Organiser seeks staff with flair
One of the greatest problems facing the exhibition industry in Hong Kong is a lack of experienced management.
According to Peter Sutton, president and chief executive of trade fair organiser CMP Asia, AsiaWorld-Expo, which opened on Lantau Island last year, will continue to host more exhibitions, but it will be increasingly difficult to find people to manage them.
'We are always looking for new people who aspire to be managers in just about every aspect of the business,' he said. But he also said that there was a need for managers in marketing, promotion and sales, and that the company was looking for people who can develop good customer relations, work to tight deadlines and take the initiative.
Sourcing the right staff is not the only difficulty. In today's market, retaining good staff is also an issue. Hong Kong has returned to an employees market after more than 10 years of favouring the employer and although there are plenty of people in the job market, many are not ready to settle and commit.
Mr Sutton said this was particularly true for marketing and promotion personnel.
They are in high demand in all industries in Hong Kong and on the mainland, and they face a particularly difficult task in the exhibitions industry.
'Exhibitions last for four or five days of the year at most, so 99 per cent of the time staff are in marketing. The marketing staff have to keep something alive when it doesn't exist,' he said.
CMP Asia is also looking for customer service and information technology staff to run the media products derived from the company's exhibitions. The firm has call centres to help clients, promotional websites for every exhibition and is developing online marketplaces to continue to provide customers with a forum where they can do business.
