Exhibition World Issue 5 — 2019 | Seite 5

Welcome Good times, bad times, trust in smarts I’ve seen the future and it works. A press trip to Shenzhen World, Moscow City and before that Seoul and Incheon. All innovative destinations packed full of smart buildings and venues. Shenzhen’s new giant of an exhibition venue – which will become the largest in the world once part two is complete – is not just a tale of new hardware for a new era. The city is home to two of China’s leading innovators: IT, internet and technology conglomerate Tencent and Huawei, the telecoms and technology giant. Their technologies are also powering Shenzhen World and a host of new smart buildings in the city and beyond. A bright future is clearly emerging in the Pearl River Delta, in particular, although our thoughts also stay with our industry professionals in Hong Kong, struggling to soldier on with their carefully crafted exhibition calendar despite seemingly never-ending street protests in the territory. Industry veterean Trevor Foley puts another optimistic viewpoint about finding and appreciating the ‘showmen’ of tomorrow in his recruitment column. But is Trevor’s glass half full analysis on the money for tomorrow, or maybe we should be heeding the warnings inherent in a rather gloomier assessment, as painted by Bjoern Kempe in his EW column? Probably we should balance our future strategies by heeding warning sirens on the global economy and its possible impact on our industry, while keeping our optimism innovative. The main thing is that we share our knowledge and work openly to build trust, the premise of our industry’s unique F2F offer. Therein lies the best protection in all economic weathers. ‘Platforms of Trust’ is the overarching theme in Bangkok at the 86th UFI Global Congress in November. I hope all attending benefit from the great pool of information, knowledge and innovation that will be available there. Do share your successes and insights so that the ripples reach far and wide. Paul Colston Managing Editor Twitter: @ExhibitionWorld @paulcolston Publishing Director: Simon Farnfield; Managing Editor: Paul Colston; Global Account Director: Iain Stirling; Global Account Manager: Jon Howell; News Reporter: Stuart Wood; Graphic Designer: Kateryna Smirnova; Production Manager: Elizabeth Nixon. Contact us: Subscriptions:[phone], Editorial: [phone], Advertising: [phone], Production:[phone]. Exhibition World is published by Mash Media, Second floor, Applemarket House, 17 Union Street, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1RP, UK. Tel: [phone] fax: [phone], Email: [email protected] Views expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publishers. Printed by Pensord Press Ltd. w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk Issue 5 2019 5