bahrain from 29-31 March 2010. UFIMEA Regional Manager Ibrahim Al Khaldi con-cluded a short business visit to Bahrain on No-vember 19 with an agreement with the BahrainExhibition and Convention Authority (BECA) CEOHassan Jaffar Mohamed, to organize the annualregion’s UFI Open Seminar in cooperation withthe Bahraini host.

This year’s seminar will look at “Balancing Visionwith Reality” in today’s exhibition world. We’ll beexamining new pricing strategies, optimizingsponsorship value, developing themes based onvisitor needs, coping with complex hotel de-mands, investigating ways to combine ethical re-sponsibility with business reality in today’s“green” environment, and looking at exciting waysto maximize the positive impact of virtual exhibi-tions.

Al Khaldi said “UFI certainly appreciates the kindinvitation of BECA, and moreover, the dedicationand devotion shown by the BECA managementand team to reach this agreement in a very shorttime. I am sure Seminar participants will have anexceptional experience in this wonderful countryand with the warm hospitality of a host likeBECA”.

We’ll be posting the full programme and on-lineregistration soon, so make sure you check it outat www.ufi.org.

UFI 2010 Open Seminarin the Middle East takesparticipants to Bahrain

CEFCO (China) theme to“build up confidence inrevival”

UFI is honoured to once again to support the2010 China Expo Forum for International Coop-eration (CEFCO 2010) which will be held in Ren-min Square, Xi’an City China from 14-16 January2010.

UFI’s President Manfred Wutzlhofer, Asia/PacificChapter Chairman Chen Xianjin and RegionalManager Paul Woodward all look forward toparticipating in this unique exhibition industrygathering.

This past year has been a challenging one forthe world’s exhibition industry as all businesseshave worked hard to cope with the impact ofglobal economic crisis. We have seen, however,that the best quality exhibitions continue to pro-vide great value to marketers and some haveeven managed to grow in these tough times.

The world has been impressed by the resolve ofthe Chinese government and businesses to at-tack the challenges of the economic crisis. Thefact that China appears to have generated strongeconomic growth even in 2009 is remarkable.This underlines the opportunities which exist inChina today for the international exhibitions in-dustry.

In these challenging times, it is more importantthan ever to focus on quality of events and onimproving the professionalism of our industry. Sowe commend the CEFCO for once again bring-ing together leaders of the industry from Chinaand around the world to focus on how we canbuild better exhibitions which serve our custom-ers more efficiently.

We at UFI will continue to work with the CEFCOteam as we continue to develop this event as aplatform for communication and cooperation be-tween China and the international exhibition in-dustry. CEFCO provides an excellent opportunityto do this in China.

For full programme information, please go towww.cefco.org



The IFES General Assembly has voted for arestructuring of IFES membership in order tolaunch several new initiatives. The new struc-ture will take effect on 1 January 2010.

IFES is the international umbrella federation for allnational/country associations whose member-companies are active in the exhibition-services- andevent-marketing-sector. Founded in 1984, IFESgrew from a few countries into a global organisationwith 27 member countries. Today, IFES representsmore than 1600 Exhibition Industry companies. IFESis the only organisation dedicated to the specificneeds of exposition designers and providers of trade-show services.

Central to the new structure will be allowingindividual companies to participate alongsidenational associations as full members. The na-tional associations which have supported IFESwill continue to be key partners in developingand growing the IFES membership and knowl-edge base.

IFES has recently launched a partnership withwww.Expopedia.net, the international TradeShow Service Finder. This means that the exist-ing IFES Partner Guide listing will be integratedon the Expopedia platform. The IFES networkhas facilitated the collaboration between IFESmembers but now partnership with Expopediawill bring the same principal of sharing trustedsuppliers to a much wider audience.

The Expopedia search engine has been de-signed with the aim to connect professionalswith the service partners they need, either localto the event they are participating in, or local tothe professional making the search.

If your venue is featured in the Expopedia.nettrade service finder, how about making yourvenue profile even more attractive?…and all of this for free ! If your venue is notfeatured in the Expopedia.net tradefair servicefinder: add it for free

Current challenges in the area of exhibition logis-tics stem from the “need it now” business culture,limited resources in terms of time and on-site lo-gistic space as well as new technologies avail-able on the market.

Service providers are subject to new and press-ing demands, specifically for immediate processmanagement information, instant consignmenttracking and rapid cost analysis. This overall con-text puts venues and service providers underconstant pressure to reach high financial targets,to meet tight deadlines and to work in limitedspace.

