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Question: Discuss about the Conference Industry of China. Answer: Introduction The conference industry is in its peak state. With the increase in awareness among people and the inquisitive nature has lead to the growth of the sector. Conferences are being held on a variety of topics and each topic is being shown and discussed round the globe. This report aims at analyzing the conference industry in Shanghai, China (Allen et al., 2012). The report introduces the concept of a conference and the nature of the industry. Trends around the globe as well as in the city have been discussed. The next section follows the demand and supply problems and suggestions on how to manage them. Recommendations have been made to show a road ahead for the city in this sector. Literature Review The event industry According to Davidson (2002), the event industry is one of the largest industries in the globe. It comprises of various events like a job fair, a festival, a social event, a business conference or a management event. The industry is often referred to as the event management or event planning. The industry consists of one-person planner to large companies engaged in creating experiences for the people. The events organized by them may be a corporate event or a social event depending on the need. The conference industry The conference industry forms a major part of the event industry. In the 21st century, where the world has become a global village, conferences form an essential part of the success of an organization. Various organizations like Deloitte, Pepsi, Ali baba, Amazon, and Microsoft and so on hold various conferences throughout the year (Fenich, 2014). These conferences need to be arranged and organized thereby increasing the importance of the event management sector. To begin with, the definition of a conference will be provided. A conference can be described as a meeting of group members or people who discuss or confer about a topic. Confer refers to an exchange of ideas and discussions about a relevant topic. This topic can range from sustainable management issues, news conferences, academic conferences and so on. Some of the types of conferences have been given below: Convention- refers to a meeting of people in a group belonging to a company in a particular field. Academic conference- Usually referring to the domain of science where relevant topics are discussed Parent-teacher conference- Conducted by the school where the administration informs the parents about their latest development (Rogers, 2013). Professional Conference- referring to the professional council of the country regarding a new act. Trade fair- Between various sellers Athletic Conference- a competitive group of teams generally spread geographically. The booming industry According to the US Statistics, events, conferences and conventions are expected to rise by 44% in 2020, which is far ahead of the projected growth of other industries. The demand of conference space has been increasing and various hotels like Ritz Carlton and Montage have received various bookings for their conference rooms. The conference industry encompasses a variety of fields with almost exhaust any conference goer person (Jones, 2014). It has been observed that almost every day some conference takes place in a certain corner of the world. . A conference goer could travel to a new city every week and attend a conference based on smart grid, cloud computing, farming methods, mathematics and ageing. The conference industry can conduct its own award and natural conferences. Various companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft have become the conference hosts. These conferences help these giants to improve their distribution chain and to strengthen their ties. Conferences are believed to be seminars, which can help a company to meet thousands of people at one time. Wurman is planning to conduct a conference called 555, which will be providing a platform to five global leaders in five cities on consecutive five Mondays that will encourage intellectual ideas and talk about architecture, future travel and energy (Hiller, 1995). The conference industry has faced various difficulties. It faced a boom during the 1990s and took a bad turn during after 9/11. Risks involved According to Lee (2006), there is certain amount of risks involved in the industry. The success of a conference is extremely essential in order to earn profits for the firm (Homburg, Vollmayr, Hahn, 2014). Many times the conference might get cancelled which may then threaten the efforts of the organizers. Trends of conference industry The conference industry has been doing well in the last few years with its growth parallel with the growth of internet. The number of conference has been increasing in size and the numbers of conferences that have been taking place are increasingly tremendously (Getz Page, 2016). These conferences have been increasing because they have gone global and are not restricted to limited topic discussed by a company in their domain or relating to their company issues. These conferences have been dealing with a variety of topics like renewable energy, sea plundering. The new trend is that the conferences might also have an online component. There needs to be a pre-reading component available online so that the members of the conference can read about the conference and come prepared for it. The online preview will also provide various details about the speakers and members. Conferences are beneficial because they help to share knowledge and bring about awareness for the people. Generally, the knowledge about a particular field remains restricted to the particular field. However, the aim of some of the conferences is to break these barriers and foster knowledge as well as creativity (Getz Page, 2016). The new concept of TED Conferences has developed and brought about thousands of people together under one roof. These people share their experiences and bring about convocation of ideas. The TED conferences started from an economic forum and have transformed itself into an idea fest attended by thousands of speakers including the head of states. Various discussions take place by Panelists like human longevity, cell phone app industry, and economic investment in Africa and so on. These types of topics are helpful for students who can apply their theoretical knowledge and use it to discuss these topics among themselves and get real world information. Earlier these conferences were restricted to those who attended the meetings but now it is not so. Every moment of the conference is posted online and filmed for public banter. Other advantages include these conferences have lead to worldwide awareness and funding. Many medical science conferences have brought about findings from all around the globe, which has helped in collaboration (Ahmad et al., 2012). This collaboration has formed various documents. According to Jones (2014), the information is being spread around to various body of organizations and people around the globe as well as people are becoming better informed and those who are not informed it is instigating them and it gives rise to a sense of necessity to get together and discuss about the various topics so that the world becomes closer. Latest conferencing trends in Shanghai, China The use of technology has become extremely important in order to enhance the experience of the conference goers. The events are being made more interactive which is better for the learning process. User-friendly applications are also being used by the organizers and sponsors as well as members alike in order to keep a track of the events and this makes the movement paperless. Sending live videos and building up content is another trend popular in China for the various conferences. With the growing popularity if Facebook and Instagram, this trend was bound to become popular. As conferences are becoming increasingly popular, the conferences are asking for larger rooms and additional space for offering healthy mails for the attendees (Andersson et al., 2015). The tastes of the conference goers also vary and therefore these needs have to be taken care of by the conference management team. Video and teleconferencing techniques are also extremely popular in the city. Other experts suggest that due to the advent of technology, the event organizers are able to start the conversation even before it is possible to with the help of technology. Another remarkable trend in the industry is the unique themes and venues (Chon Weber, 2014).Earlier the conferences use to take place in more professional environments, however these days the options have become more ordinary like places in museums, building sites and many more. In China, gift taking is generally not acceptable however, the participants attending the seminar need to be encouraged and they can be welcomed with a personal note or a gift like a diary. They can also be provided with coupons and reservations of their choice (Weber, 2001). There are various demands for AV equipments with the members making use of voting keypads, WebEx streaming and photo booths. Corporate in China expect to get more out of the management and want to get full value for money. Airbnb trend has also had a huge impact on the particular industry with group reservations made with hotels replaced by delegates paying for their own accommodation. The latest trend in the industry at China has been that the companies engaging in the conference prefer attending a conference that lasts for more than two days rather than attending a conference that is based on a single day (Davidson, 2002). They enjoy dinners that are more formal rather than informal ones. The dinner trends have been evolving in China with people opting for healthier food and therefore this has affected the industry greatly (Lee, Kao Yang, 2014). Various conferences taking place in China: International Conference On Software And Information Engineering ((ICSIE-17)) This conference is based on knowledge sharing based on the field of Engineering. It is usually held in Swiss hotel Grand Shanghai. International Conference on Business, Economics, Social Science Humanities (BESSH) Based on the field of economics and science, this seminar will be held at Leisure Inn and discuss about the world economy. China Marketing Summit This summit is held in China every year and it is necessary attend conference for any group of people who want to attend to market of China (Best, 2012). Global Sources Summit This is a great opportunity for the entrepreneurs and small businesses who want to build a business. Various strategic ideas are discussed to help these entrepreneurs to build a business. Managing Supply and Demand Issues in the Conference Industry in Shanghai According to Park Boo (2010), the main reasons why the supply and demand problems take place are the nature of the service industries. What makes these industries is that they are required immediately. Managing this difference is difficult to manage and the company should make sure that it is able to adhere to the needs of the consumers. As the Event industry has become the new sought after industry, there have been many companies who engage themselves in this operation and thus the supply side has been exceeding. This could be stated as the trend say 5 years back. However, as per the latest trend the conference industry has been doing extremely well and therefore, the demand for arranging conferences has been increasing (Kotler, 2012). As these demands have been increasing, the existing industries have been finding it extremely difficult to cope up with the needs of the demand. The demand and supply occurs in China because: Services are direct, they cannot be stored therefore, and this leads the managers without an alert as to when these services may be demanded. There is a huge amount of producer and consumer interaction in services such as a conference and the consumer provides constant input as to how the task has to be done. This is a mixed blessing as on one hand it provides a source of ideas but on the other it provides interference for the managers. The consumption of goods and services can be delayed however; the services have to be delivered instantly. This is the reason why there is a lot of problem because the conference sponsors find it difficult to find the right event managers who will deliver the conference of their choice. According to Rompf, Brieter Severt (2008), managing this demand and supply can be a difficult task hence it is better is better to form a creative solution and expand the base so that the company can manage the business. The manager can alter the demand by developing an off-peak pricing system whereby complementary services are offered so that the customers are attracted (Kay, 2005). They can even create a non-peak demand, which will help the firm to balance the business. The supply that is being created can also be controlled so that so that the demand can be matched with it. In order to manage a huge supply, the part time employees can be employed so that during the peak seasons the demand can be balanced. Efficiency has to be managed and improved so that the balance can be removed and during the peak season lot of mistakes can be made and therefore, during the lean season the company can improve their skills and manage to gear up for the peak season. Recommendations- How to stay ahead in the conference industry: The following can be applied by the conference industry in China so as to adopt better efficiency and race ahead and stead in the conference industry Adopt Data Analytics Data analytics can be applied in the field of event management. The previous year trends can be observed and a pattern can be formed in order to anticipate the demand, which is present. Data is a new field whereby analysis of data can help in decision-making. Build up Architecture As the numbers of conferences, which are being held, are increasing tremendously and therefore it should be seen that the required architecture for the industry is being prepared for so that the demand for the increased conferences can be met with easily. Use technology The technology should be applied in every field of conferencing. Videos. Mails, applications, AV. These all should be made use of so that the consumers can be dealt with easily and all the data can be kept under one umbrella (Mullins, Walker Boyd Jr, 2012). For separate conferences, an application can be formed which can be shared with the goers as well as the organizers. The schedule and various other data can be presented on the application for easy use. Conclusion Therefore, from the discussion it can be stated that the conference industry emerged as a popular topic in the 90s. During the 2007-2008 periods, it was under a dull period. Again post 2015, the conference industry has been doing well. With the upcoming trends and latest technology, the industry has become one of the most sought after industries. In Shanghai, the industry has been doing well. Shanghai is a host to various conferences on a variety of topics. The Chinese have applied various trends into their process of doing business and thereby performed well. Following the stated recommendations and suggestions, the industry will be able to perform even better in Shanghai. References Ahmad, N. L., Yusuf, A. N. M., Shobri, N. D. M., Wahab, S. (2012). The relationship between time management and job performance in event management.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,65, 937-941. Allen, J., O'toole, W., Harris, R., McDonnell, I. (2012).Festival and Special Event Management, Google eBook. John Wiley Sons. Andersson, A., Deng, J., Du, K., Zheng, M., Yan, C., Sko?ld, M., Gustafsson, O. (2015). 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