fare better at a smaller, more focused exhibition. At the same time, he said, “it’s great just to see everything that is going on in the industry.” Suntech’s Yu agreed that the networking and market research that take place at WFES are valuable. “We’re here to understand what’s happening in the market,” he said. “Our focus is definitely making sales, but the exchange of informa- tion is playing a bigger role this year and will help us measure our success here.”

LEARNING CURVE

Recognizing the importance of educational program- ming and knowledge sharing in a nascent industry, show organizers amped up the conference portion of WFES this year. According to Masdar, 1,045 people (up 7 percent from 2012) attended the WFES 2013 conference program, which featured 165 speakers in 16 hours of panel discussions and plenary sessions over two days. Topics ranged from the role of domestic and international policies on the future of renew- able markets, to the outlook for private-sector financing. Show organizers also created space for educational pro- gramming on the exhibit floor. The Sustainable Solutions Village in the IWS exhibit space, for example, was used to display and highlight projects that have been successfully implemented in water-scarce communities across the world. Similarly, the Technology Exchange Platform, located in the rear of the WFES exhibition area, provided a mini presentation and exhibit space for companies to promote their technologies and services. “This is more interactive and allows for more exchange between presenter and audi- ence,” said Reed Exhibitions’ Naji El Haddad, WFES’s show director. Over the course of the three-day exhibition, 33 speakers gave 25-minute presentations on topics such as best practices in Middle East solar plants and the potential for recycling and reusing biogas — under the title “Toilet: A Tool of Social Change.” Several of the larger exhibitors, including Schneider

Electric, Statoil, and ExxonMobil, offered programming within their booths. At the ExxonMobil Energy Outlook Forum, a separate area within the large ExxonMobil booth served as a mini-auditorium for 10 speakers. And the Ernst & Young–sponsored Project & Finance Village offered sessions on the renewable investment market, and also showcased 30 clean-tech and renewable-energy projects looking for outside investment. With annual investment in renewables up to an estimated $257 billion worldwide, it’s not surprising the Village has grown in popularity and size since it was introduced three years ago. “We launched the Village in 2011 with 16 projects,” said Robert Seiter, Ernst & Young’s cleantech leader for Europe, Middle East, and Asia. “This year, we have 30 projects with an estimated invest- ment value of $8 billion.”

74 PCMA CONVENE APRIL 2013

Future Shock ‘If we don’t act, we can be sure we will have a catastrophe very soon,’ French President Francois Hollande (top) said during WFES’s opening ceremony, after which the 130,000-square-foot show floor opened.

PCMA.ORG