Report on Trip to Guangzhou Oversea Scholar Conference

Time: 12/26/2001 to 12/31/2001 (3 days for actual meeting)

For those who eventually went there, it was a very good trip to recommend even though it was completed not as good as I wish. The organization of the trip was started early November. We had 17 people who applied for it. We got all the people invited for the trip and 3 of them were awarded with the trip compensation (only 10% of the total invitees of the conference could receive it). But most people decided not to go due to many reasons. There were 8 people who committed to the trip and only 4 of them showed up in the conference.

The conference invited 2500+ people from oversea and we do not know how many of them really showed up. We stayed in the 5-star Garden Hotel and Bai Yun Hotel. There were 150 exhibition booth and we got 2 booth while CINA had 1 booth and SCEA had no booth and had to urge one at the time. The banner we got from our school really made big difference on decorating our booth and even attracted another alumni from the East Coast to join our booth. Now, he has been added to our mailing list. The traffic during the conference was light comparing to other conference similar I attended before. Maybe Guangzhou has not published the event well enough.

Among the people who went there, we all believe that it was worthy the trip even though we may have different conclusion on whether it is the time to go back to China now. We all believe that it made us have very valuable first hand information on the technology status, business situation, and trends in China. It gives you the opportunity to see so much in such a short time. Only in this way, could you tell what is in demand in China and where the market is in there. The best product in the world does not mean it would be the best sell in China. It also gives you the opportunity to make so many contacts and connections within such a short time.

The booming economy there is strong contrast comparing to that here. You see it very energetic. The change is so quick and you see people trying all efforts to grab the opportunity to get rich. The development is so quick and what you know now is not what you will see in next trip. You also see the tide of high-tech among all traditional companies or manufacturers.

During our trip, we had one TV interview from Japanese NHK station officed in Hong Kong and one newspaper interview from Hong Kong Gang Yue Science Information officed in Guangzhou. We attended the Project and Product Publishing Meeting sponsored by Guangzhou Tian He Science Park. We established connection with Guangzhou Tian He Science Park, Qing Dao City Government, Haier Corp, and many other organizations, government offices, and companies. Alan has also set up a close contact with district government in Shenzhen. We had taken the chance to introduce our association and our members. We also had a lot of talks with SCEA and CINA. Overall, the image of our association has really been published and will attract more contacts and attentions. All the participants had very good impression about the trip and they all feel very valuable.

When we organize our next trip this year, we need to start one month earlier and organize some visits to other company and/or institute besides the conference itself. It will be more fruitful and attracts more attentions. Budget is also VERY IMPORTANT. When we have more budget, we can do MUCH better marketing and decorate our booth to make it attractive and successful. This time, we almost had nothing to help. Also, I like to take this chance to thank Alan Xing, Jeff Ling and Fan Zhang. Without their help and hard work, nothing can happen. Alan paid out of his pocket to copy materials and tried all the efforts to introduce our association. Jeff made his booth one of the most impressive among all booths and tried all the efforts to help on getting more exposure. Also, Jerry and Joseph made great efforts in getting our business cards. It was crucial to the success of introducing our association. At last, Sean got the banner made by our school! It made whole lot different on our booth. I really appreciate their helps.

Thanks.
Wayne Zhang