Exhibition leaders gather in Seoul for 80th UFI Congress

SEOUL - Over 400 leaders of the exhibition industry will gather in Seoul from November 13 to 16, for the 80th Congress of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Hosted by the Association of Korea Exhibition Industry (AKEI) and located at Coex, Korea’s leading events centre, Seoul will be at the heart of four days of business networking opportunities and brainstorming for this exclusive group of international leaders.

“We are honoured to host the 80th UFI Congress, one of the global exhibition industry’s most prestigious events. The UFI Congress presents a wonderful opportunity for Korea to present Korean exhibitions management capabilities to the elite of the exhibition industry,” said Mr. Lee Han-chul, Chairman of AKEI. “Nineteen Korean exhibition leaders are UFI members and this Congress will help us to attract more international organisers to host their events here in the future.”

Industry CEOs and strategic thinkers will share their professional views on the future of the exhibition industry, exchange ideas and network with one another via a series of activities and working sessions planned for the four day session. This focus of the 2013 UFI Congress, ‘Managing for the future’ will explore issues facing tomorrow’s exhibition industry.

Internationally recognized strategists and futurologists Thimon de Jong, Magnus Lindkvist, Jochen Witt and David Worlock will challenge participating industry leaders in light of current transformative technologies, and changing workforce and customer expectations in our turbulent economic environment. Chen Xianjin, UFI President, looks forward to the Congress sessions, saying, “we will be exploring a variety of options exhibition organisations can apply in today’s society which promise to develop stronger exhibition markets for organizers, exhibitors and visitors tomorrow. While these are challenging times for our face-to-face industry, they are exciting ones too as we develop creative ideas and solutions for the future.”

The annual UFI Congress is an important opportunity for members to network with fellow exhibition leaders and to engage in productive discussion on trends within the global market. A number of additional internal UFI meetings, including the Annual UFI General Assembly, the UFI Board of Directors Meeting, UFI Regional Chapter Meetings and a meeting of the UFI Associations’ Committee which brings together 50 national and international exhibition related associations are also planned. Congress participants will have the opportunity to spend the Saturday following the Congress enjoying a variety of cultural activities in and around Seoul.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews