From 31 October to 3 November， the 85th UFI Global Congress took place in St. Petersburg， Russia.
　　UFI annual meeting as the top event of the global exhibition industry， brought together well-known industry associations， exhibition business leaders and exhibition service enterprises around the world. It was an important platform for the industry to exchange information， negotiate cooperation and seek business opportunities.
　　The theme of the annual meeting was “The Dynamics of Transition– Our Industry’s Complex Future”， implying that the industry changes very rapidly， and each change has not only brought specific challenges， but also provided unlimited possibilities and opportunities for the exhibition industry to lead us into a complex future. From consolidation to digitisation， from investments to restructurings， from fast-track hiring to long-term retention - in an increasingly complex world， constant change has become a reality. And the changes are coming hard and fast - each with its specific challenges - whilst providing boundless possibilities and opportunities.
　　As the exclusive official UFI media partner of UFI in China， ChinaInternational Conference and Exhibition magazine launched UFI special issue for the annual UFI meeting. With the theme of "UFI in China"， the special issue introduced the impact of UFI on the internationalization of the Chinese MICE industry， and focused on the achievements of the development of the Chinese MICE industry on the promotion of UFI’s international influence.
　　Zhao Wei， Director of Operations of China International Conference and Exhibition magazine， was also invited to participate in the meeting. At the meeting， he had in-depth exchanges with colleagues of Chinese and international exhibition industry， analyzed the current situation of the industry development， and discussed the future development trends.
　　HILIGHTS Chinese simultaneous translation displays Chinese strength
　　As the largest source of membership in UFI， Chinese UFI membership has reached about 200. At this annual meeting， for the first time， Chinese delegates broke through 50 people and became a powerful Chinese force in the international exhibition arena. UFI AsiaPacific Chair David Zhong said at the annual meeting that November 1， 2018 was a day worth recording. UFI provided simultaneous interpretation for non-host countries for the first time at the global annual meeting. This was the first time to set up Chinese simultaneous interpretation at the UFI annual meeting after the UFI annual meeting in Shanghai in 2016. Accurate translation facilitated Chinese delegates to better understand the content of the conference， and helped the Chinese delegates in the exhibition industry transcend language barriers and better integrate into the international exhibition circle. 　　As one of the bright business cards of the Chinese convention and exhibition industry， Shenzhen World Convention and Exhibition Center， which will become the world’s biggest MICE venue after the completion of the whole project， sent representatives to promote the venue at this annual meeting. The representatives expressed warm welcome to the exhibition organizers and exhibition service enterprises from all over the world to seek cooperation and win-win cooperation， which would help boost the prosperity and development of the exhibition industry at home and abroad. A Chinese delegate also observed that this year’s conference would bring Chinese exhibition industry into the world and bring the world exhibition into China， which was of epoch-making significance.
　　UCC Round Table was held abroad for the first time
　　On 2 November， the UFI CHINA CLUB Round Table （hereinafter referred to as "UCC Round Table"）， an organization initiated by UFI Asia-Pacific Chair David Zhong and approved by UFI headquarters， was held successfully during the UFI congress. This was the first time that UCC Round Table had been hosted abroad. The event gathered leading exhibition enterprises， guests and media from China and other countries. The participants exchanged views and communicated extensively on the progress made since the establishment of UCC， and gave suggestions for future development and feelings of participating in this UFI annual meeting.
　　Delegates at the conference made comments and suggestions on the future development of UCC， hoping to strengthen the influence of UCC in the international exhibition industry. In this annual UFI global conference， "Chinese exhibition industry" was mentioned many times on the spot， which fully indicated that the Chinese exhibition industry market occupies an increasingly important position in the global exhibition industry. As a representative of professional MICE media in China， Zhao Wei， Director of Operations of China International Conference and Exhibition magazine， attended the UCC Round Table， exchanged views with representatives of Chinese and foreign enterprises and put forward suggestions on the agenda.
　　Speech： To boldly go…
　　In this session to lift off for the Congress， cosmonaut of Russian Federation Sergey Ryazanski led the Congress delegates straight for the "bigger picture" - a perspective from space. Nations from around the world are collaborating to operate the planet’s most special venue space - the International Space Station. He shared insights into how to adapt quickly to changing challenges and expectations. He said that we need to learn and train constantly， increase knowledge and skills to explore the unknown world， and overcome uncertainty and fear. Limitation and division exist in people’s consciousness of thinking， and improving our understanding of the world and exploring the unknown can help us break through the limitations. 　　Speech： “Time to Look at the World Differently” - A competitiveness outlook for 2019


