Time: June 19-20, 2019
Venue: Royal Tulip Garden Hotel, Zhujiajiao
Topic One: Market, A Barometer of Change and Continuity
This topic focused on how companies can ensure continuity and what paths are worth exploring amid unstable market conditions, including turbulent international trade, rising trade protectionism, deep adjustments in relations among major countries, uncertainty in the world economy over the next several years, and the entry of cross-sector companies and capital.
Moderator for Topic One
Sang Jingmin
President of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association
Sang Jingmin holds a master's degree and is a senior economist and senior exhibition specialist. He is currently president of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, general manager of Shanghai Baiwen Exhibition Co., Ltd., and chairman of the organizing committee of China Beauty Expo.
He has long held leadership roles in large state-owned commercial enterprises, joint ventures and industry associations, with outstanding leadership and organizational capability. Since entering the exhibition industry more than 20 years ago, he has founded China Beauty Expo with an international perspective. The event has become one of the world's top three international trade platforms for the beauty industry chain and ranks first among beauty exhibitions in the world's top commercial exhibition list.
As one of the initiators of the Association, he has served as vice president, Party committee member and president, and has actively participated in Association work. He also participated as an initiator in drafting the local standard for the Service Level Evaluation System for Exhibition Organizers and Contractors, served as an evaluation expert for Shanghai municipal government procurement, and took part in review work for the Exposition on China Indigenous Brands, making active contributions to the development of Shanghai's exhibition industry.
Keynote Speech: Report on the Development of the International Exhibition Industry
Kai Hattendorf
Managing Director and CEO of UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry; Chair of the Joint Meetings Industry Council for 2019-2020
Kai Hattendorf has served as Managing Director and CEO of UFI since 2015. His responsibilities cover all UFI activities and projects and the operation of UFI offices in Paris, Hong Kong, Dubai and Bogota.
He is also Honorary Chair of JMIC, the Joint Meetings Industry Council, a global organization serving the worldwide business-events industry and related international associations.
Before joining UFI, Kai worked for many years in the exhibition industry. At Messe Frankfurt's global headquarters, he held senior management positions and was responsible for transformation projects ranging from digitalization to marketing and communications.
Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles in marketing and strategic communications at Deutsche Telekom Group, Deutsche Presse-Agentur and a start-up company, and worked on strategy and product-development projects in independent television and media industries.
Professionally trained as a journalist, Kai worked as a reporter for broadcasters including Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Bremen in Germany, Euronews in France, the BBC, and Voice of America. He holds a master's degree from American University in Washington and also studied in Dortmund and Edinburgh.
Keynote Speech: Market, Guidance for Transformation and Continuity
Simon Kimble
Executive Chairman of Clarion Events
Simon has worked in the exhibition industry since 1989 and has extensive global business experience. He has worked with start-ups and later led Clarion Events Ltd. as it became one of the world's fastest-growing leaders in the exhibition business.
Since 2013, Simon has served as Executive Chairman of Clarion Events, overseeing global mergers and acquisitions. Since 2001, he has served as CEO of Clarion Events. He witnessed Clarion's transformation from a subsidiary of the Earls Court and Olympia Group, headquartered in London, into the world's third-largest exhibition organizer.
Clarion has more than 20 offices worldwide and over 2,000 employees. In the past four years, Simon completed more than 30 merger and acquisition transactions. Clarion is now affiliated with Blackstone, a global leader in alternative investment funds. In 2018, Clarion was voted by AEO peers as the most influential company of the past 25 years.
Keynote Speech: Current International Market Situation
Jochen Witt
Chairman and CEO of jwc, an exhibition consulting company based in Cologne, Germany
Jochen Witt is Chairman and CEO of jwc, a leading global consulting company for the exhibition industry. Before joining jwc, he served as President and CEO of Koelnmesse from 1998 to 2007, where he successfully led the international expansion of Koelnmesse's exhibition-hall business, the expansion of exhibition services and the modernization of the venue.
