A Look to the East

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This week, a focus on China - I am just back from Shanghai.

Also: Anatomy of an advocacy event - also in China. Introducing envire. And industry news.

"Thoughts & Observations" - the Podcast

If you prefer to listen... I am converting this newsletter into a weekly pod. It is still an experiment, using an AI model to generate a virtual conversation about the items covered in each edition.

Tune in to listen and download (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other major podcasting platforms).

New and noteworthy - from my log:

Here are some updates from across the global events industry.

• Attempt to sell Stockholmsmässan to a private buyer fails

The City of Stockholm will retain ownership of Stockholmsmässan after a year‑long search for a private buyer failed to meet requirements. The largest exhibition and congress centre in the Nordics will remain under municipal management and at its Älvsjö location through at least 2034, pending new site identification and metro-line development. The city cited the need for a long-term development partner, and - facing current market conditions - deemed continued public ownership the only viable path. CEO Staffan Ingvarsson pledged to further elevate the venue’s profile and event quality under municipal stewardship.

• People news: John van der Valk // Infopro Digital

John van der Valk has been named managing director of trade shows at Infopro Digital, a European B2B information specialist business. He will oversee strategic growth and development of the group’s global portfolio of 40 industry-specific exhibitions, which attract some 270,000 annual attendees. Van der Valk brings more than 25 years of experience in B2B media and events. He reports to Isabelle André and will help accelerate international expansion and digital transformation.

• People news: Puripan Bunnag // TCEB

The Board of Directors of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has appointed TCEB Senior Vice President, Mr. Puripan Bunnag as Acting President of TCEB. Bunnag follows on Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya who has held this position since 2017 – as the first TCEB president staying in this position for two consecutive terms. Bunnag will steer the organisation until the new President officially assumes office. While the future president has been chosen and been communicated internally, she will have to settle the departure from her current role outside of TCEB, so there is not yet a definite timeline.

How is the Chinese Exhibition Industry doing?

China is one of the three largest exhibition markets in the world besides the U.S. and Germany. For years, it has been a major target for Western organisers to geo-clone their events into the region, and many report significant business from there. Since the pandemic disruption, there has been a cooling of this process, and the recovery of the Chinese exhibition market has predominantly been driven by domestic business. In parallel, and supported by the national and regional governments, Chinese event organisers have actively looked to take their businesses abroad. Recently, as examples, there were Chinese delegations with organisers as industry events like UFI’s Regional Conference for Central & South America, or at last year’s ACS Summit in Singapore.

So – there are a lot of dynamics at play. And there are two leading annual industry events every year that provide the opportunity to connect with these development: The government-run CEFCO in January, and the “Global Exhibition CEO Shanghai Summit”, which took place last week. As a regular there, I have seen this event evolve.

This was the 8th edition of the forum. For the exhibition industry, it is one of three C-level summits annually (the other ones being UFI’s Global CEO Summit early in the year in Europe and the SISO CEO Summit in North America in spring), and gathers a significant group from the global Top20 organisers as well as the leading Chinese organisers. Run by the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industry Association (SCEIA), it is the only one of the three summits that takes place in the same city every year – underlining Shanghai’s position and ambition as of the global capitals for the exhibition industry. With two mega-venues (the NECC with 470,000 sqm and SNIEC with 200,000 sqm of indoor hall space – that’s the number 2 and 23 globally by size), it holds a unique position even in venue-rich China.

This year’s event provided a tried and tested number of updates from international markets and Chinese subject matter leaders. It also included jwc’s Gerd Weber, who essentially summarised this in regards to China today: Exhibition industry rebounded strongly in 2023 following severe disruptions in 2022. While key indicators like gross space and event count rose notably, the market remains below 2019 levels. Major exhibitions are concentrated in first-tier and high-growth cities across China’s eastern regions.

The new format this year was a CEO Round Table, with 23 industry leaders giving their respective insights and analysis on a pre-defined set of nine industry topics. As with any innovation, this did not work perfectly right away in all aspects - the need for more diverse representation here has been noted - but it provided a lot of perspectives and insights worth digging into. The organisers summarised it all in “Shanghai Declaration 2025”, proposing that the industry continues to work on these six issues:

1. Forge a global collaboration network to promote partnership across the exhibition industry

2. Drive innovation in exhibition products and services to redefine the value chain of the exhibition industry

3. Embrace the tide of technological innovation to create an intelligent exhibition ecosystem

4. Boost innovation in business models to enhance industry resilience

5. Upgrade the industry standard framework to spearhead the low-carbon transition

6. Support training professional talents and stimulate innovation vitality

Anatomy of an advocacy exchange

I wrote about the importance of ongoing advocacy for our business here recently. Here is a short analysis of one government meeting as an example:

As part of the "Global Exhibition CEO Shanghai Summit", the organiser SCEIA arranges for an During my years at UFI, I experienced these to be driven by an eagerness to understand how to continuously improve the conditions for international organisers. This year, Mr. Gong Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, met with the CEOs from UFI, International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), and SISO - Society of Independent Show Organisers, and Wolfram Diener, UFI Treasurer and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, at City Hall.

