Throughout my career and in my voluntary work, I’ve had the opportunity to attend many events — including many mega ones — in Singapore and around the world.
Organisers often spend much effort in marketing their event so that they can draw more exhibitors and participants. That’s well and good because they are in it for the profit.
What happens after registration and turning up is another thing. Some events have let me down tremendously — from poor logistics planning to lack of interest in visitors. All they wanted was to meet their KPI of visitor numbers.
Of course, they’re not all bad. There have been events where I’ve come out smiling for the experience, whether it’s the welcoming feel, content, exhibits, or takeaways that I’ve gathered.
But there is one event where the organisation stands tall above all. It’s Computex Taipei.
I’ve had the privilege of attending this mega IT show in Taiwan since 2003 and its organisers, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (TCA) certainly puts in lots of effort to draw the crowd and keep them happy.
Before the event starts, they send invitations to trade visitors and get this — offer sponsorship of accommodation to those who qualify.
International participants are provided with official letters for speedier clearance at airport immigration. Believe me, this is a major plus when you look at the queue.
Registration is made easy with counters at all the halls. The tags can also be delivered to the participants’ hotels. Wow!
Now, for the clincher. Every international participant is given a Taipei Metro card with unlimited travel on the subway from the start of the exhibition to the day after it ends. That’s a whopping value of NTD900 (about US$28.60) for five days of subway convenience. No other event that I’ve been to, including big ones in the United States, accord such a benefit to visitors.
It’s really convenient to get around in Taipei with their extensive subway network. And the key event venues at Taipei World Trade Center in the city and Nangang Exhibition Hall on the outskirts sit near a station.
On top of that, the thoughtful organisers also provided bus shuttles among the venues, as well as to many hotels.
Kudos, TAITRA and TCA! You’ve made going to Computex a joy and something that I look forward to every year.
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