UFI members can read more about the latest ap-proaches of experts in this field in the recent is-sue of "UFI Insight on Logistics "

They’ll also find two other “UFI Insight” studieswhich have bee prepared on SustainableDevelopment and Travel and Accommodation.

These studies are available to all UFI members athttp://www.ufi.org/pages/publicationspress/surveys.aspx

So take a look at these new UFI products and letus know what you think of them!

Logistics duringbuild-up and dismantling

IFES membershiprestructures to permit newinitiatives


A pandemic of the H1N1 influenza virus was de-clared by the World Health Organization on 11June 2009. The virus is more contagious than itspredecessors, although not more serious. Pan-demic influenza can affect all employees: at theheight of the pandemic wave, absenteeism maydisturb the smooth running of any company, andalso that of its service providers and clients.

In certain countries preventive measures havebeen formulated, associated with penal or civilsanctions when these are available. Please checkwith the relevant competent local authorities forany measures applied in your country.

FOR ALL EMPLOYERS: Local employment legisla-tion should be checked before implementingthe measures detailed below. The implementa-tion of a continuity of activity plan is stronglyrecommended. The continuity of activity planinvolves:- Taking the necessary steps to protect thoseemployees who are overexposed to risk throughclose contact with third parties or through over-seas travel;- Identifying a pandemic referent in each com-pany or work unit (depending on the company’ssize) who acts as the third point of reference dur-ing the pandemic for all employees and manage-ment. It is also recommended to associate anemployee representative in all procedures con-cerning the pandemic;- Notifying all employees on information andtraining on hygiene and security regulations.

Collective recommendationsPosters should be displayed in communal areasand staff washrooms (often available from thecompetent authorities in each country) indicatingthe best daily practices and the adoption of re-sponsible behavior (frequent hand-washing, useof disposable tissues).

UFI has provided a template for this purposewhich you are free to translate and use athttp://www.ufi.org/media/membersarea/toolkit/h1n1_template.pdf


UFI recommendations on

Details on how to react in the case of flusymptoms at home or at workIf symptoms are identified whilst at home, to limitthe propagation of the virus, the employeeshould not come to work. He should contact hisdoctor or inform his superior and the pandemicreferent. If symptoms start at work, the employershould isolate the employee whilst taking thenecessary precautions (e.g. wearing a mask),and ensure that he returns home in all safety (bycalling a known relative or friend).

Individual recommendations:Distribution of an updated summary of the pre-cautions to be taken with, if necessary, specificdetails such as the list of countries affected bythe virus for persons who are required to travel,including any information or measures providedby Embassies. The procedure in the case of theillness being declared abroad should also be pro-vided (e.g. repatriation). Insurance policies relat-ing to all employees when travelling should beverified and reinforced if necessary. This infor-mation should be regularly updated according tothe evolution of the pandemic, and a follow-up ofthe absences should be kept by the pandemicreferent, for an overall view of the level ofabsenteeism.

Other Hygiene MeasuresThe following should be made available to allemployees:

disinfectant wipes;

hydroalcoolic solution;

gloves;

airtight pedal-bins in cloakrooms;

masks designed to prevent contagion (othertypes of mask exist) and the circumstanceswherein wearing masks becomes obligatory.

The cleaning of communal areas in the work-place should be reinforced to reduce the risks ofcontamination and if necessary, business tripsand meetings should be limited.

…/...

flu


UFI INFO - APRIL 2009 - 11UFI INFO - DEC'09/JAN'10 - 11

FOR SITES THAT HOLD EVENTS:Information on best practices should be postedin the communal areas, and the hygiene of thepremises should be reinforced. UFI has pro-vided a template for this purpose availablefor downloading a http://www.ufi.org/media/membersarea/toolkit/h1n1_template.pdfwhich you are free to translate and use.

The various measures to be taken in the sectorof the organization of trade fairs and exhibitionscome under the responsibility of the organizersof the events. The latter should therefore en-sure that the adapted measures are taken toensure the hygiene and security of the exhibi-tion centre, and participants informed of these.For example, an infirmary with doctor could beinstalled on-site to accommodate the personswith flu symptoms and if required, a specificplan implemented to isolate the possible casesnoticed during the event in a separate zone.The cleaning and hygiene should be reinforcedwith particular attention to all communal, ex-posed areas.

Communications PlanA Communications Plan should be introduced,and a pandemic point of contact established.This point of contact should ensure the inter-face with exhibitors, visitors, press etc. on thepandemic. Communication channels may alsoinclude the website, the press, posters etc. A flukit may be available depending on the level ofrisk and the recommendations of local authori-ties. The plan should include the necessarycourse of action in the case of the exhibitioncentre being closed by the competent authori-ties and all related communication.