Wolfram Diener commented: “The Shanghai Government has fully recognized the economic and socio-economic importance of exhibitions and is committed to support our industry.” IAEE’s Marsha Flanagan, M.Ed., CEM added: “It was an honor to meet with the Mayor of Shanghai to discuss the vital role exhibitions play in driving economic growth and international collaboration. Our conversation reinforced the city’s commitment to supporting the global exhibitions industry and fostering innovation through strategic partnerships.” SISO’s Vincent Polito says he ”came away from our meeting with the Mayor with an enhanced sense of cooperation and mutual support of the industry that we serve. And it’s critical globally for the local governments to be supportive of the efforts of the exhibition industry and Mr. Gong Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, demonstrated that support by receiving us at City Hall.” And UFI’s Chris Skeith OBE says that “Meeting Mr. Gong Zheng was testament of the power of exhibitions to drive trade, economic growth and international collaboration, and evidenced how important the sector is to the city of Shanghai. Their recognition and support of the sector provides a powerful template which can be adopted by other cities and regions.”

These comments show how relevant these exchanges are, and why we should do our best to approach them systemically and strategically.

Some take aways from the "Monetising B2B" Conference in London

There are so many interesting events to attend ... one that I couldn't make it to recently was Colin Morrison CBE's "Monetising B2B" conference in London. Aimed at unlocking new revenue streams in business media, events, and data, the event featured 25 speakers across panels and fireside chats. The gathering zeroed in on how AI, data, and experience design are converging to reshape B2B strategy. Luckily, Colin has now shared a free summary of the event sessions. Here are my eight main take-aways from going through this:

1. AI Means Business Now: AI has moved from novelty to necessity, shifting from chatbots to core growth engines.

“This isn’t about chatbots anymore. It’s about margin. It’s about growth. It’s about value,” said AI consultant Paul Hood. (Source: Panel on AI Profit Potential)

2. Data Is Infrastructure, Not Content: The most valuable data isn’t unique—it’s indispensable and embedded.

“When data is not just available but relied upon, it stops being content and becomes infrastructure,” said Neil Bradford, CEO of General Index. (Source: Proprietary Data Panel)

3. Events Are Becoming Experiences: Festivalisation is transforming events into emotionally resonant, monetisable experiences.

“If you’re walking around a massive exhibition hall with just a handful of business cards, hoping for serendipity, you’re stuck in the 1980s,” said Hugh Jones, CEO of RX. (Source: Fireside Chat with Colin Morrison)

4. Visitor Revenue Is No Longer Optional

Organisers are shifting toward a visitor-centric model that rewards curation and value.

“We expect that, within a few years, up to 50% of our revenue will come from visitors,” said Hugh Jones, CEO of RX. (Source: Fireside Chat with Colin Morrison)

5. Content Is Always On: Daily engagement, not once-a-year spikes, is now the benchmark.

“The awards provide recognition—but they also feed our rankings, benchmarking tools and consultancy. Those become year-round revenue streams,” said Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions. (Source: Cannes Lions Case Study)

6. Transformation Is a Culture, Not a Department: Bold bets, not legacy habits, define today’s leaders.

“Event directors are expected to place four or five high-risk bets a year. If none of them fail, they didn’t aim high enough,” said Hugh Jones, CEO of RX. (Source: Strategy and Risk Session)

7. Humanized Strategy Wins: Community, trust, and clarity of mission are the new growth multipliers.

“Technology can enhance trust, but it can’t replace it. Our job is to ensure we stay useful, reliable and trusted,” said Kerry Parker, CEO of SelectScience. (Source: Digital Community Panel)

8. Convergence Is the New Category: Silos are collapsing. B2B players now straddle media, data, and events.

“Publishing, exhibitions, data, consultancy—they’re no longer separate. We’ve helped create a gathering of the B2B clans,” said Colin Morrison, Founder of Flashes & Flames. (Source: Closing Remarks)

Advising Envire

How to track progress on sustainability? Here is a new platform.

Today, most organisers demand event-specific sustainability reporting from the venues that they pick for their shows. As more and more venues establish the processes to capture data on energy, waste, food and other key elements, there is a lack of a consistent platform for the reporting. It is a challenge we have discussed a lot in the work for the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative.

Here is where Envire comes in. The California-based start-up is developing intelligent tools to help large-scale venues and convention centers automate event-specific sustainability reporting, empowering event organizers with world-class insights and planning support, and I am happy to share that I have joined the team around Johanna Behm, Cyril Bouteille, and Isabel Heard as advisor.

The need for scalable, data-driven solutions has never been greater. I'm looking forward to supporting the team as they help the industry move from ambition to action: streamlining compliance, cutting emissions, and turning sustainability into a strategic advantage.

Let's connect in person - in Belgrade

Time to slow down for the Scandinavian summer. But I will travel to Belgrade from 9 - 11 July to speak at the ICCA Mediterranean meeting in the host city of the 2027 Specialized World Expo.

That's all for today. Until next week!