He served as Chair of UFI's European Chapter from 1999 to 2005 and as UFI President from 2006 to 2007. Before entering the exhibition industry, he worked for BASF in Germany and held several positions in Europe and Canada. He is also a widely welcomed speaker in the exhibition industry and holds degrees in law and international tax law.
jwc's services cover exhibition strategy and business development, exhibition-service pricing, mergers and acquisitions, venues, venue planning, construction and operation management, and business research. Its clients are located in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, and include exhibition organizers, venue owners and operators, private-equity firms, exhibition service companies and government authorities.
At jwc, Jochen combines long-standing practical experience in the exhibition industry with outstanding strategic and market consulting methods. jwc has paved the way for new pricing methods in the exhibition and conference industry. Leading global exhibition organizers that have adopted jwc's exhibition-service pricing methods have significantly improved exhibitor and visitor satisfaction as well as their own profitability.
Panel Discussion: Corporate Strategy in a Complex and Changing Environment
Panel Moderator: Zhong Gang
President of Shanghai VNU Exhibitions Asia; UFI Asia-Pacific Chapter Chair
Zhong Gang has engaged in exhibition organization since 1991. In 1993, he founded Shanghai Qilong Exhibition Service Co., Ltd. and served as general manager. In 2001, he established Shanghai VNU Exhibitions Asia as a joint venture with Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs and has served as president since then.
In November 2017, at the 84th UFI Global Congress, Zhong Gang officially became Chair of the UFI Asia-Pacific Chapter. He later founded the UFI China Club, establishing activity formats including roundtables, high-level exchanges, local convention and exhibition facility visits, and matchmaking between UFI members and local enterprises. These activities received enthusiastic responses and broad support from government, enterprises and professionals.
As one of China's earliest exhibition enterprises, Shanghai VNU Exhibitions Asia has remained a leader in China's convention and exhibition industry for more than two decades. With the joint efforts of over 200 outstanding employees, the company organizes more than 35 top domestic exhibitions and conferences each year, with total exhibition area exceeding one million square meters.
Zhong Gang pioneered two distinctive operating approaches for Shanghai VNU Exhibitions Asia: local internationalization and international localization. These approaches have helped the company become a leading Chinese exhibition enterprise with the largest number of self-owned brands and imported international brands.
Panelist: Renaud Hamaide
Chairman of Comexposium
Renaud is a permanent director of the board of UNIMEV. He served as UFI President from November 2013 to 2014 and as a member of the MEDEF Executive Committee from 2016 to 2018.
He began his career in finance in real-estate management. In 1998, he joined Unibail, a leading European commercial real-estate company, as head of corporate development. During this period, he successfully completed several acquisitions in the exhibition industry and eventually took over Unibail-Rodamco's global business activities.
In 2008, Renaud was responsible for merging the assets of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Unibail-Rodamco, including the venues and events owned and managed by both sides. Comexposium was created by combining Exposium and Comexpo, while Viparis was created by merging the venues of Paris Expo and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During this period, Renaud served as Chairman and CEO of both Comexposium and Viparis.
After a shareholder change in 2015, Renaud continued as Chairman of Comexposium, while Viparis was incorporated into its ownership and management structure. Under his leadership, Comexposium has grown into France's largest exhibition organizer and the world's third-largest exhibition organizer.
Panelist: Chien-Ee Yeh
President, Asia Pacific, Reed Exhibitions
Chien-Ee Yeh joined Reed Exhibitions in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer for Asia Pacific. He was later promoted to Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific and began serving as President for Asia Pacific in the current year.
Based in Singapore, he is responsible for all Reed Exhibitions business across Asia Pacific, including China, South Korea, Macao, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia. He therefore spends significant time visiting countries across the region to participate in business management, especially in the China market.
Before joining Reed Exhibitions, Yeh worked for more than 20 years in Singapore, Shanghai and Boston, serving companies in the semiconductor and precision engineering sectors and holding various management positions.
Panelist: Stephan Buurma
Member of the Executive Board, Messe Frankfurt Group
Stephan Buurma has served since 2003 as Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding Ltd. and Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong Ltd. In July 2010, he was appointed to the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt Group.
He graduated from Houghton College in New York with degrees in economics and history, and later trained as an accountant in Germany. He joined Messe Frankfurt Group in 1995 and moved to Hong Kong in 2001 to serve as Finance Director for Asia Pacific, responsible for Asian affairs.