Insurance PoliciesAll organizers and venues should check theirinsurance policy for the case of cancellation. Acancellation due to the pandemic may no longerbe considered as “force majeure”.

Other MeasuresIt may be necessary to adapt more flexible workhours for the staff that are unaffected by the virus(whilst respecting the employment legislation of yourcountry) including, if necessary:

1. the suspension of weekly time off,

2. reduction in daily breaks,more overtime etc.

Check all measures taken for the continuation of ac-tivity by your service providers and consider the re-course to temporary staff or new service providers.

To anticipate all organizational difficulties, it is rec-ommended to draw up a confidential table for all em-ployees including:

Name of each employee, job title and specificskills;

Definition of employee polyvalence;

Identification of the key members of the staff andthose persons able to replace them;

Childcare solutions if schools are closed;Identification of a person to be contacted in thecase of flu symptoms at work for each employee.

Measures may be taken to enable staff to work fromhome including the provision of any necessaryequipment and payment of any expenses incurred.The automatic transfer of phone calls may be imple-mented to landline and mobile phones.

It may be useful to request that each employee pro-vides a list of tasks on which they are currently work-ing, on a regular basis. Most employees use an indi-vidual login and password. It may be necessary toconsider access to information if the employee isabsent.

All important administrative procedures should beidentified and a contingency plan installed. This maycover for example, payment of salaries, payment ofinvoices, tax declarations etc.

UFI recommendations on(continued)

flu



Does your organisation understand and apply“best practices” for in-house or onsite educationfor your personnel? This is never an easy taskand requires serious programme development,scheduling and personnel management, in orderto achieve corporate objectives.

UFI is organizing an Education Focus Meeting inTaipei on March 3, 2010, which you won’t wantto miss. We’ll be looking at existing training andeducation programmes which are designed tomeet the needs of the exhibition industry. Anumber of case studies will be presented whichshow innovative approaches to education in avariety of regions. New teaching techniquessuch as webinars and internet-based trainingplatforms will be presented as well.

The tools available for today’s education profes-sionals have changed radically. This UFI Educa-tion Focus Meeting, open to all UFI members,will help you to understand how you can provideyour colleagues and community with the

“How to” fosterin-house education

UFI provides the exhibition industry with a variety ofeducational programmes on-line and around theworld.

educational insights necessary to provide ongoingprofessional training and education programmes.

So hold the date of March 3, and start planning tojoin us in Taipei as we explore this important topic.



The UFI Operations Committee met on Novem-ber 26th in Brussels to discuss the topic of the UFIOperations Award and the UFI Operations FocusMeeting 2010. It is the general aim of the commit-tee to facilitate the sharing of existing knowledgewithin the UFI community. UFI Focus Meetingsare one way to do so, another one are the newlydeveloped UFI Insights (http://www.ufi.org/pages/publicationspress/surveys.aspx). (see page 9)

Taking into consideration the recent economicdevelopments, the Committee asked itself thequestion: which are the services which are reallyvalued and appreciated by exhibitors and visi-tors? Following on this thought, the next UFI Op-erations Focus meeting 2010 will be dedicated tothis question: Cost efficient operations: how tofocus on what really accounts.

UFI Operations Committeemeets in Brussels

The upcoming Focus Meeting should help theaudience to better understand the real needs ofthe exhibitors and how to adapt an organizationto these needs. Focus Meeting participants canlook forward to the presentation of a multina-tional exhibitor on how he sees exhibitions op-erations and what operation services his com-pany expects from an exhibition organizer. Inaddition there will be a panel discussion on dif-ferent cost effective operations models and howto implement them.

The event is planned for the end of April 2010.The UFI Operations Award on the same topicwill be launched in January.

So be prepared to share your knowledge onthis fascinating subject and look out for morenews on this topic on our website in January.



As most of UFI was focused on the Zagreb Con-gress last month, Jess Wong, from the UFI Asia/Pacific office in Hong Kong, was travelling in Chinato visit a new UFI member.

Based in the historical trading city of Ningbo,Ningbo Hixpo Conference and Exhibition Co. is theorganiser of the Ningbo International Fashion Fair

which was waiting final confirmation as anUFI Approved Event.

Jess met with the management of the companyincluding President Mr. Yang Jie, Mr. ZhouXueming, the Secretary General of the OrganisingCommittee and Mr. Wang Meijian, the Chief of theMarketing Department at the Ningbo Foreign Trade& Economic Cooperation Bureau. She also met theauditors of the fair’s statistics as well as touring theevent and speaking to exhibitors and visitors.

