Almost 200 experts from the global exhibition industry -- event organisers, exhibition centre owners and members of the most representative associations -- met last week at the Open Summer Seminar of the UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry), which was held at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. For three days the centre played host to leading figures from the exhibition industry’s leading global association, the UFI, which has 313 members responsible between them for more than 4500 exhibitions worldwide.

Attendees included specialists from Germany, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, Portugal, Serbia, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Tanzania, Croatia, the USA, France, Italy, Cyprus, Ecuador, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, China, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Norway, the sultanate of Oman, Syria, Singapore, Austria, Jordan, Finland, Israel and Japan.

The event provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about the current situation of the industry, and included presentations featuring top level analysis. Titles included "The power of personal interviews and programmes for purchasers", "Team building and motivation", “E-marketing”, “Strategic questions and challenges of the exhibition industry”, “How to export events”, "Successful customer loyalty programmes" and "Adding value through services", in a total of 13 interactive sessions.

The entertainment side of the event was staged at the Guggenheim Museum and the Palacio Artaza, a building designed in 1914 by M. Mª Smith in the English Queen Anne style. In their closing addresses, the UFI as the organisers, and representatives of the Bilbao Exhibition Centre as the hosts of the event, both expressed their satisfaction with the results obtained at what was described by UFI general manager Vincent Gérard as "one of the best events we have ever had".

UFI seminars are designed as forums for learning and exchange of ideas and are open to representatives and operators from the exhibition industry as a whole. They are staged at various cities throughout each year, with Bilbao following on from Muscat (Oman) and Seoul (Korea).

Communication Department, June 2007