The Biggest Industry in the World
We take it for granted. It happens around us all the time. Conference Industry is a dynamic engine that is estimated to generate as much as a trillion dollars in spending each year.
This morning I flipped through four Indonesian newspapers and came to understand that in the next two weeks, there would be 11 major groups busy conferencing in Jakarta and Bali. Curious what other conferences could possibly be going on I called the Ritz Carlton, Bali and asked for Conference Manager.
“Hello” I said,” can I speak to the Conference Manager please?”
“Oh, I am sorry Sir, we are fully booked till next year,” said a harassed female and cut the line.
I looked at Bali News on the web and the tourist tabloid seemed to confirm that Bali could be fully booked for conferences till sometime in 2009.
Conferences Everywhere
Couriouser and couriouser, I searched the net going further afield. From April to July it seems that Geneva will also be fully booked with United Nations conferences on nearly every topic foreboding trouble for the planet. Indeed the UN is going to be very busy in all the interesting cities and spots around the world. The Year of Sanitation, which 2008 is, is going to be hectic for the staffers. The European Union will compete effectively with a nice list of conferences too. The Association of South East Asian Nations has at least one scheduled every day. Small fish! That’s only a wee bit of Inter- Government conferencing. What if you take all countries, associations, organizations and corporations? Would it be fair to say that in one day there would be at least a 100 conferences going on in nice cities around the world.
10,000 Conferences a Day
That, said an international conference organizer staff member, would be terribly off the mark. My ignorance was appalling! The figure is more likely to be around 10,000 conferences a day.
“Hello, can I speak to the Conference Manager” I asked calling the Marriot, Bali.
“I am sorry Sir; he is not in his office right now.”
He was not in his office at all the next day and the day after. It turned out that Marriot; Bali had three conferences going on that day. So please don’t fire the guy. He was fagged out. I eventually learned from the Bali News that there were on, that particular day, more than 100 conferences forging along, according to the staffer’s educated guess. I learned also that there were about 300 going on simultaneously in Las Vegas. An UN official in Jakarta estimated that the UN and its bodies would have at least 200 conferences a day all over the place. I realized then that 10,000 a day may not be impossibility.
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