UFI approves56th event in China

Left to right: UFI’s Jess Wong, Mr. ZHOU Xueming, Secretary Generalof IFFAIR Organising Committee, Mr. YANG Jie, President of NingboHixpo Conference & Exhibition Co. Ltd.

UFI inZhongshan & Taipei

Paul Woodward and Jess Wong from the UFIAsia/Pacific office made an inspection visit to theZhongshan Expo Center in mid-November.

Zhongshan is the birthplace of Dr. Sun Yatsenand an important trading and industrial centre onthe western banks of the Pearl River. The newexhibition centre, completed in 2008, was

developed by the city of Zhongshan and is nowprivately managed. Woodward and Wong alsomet the city’s Executive Vice Mayor Xie Zhongfanwith whom they discussed the development ofexhibitions in South China and UFI’s role in pro-moting the development of the industry.

The Chairman of Zhongshan Expo is Mr. LiangWen, formerly an active UFI member in his role asPresident of CIEC in Beijing.

Paul Woodward was also in Taipei in mid-November as the guest of TAITRA and as aspeaker at the Asia MICE Forum, an industry con-ference attracting over 500 delegates. He pre-sented some personal views on competition andco-operation in the exhibitions industry. In doingso, he was able to make reference to the UFI Ba-rometer Research, the annual UFI/BSG researchon trade fairs in Asia and to the UFI researchwhich had recently been presented by outgoingPresident John Shaw during the UFI Congress inZagreb.

Paul with Mr. Xie Zhongfan, Executive Vice Mayor of Zhong-shan city with a statue of Dr. Sun Yatsen

What? You weren’t in Zagreb?

Well all UFI 76th Congress presentationsand podcasts are now available in the

members area at www.ufi.org.

If you need your login and password,please contact [email protected]



The lobbying efforts against the proposal tocreate an ISO Working Group on a new ISOstandard “Congress Centres: criteria to renderservices” seem to have paid off. The Spanishtourism institute, “Instituto para la CaldidadTuristica Espanola” (ICTE) is currently consider-ing the withdrawal of the proposal, and there areno new proposals, at least for the moment, forthe ISO Technical Committee for tourism andrelated services (TC 228) for their next meetingin April 2010.

UFI, despite being informed indirectly, reactedimmediately by informing all its members and bycontacting ISO to voice its disapproval. UFI alsotook the initiative to convince the members of theJoint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), whichunites sister associations such as ICCA, AIPC,IAPCO, EVVC and MPI, to voice their strongopposition both separately and as a united bodyagainst the creation of such a standard andwithin the tourism industry.

Keep reading UFI Info for any updates.

UFI "Survey on Trainingand Educational Needs"underway

You’ve probably received the survey on the train-ing and education needs of the global exhibitionindustry which is being conducted by UFI in co-operation with the International University of Ap-plied Sciences Bad Honnef - Bonn, Germany.The generated confidential data will be publishedin aggregated form in late spring 2010.

So be sure to provide your replies by December30, 2009. Our industry needs accurate data onthis topic. And for that we need your support!

For additional information, please [email protected]. Thank you in advance for yourparticipation.

The Cape Town International Convention Cen-tre (CTICC) has appointed Joey Pather as COOeffective 1 January 2010. As the managementcontract of Amsterdam RAI comes to an end onthat date, Dirk Elzinga will resign as ManagingDirector.

Fiera Milano has announced a reorganization ofthe Group, which concentrates in Rassegne FieraMilano’s exhibition organizing activities, whichhave in the past been carried out by three sub-sidiaries, Fiera Milano International, ExpoCTSand Fiera Milano Tech.

The International Association of Exhibitions andEvents (IAEE) announces that 2009 Chair Marga-ret Pederson has passed the gavel to incomingChair Chris Meyer, CEM, CMP, vice president ofSales for the Las Vegas Convention & VisitorsAuthority, who will serve through 2010.

An end to the ISOcongress centreinitiative?

UFI members in thenews

Scam artists hitexhibitors again

Warn your exhibitors! There’s another group outthere picking the pockets of our exhibitors.

This time it’s an organisation named the WorldBusiness Guide which is a product of InternationalDirectories Group of Madrid.

Working an approach similar to Construct Data’sFairGuide, the free listing soon turn into a costlyrenewable contract which could take thousands ofEuros away from unsuspecting exhibitors.

So warn your exhibitors to “READ THE SMALLPRINT”. And let us know if you are faced with thistype of proposal in the future.

We have guidance and templates available on ourwebsite so take a look at http://www.ufi.org/pages/thetradefairsector/fairguide.aspx



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UFI Info - December 2009

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