The Dynamics of Transition–Our Industry’s Complex Future

Zhao Wei

From 31 October to 3 November， the 85th UFI Global Congress took place in St. Petersburg， Russia.

UFI annual meeting as the top event of the global exhibition industry， brought together well-known industry associations， exhibition business leaders and exhibition service enterprises around the world. It was an important platform for the industry to exchange information， negotiate cooperation and seek business opportunities.

The theme of the annual meeting was “The Dynamics of Transition– Our Industrys Complex Future”， implying that the industry changes very rapidly， and each change has not only brought specific challenges， but also provided unlimited possibilities and opportunities for the exhibition industry to lead us into a complex future. From consolidation to digitisation， from investments to restructurings， from fast-track hiring to long-term retention - in an increasingly complex world， constant change has become a reality. And the changes are coming hard and fast - each with its specific challenges - whilst providing boundless possibilities and opportunities.

As the exclusive official UFI media partner of UFI in China， ChinaInternational Conference and Exhibition magazine launched UFI special issue for the annual UFI meeting. With the theme of "UFI in China"， the special issue introduced the impact of UFI on the internationalization of the Chinese MICE industry， and focused on the achievements of the development of the Chinese MICE industry on the promotion of UFIs international influence.

Zhao Wei， Director of Operations of China International Conference and Exhibition magazine， was also invited to participate in the meeting. At the meeting， he had in-depth exchanges with colleagues of Chinese and international exhibition industry， analyzed the current situation of the industry development， and discussed the future development trends.

HILIGHTS Chinese simultaneous translation displays Chinese strength

As the largest source of membership in UFI， Chinese UFI membership has reached about 200. At this annual meeting， for the first time， Chinese delegates broke through 50 people and became a powerful Chinese force in the international exhibition arena. UFI AsiaPacific Chair David Zhong said at the annual meeting that November 1， 2018 was a day worth recording. UFI provided simultaneous interpretation for non-host countries for the first time at the global annual meeting. This was the first time to set up Chinese simultaneous interpretation at the UFI annual meeting after the UFI annual meeting in Shanghai in 2016. Accurate translation facilitated Chinese delegates to better understand the content of the conference， and helped the Chinese delegates in the exhibition industry transcend language barriers and better integrate into the international exhibition circle.

As one of the bright business cards of the Chinese convention and exhibition industry， Shenzhen World Convention and Exhibition Center， which will become the worlds biggest MICE venue after the completion of the whole project， sent representatives to promote the venue at this annual meeting. The representatives expressed warm welcome to the exhibition organizers and exhibition service enterprises from all over the world to seek cooperation and win-win cooperation， which would help boost the prosperity and development of the exhibition industry at home and abroad. A Chinese delegate also observed that this years conference would bring Chinese exhibition industry into the world and bring the world exhibition into China， which was of epoch-making significance.

UCC Round Table was held abroad for the first time

On 2 November， the UFI CHINA CLUB Round Table （hereinafter referred to as "UCC Round Table"）， an organization initiated by UFI Asia-Pacific Chair David Zhong and approved by UFI headquarters， was held successfully during the UFI congress. This was the first time that UCC Round Table had been hosted abroad. The event gathered leading exhibition enterprises， guests and media from China and other countries. The participants exchanged views and communicated extensively on the progress made since the establishment of UCC， and gave suggestions for future development and feelings of participating in this UFI annual meeting.

Delegates at the conference made comments and suggestions on the future development of UCC， hoping to strengthen the influence of UCC in the international exhibition industry. In this annual UFI global conference， "Chinese exhibition industry" was mentioned many times on the spot， which fully indicated that the Chinese exhibition industry market occupies an increasingly important position in the global exhibition industry. As a representative of professional MICE media in China， Zhao Wei， Director of Operations of China International Conference and Exhibition magazine， attended the UCC Round Table， exchanged views with representatives of Chinese and foreign enterprises and put forward suggestions on the agenda.

Speech： To boldly go…

In this session to lift off for the Congress， cosmonaut of Russian Federation Sergey Ryazanski led the Congress delegates straight for the "bigger picture" - a perspective from space. Nations from around the world are collaborating to operate the planets most special venue space - the International Space Station. He shared insights into how to adapt quickly to changing challenges and expectations. He said that we need to learn and train constantly， increase knowledge and skills to explore the unknown world， and overcome uncertainty and fear. Limitation and division exist in peoples consciousness of thinking， and improving our understanding of the world and exploring the unknown can help us break through the limitations.

Speech： “Time to Look at the World Differently” - A competitiveness outlook for 2019

Stephane Garelli from University of Lausanne， Switzerland gave an economists roundup. He reviewed economic growth， sentiments and fall-outs from protectionism， GDP， EPS， and stock indices， discussed false news， perceptions， buying patterns， and expectations. He believed that at present， the acceleration of the global economic environment brings many challenges to enterprises. Fortunately， the economies of the United States， Canada， the European Union， the United Kingdom，China， Switzerland and other countries all showed about 2% growth. External challenges such as inflation and trade protectionism are on the rise， but the process of globalization will continue. E-commerce is thriving， with more than 2 billion of the current customers. In the short decades of a persons life， he can experience the updating of personal computers， the Internet， mobile communication equipment， artificial intelligence and other mobile devices. Equally important， people need to be clear-headed and calm in predicting the future situation in a large amount of data.

Best practise： HR as Business Partners

As the winner of 2018 UFI HR award competition， the Suntec Singapore core values include： respect， excellence， integrity， teamwork. The venue CEO Arun Madhok shared on the topic of HR as Business Partners. The venue covers a total area of 4200 square meters， with an average of 1400 exhibitions and events held annually. The operation philosophy of the exhibition center is "as a business partner， we actively integrate into partners， and in the enterprises strategic guidelines， establish close ties with customers， and accordingly achieve stable performance growth and revenue growth of the venue." The important role of human resources in the venue includes： establishing internal and external relations， improving staff efficiency， driving digital innovation， and successfully facing challenges.

Panel： Digital innovation in the workplace from a people perspective

In this session， management level of Stockholmsmassan， Messe Munchen， Oman Convention & Exhibition Center， and Fiera Milano pointed out 5 trends to watch in the industry， among which Data & Digital ranks high on the second. IT has been gaining importance since 2015 and reached the top 3 in 2017. For the first time people see a top-3 focus areas for the industry. Change is accelerating. Digital innovation in the workplace from a people perspective， there are 3 areas of focus： Inter-generational considerations， means and methods of communication within organizations， war for talent and strong digital people.