Encouraging International Participation

CeBIT uses "partner country" concept

By Jenny Tesar

"We are delighted to be here in Germany," says Jon Gerrard at the opening ceremony of CeBIT '94 in Hannover. Gerrard, Canada's Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, led a contingent of some 100 Canadian companies that were exhibiting at CeBIT '94 in Canada's capacity as Partner Country. "Trade and investment opportunities are at the top of our agenda," he says. "Whatever your information technology (IT) requirements, Canada has the people, the products and services, and the investment opportunities that can help you meet those requirements. We invite you to discover the many advantages of doing business with Canada."

Birth of a concept
CeBIT is the world's largest trade fair for information and communications technology, attracting 5,850 exhibitors and 675,000 paying attendees during its eight-day run in March. Some 105,000 attendees came from outside Germany, a figure that pleased the fair organizers, Deutsche Messe AG. "We want CeBIT to be a gateway to the world, not a German show," says Jorg Schomburg, head of Deutsche Messe's CeBIT team. "One additional overseas attendee is more important than 100 Germans. We know that if an attendee comes that distance, he is highly qualified."

Deutsche Messe and German IT associations first discussed the partner country concept in 1987, after the separation of CeBIT from the famed Hannover Fair. "At that time, medium-sized companies were active only in Germany; they were concerned that the advent of open markets would benefit only the largest companies," says Schomburg. "They wanted contacts with other countries that had sophisticated technologies, so they could improve their competitiveness."

The associations chose India to be the first partner country, at CeBIT '89, because of its outstanding software capabilities. In the following years, the partner countries were the USA (1990), Hong Kong (1991), Finland and Norway (1992), and Eastern Europe (1993).

Clear guidelines for the Partner Country program have been prepared by Deutsche Messe, describing objectives, organization of the event, divisions of responsibility, allocation of costs and conditions of participation. For example, before making an application, the prospective partner country must ensure that its head of state or head of government will address the Opening Ceremony on the eve of the first day of CeBIT. The audience for this invitation-only event consists of approximately 1,200 leading representatives of information and telecommunications industries from all over the world. At CeBIT '94, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien spoke to the audience via live video transmission from Ottawa, extolling his nation's accomplishments and saying, "I want you to think of Canada as your partner country, not only during CeBIT, but for many years to come."

Exhibits and presentations
The partner country concept consists of two parts: a special exhibition in one of the 20-plus CeBIT exhibition halls and an International CeBIT Forum, this year titled, "Business with Canada."

An area of close to 1,400 square meters (15,069 square feet) near the entrance of Hall 6, across from the fairgrounds' Conference Center, was provided for Canada's Partner Country exhibition. In addition to companies that offer products or services in the computers and communications areas, the stand featured government authorities, organizations and institutions that provide direct or indirect assistance in the realization of cooperative ventures. It's important to note that such exhibitors may participate in CeBIT only in the year that their country is the Partner Country.

The forum "Business with Canada" opened on the second day of CeBIT, when senior representatives of leading Canadian and European companies, industry associations and government agencies participated in a panel discussion on international partnering. Proceedings were simultaneously translated into English, French and German. That evening, there was a Partner Country reception; among the invited were forum speakers, Canadian exhibitors and their business partners and government personnel.

During the following days, forum presentations ran the gamut from investment opportunities in various Canadian provinces to the latest trends in multimedia. There even was a session on student exchange programs, well attended by high school students and their parents. Seats at the sessions, which also were simultaneously translated into the three languages, were available on a first-come basis.

During the first years of the Partner Country program, the forum was held in the Conference Center. Today, it's held in a theater within the Hall 6 exhibition. "Experience showed that this arrangement is more advantageous," says Jennifer Cooke, the Canadian representative for Deutsche Messe. "Visitors to the exhibits often see something interesting within the theater and sit down. And those who come for forum presentations can conveniently talk with exhibitors afterwards."

Many players
Numerous government departments, organizations and associations support and become involved in organizing and promoting the Partner Country program. On Germany's side, players include the federal ministries for foreign affairs, posts and telecommunications, and economic affairs; the local state government; nine industry associations and organizations; the CeBIT Exhibitors' Committee; and Deutsche Messe. On the Partner Country's side, the players -- and their efficacy -- varies from year to year. This year, things "ran like clockwork," says Schomburg, who credits the extensive and very professional involvement of Canadian government personnel. In some instances in the past, Deutsche Messe has had to rely more heavily on its own professionals, either in Hannover or in its overseas offices, to ensure that the program met its goals.

Forum: The content of the forum program is the responsibility of a committee of experts from the partner country, German industry and German industry associations. The committee meets alternately in Hannover and the partner country. Travel expenses are borne by the committee members themselves or by their companies or organizations.

Deutsche Messe bears the costs of the forum -- rooms, technical facilities, simultaneous interpreters, service personnel, cleaning, etc. The forum contributors or their companies or organizations pay their own travel costs.