　　Stephane Garelli from University of Lausanne， Switzerland gave an economist’s roundup. He reviewed economic growth， sentiments and fall-outs from protectionism， GDP， EPS， and stock indices， discussed false news， perceptions， buying patterns， and expectations. He believed that at present， the acceleration of the global economic environment brings many challenges to enterprises. Fortunately， the economies of the United States， Canada， the European Union， the United Kingdom，China， Switzerland and other countries all showed about 2% growth. External challenges such as inflation and trade protectionism are on the rise， but the process of globalization will continue. E-commerce is thriving， with more than 2 billion of the current customers. In the short decades of a person’s life， he can experience the updating of personal computers， the Internet， mobile communication equipment， artificial intelligence and other mobile devices. Equally important， people need to be clear-headed and calm in predicting the future situation in a large amount of data.
　　Best practise： HR as Business Partners
　　As the winner of 2018 UFI HR award competition， the Suntec Singapore core values include： respect， excellence， integrity， teamwork. The venue CEO Arun Madhok shared on the topic of HR as Business Partners. The venue covers a total area of 4200 square meters， with an average of 1400 exhibitions and events held annually. The operation philosophy of the exhibition center is "as a business partner， we actively integrate into partners， and in the enterprise’s strategic guidelines， establish close ties with customers， and accordingly achieve stable performance growth and revenue growth of the venue." The important role of human resources in the venue includes： establishing internal and external relations， improving staff efficiency， driving digital innovation， and successfully facing challenges.
　　Panel： Digital innovation in the workplace from a people perspective
　　In this session， management level of Stockholmsmassan， Messe Munchen， Oman Convention & Exhibition Center， and Fiera Milano pointed out 5 trends to watch in the industry， among which Data & Digital ranks high on the second. IT has been gaining importance since 2015 and reached the top 3 in 2017. For the first time people see a top-3 focus areas for the industry. Change is accelerating. Digital innovation in the workplace from a people perspective， there are 3 areas of focus： Inter-generational considerations， means and methods of communication within organizations， war for talent and strong digital people. 　　Panel： Large venues


　　Venue operation has always been one of the enduring topics in the exhibition industry. At present， although exhibition venues around the world have their own characteristics， but they face similar challenges in many aspects.Carin Kindbom from the Swedish Exhibition and Congress， Mao Daben from Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center， Andreas Gruchow from Deutsche Messe AG， and Giorgio Contini from BolognaFiere shared perspectively on the following aspects： How can we meet greater expectations by expanding the business model to an overall experience；What are the priorities/needs of a newly build venue？ How does its business model look like？ Challenges of an older venue， how to handle renovation and other issues？ Expanding your venue to meet modern demands.
　　Best practice： Roboplotter
　　With Roboplotter， Stockholmsmassan won the 2018 UFI Operations and Services Award. Manual marking is labor intensive and costs money， is tedious job， typically performed during night and under stress， and costly errors are inevitable. Robot marking is efficient， sustainable， accurate and cost-saving. It has the capacity of marking 22000 sqm hall with 300 stands within 8 hours， and has proven very stable，being in operation for many years at Stockholmsmassan. The project also has freed executives of the venue for more important and strategic jobs.


　　Focus on Russia
　　As added value for participants interested in the Russian market， the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs （RUEF） hosted a workshop focused on doing business in Russia. This session is open to local industry professionals and all those UFI members interested in meeting and talking about the Russian market. Local well-known exhibition enterprises and venues participated in the promotion and conducted one-to-one talks with other participants.
　　Power handing over of Presidents
　　On 2 November， at the closing session of the annual congress， there was the "passing of the torch" from 2018 President Corrado Peraboni to the 2019 UFI President Craig Newman， and the invitation by the next UFI Congress Host destination， Thailand. The 2019 UFI Congress will be held on 6-9， November 2019.
　　Technology to create convenient participation experience
　　In terms of conference organization， as always， UFI paid attention to the consistent characteristics of industry networking， setting up a large number of exchange tea breaks between forums， so that delegates could have ample opportunities to negotiate business opportunities and enhance understanding with industry counterparts. Technology also facilitated delegates’ efficient access to industry information. For example， delegates could check the conference schedule and guide on their mobile phone through the App with their own user name and password. They could also send messages to each other and make appointments for business negotiations. On the spot of the conference， the delegates could just swap contact information with other delegates or collect information digitally on the electronic data wall with their congress badge built-in electronic chip.