IT&CM China 2012 opened with much fanfare at the new venue - the Shanghai World Expo Convention and Exhibition Center. The show boasts better turnout in terms of exhibitor (317 exhibiting organizations) and buyers (380 from 40 countries and territories). Indeed, apart from having more exhibitors and country / corporate pavilions, the booths and pavilions appeared to have grander and more impressive designs.

IT&CM China 2012 being a show with a new local partner (CITS International M.I.C.E.) in a new venue, there were inevitably some teething problems during build-up, registration, access control and transportation. In particular, for regular attendees of IT&CM China, the isolation and lack of amenities around the Expo Centre did take some getting use to, especially when compared to the growing vibes and convenience at the old Hongqiao venue.  But sponsors and exhibitors were all smiles as this means a captive audience to market their services to and better networking opportunities. This was evident from the overwhelming attendance at the various sponsored luncheon and dinners.

On the education front, some seminar sessions tackled topics on the use of technology for managing events. on mobile technology. Mr Gu Xuebin of Info Salons China and Ms Alina Chow of Crowdcomms from Singapore put up a convincing case of using mobile technology to manage event registration process and to improve onsite interactive communication with delegates. However, while online software solutions and mobile apps are aplenty, connectivity issue remains a hindrance. Data roaming charges are high across borders while WIFI is still not widely available in many international events, including this IT&CM China event. Hence most of these solutions that depended on online services not work for everyone.

Ms Rennis Li of Mastercard introduced China’s MICE practitioners to the company’s innovative payment solutions. Organizer may set authorize credit limits for its corporate Mastercard holders to make event/project-related payments - such as travel, hotel, F&B and other third party costs. The benefits of this system includes better integrated expense management, increased productivity and online business analytics tools. This is mostly suitable for smaller corporate events where travel and hotel costs are the key expenses, because larger conference and expo may involve many vendors that are not retail oriented and hence do not necessarily accept credit card payment, even though the Mastercard solution does provide the flexibility to input non-card payments manually into its online platform.

With the success of this year’s event, T&CM China will return to the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from 17  to 19 April 2013. More than 70% of exhibitors at IT&CM China 2012 have already signed up to be part of next years showcase. A number of exhibitors have also upped their participation by investing in larger booth space.

For more information on the event, please visit www.itcmchina.com