The costs of the evening reception are borne by Deutsche Messe. The partner country is responsible for any cultural programs and the costs thereby incurred. For example, four Royal Canadian Mounties graced meetings, the exhibition, social events and press conferences; their expenses were covered by Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, as part of its Partner Country public relations budget. This department also printed 50,000 booklets that listed the forum program; these were distributed throughout the world two months before the fair. In addition, the department mailed out hundreds of invitations for select forum sessions.

Exhibition: The central coordinating organization acting on behalf of the partner country is responsible for renting the necessary space for the exhibition from Deutsche Messe. The rental charge corresponds to the standard rates for the year concerned. The partner country must decide by July 31 of the preceding year how much space is actually required. Provided that sufficient capacity is available, additional space can be rented in other halls. Thus, in addition to the main Partner Country exhibition, Canada had pavilions in halls devoted to networking and telecommunications.

The partner country is responsible for recruiting companies and organizations to take part in the exhibition. Deutsche Messe is prepared to carry out presentations at its own expense in the partner country in the year prior to the event. It also supplies the partner country free of charge with special information brochures for use in the country's own marketing activities.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, under the direction of Claude Charland, Deputy Director of Trade Fairs and Missions-Europe, rented the floor space, then proceeded with recruiting exhibitors. It also handled design, construction and set-up/teardown of the exhibition. A somewhat different scenario occurred when the United States was the partner country. Then, these steps were carried out by Hannover Fairs USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Deutsche Messe.

In both cases, confirmed exhibitors were provided with assistance by Deutsche Messe's local office. For example, Cooke's office helped Canadian companies order services not included in the basic exhibitor's package, registered the companies as co-exhibitors, made sure they stayed on track with dead lines, and so forth.

Pre-show promotion: "In conjunction with the federal government, we did a tour across Canada -- seven cities in 10 days -- with Herr Schomburg," says Cooke. "People in provincial and local governments were invited, as were all high-tech companles. The semlnars were attended by up to 50 people and provided us with excellent contacts with potential exhibitors and attendees."

In addition to helping the partner country with internal promotional activities, Deutsche Messe carries out extensive international advertising and public relations activities in connection with the program. "We don't want the partner country to focus only on Germany," explains Schomburg. "In the fall, we hold press conferences around the world. Generally, a representative of the partner country takes part, describing the nation's technology and its plans for CeBIT. For example, this past year at our press conference in Singapore, we had a representative of the local Canadian Embassy."

InTelligent Australia
Next year, at CeBIT '95, Australia will be the partner country, exhibiting under the heading "InTelligent Australia." Chief of the Australian organizing committee is Dieter Le Comte, Executive General Manager for Europe at Austrade -- the Australian Trade Commission. "We are going to exploit this advantage with very professional, polished displays of the best Australian technology," Le Comte says. "We will be taking center stage in other ways during CeBIT to promote our intellectual industries and our culture. In a national sense, it also allows us to present Australian IT as a world-class industry with innovative, successful products; an important step away from the image of Australia many Europeans still have -- a picturesque country without sophisticated products. This has to change, and CeBIT '95 will play a major role in helping us do that."

Benefits for the show organizer
The main objectives of the Partner Country program are directed toward supporting the industries represented at CeBIT: presenting potential partners for international cooperation, providing information about investment opportunities, promoting the sale of products on international markets, initiating the exchange of scientific and technological ideas, and so on.

But there also are more concrete benefits for Deutsche Messe. The program results in increased press coverage of CeBIT in the partner country, particularly in the business press. It also ensures attendance at CeBIT of high-level government officials from both Germany and the partner country.

And, the program attracts additional exhibitors and attendees from the partner country, not only during the year the country is featured but, it is hoped, in the years following. For the latter to occur, of course, effective follow-up programs are important. The United States, for example, had 196 exhibitors at CeBIT '89, then jumped to 312 in 1990, when it was the partner country. Since then, Hannover Fairs USA deserves the bulk of the credit for the significant increase in the number of U.S. exhibitors, to a total of 453 this year. Rented floor space grew from 5,269 square meters (56,715 square feet) in 1989 to 5,789 square meters (62,312 square feet) in 1990 to 11,497 square meters (123,753 square feet) in 1994. These statistics cover only direct U.S. exhibitors; excluded are firms such as IBM, Apple and Microsoft, which exhibit under the auspices of their European subsidiaries.

"If Canada is a high-tech producer and exporter to be reckoned with, we have to show we've got staying power," says Cooke. "We're encouraging companies that exhibited this year to build on the relationships that they have established, and to return for '95 and '96 and on into the future."

Initial results are impressive. Before CeBIT '94 ended, Charland notes, "We'd already sold out our pavilion space for CeBIT '95."

Looking to the future
Together with German associations and its Exhibitor Committee, Deutsche Messe constantly re-evaluates the Partner Country program. Because it is running out of high-tech nations to highlight, and because the internationality of CeBIT seems to be assured, it is looking at other options that may be more suitable a few years hence.

Whatever decision is ultimately made, it undoubtedly will reflect a philosophy recently expressed by Schomburg: "We here at CeBIT do not consider ourselves as just another trade show, as just renters of floor space. We consider ourselves to be part of the IT industry. This is the reason for many of the special projects that we have developed at CeBIT."