ITU Reporter’s Notebook: Dec. 4, 2006

HONG KONG--The first ITU Telecom World show to be held outside Geneva, Switzerland, is a decidedly Asian affair but retains many of the characteristics of its predecessors. Just as in Geneva, where most attendees were forced to stay in far-flung cities, most attendees to this show aren’t staying in the immediate area of the Asia World Expo but in the central area of Hong Kong, which is a half-hour train ride away. That commute seems paltry compared to the multiple journeys many endured to reach Palexpo in Geneva, but on the show’s first day, it was complicated by the fact that the ticket machines for the Airport Express, which stops at the Asia World Expo, were on the fritz--at least two out of the three were--and ticket lines were long.

Unlike Geneva, however, Hong Kong has ample shuttle buses to take visitors elsewhere, including to other train stations. When ITU Telecom World returns to Geneva in 2009, someone might want to take note of the efficiency of that system.

It is also weird to see long lines for trains and buses and fairly short lines for taxis, as most attendees weren’t relying on cars to provide transportation. And, of course, you’d have to be a masochist to rent a car and attempt to drive in Hong Kong.

And then there’s the Media Center. In the proud tradition of ITU, we journalists don’t have a home inside Asia World Expo. Instead, we are ensconced in what looks like a large metal building--a glorified trailer, really--in the parking lot, or about a 15- to 20-minute walk from the exhibit floor or the ITU Forum sessions. The facility itself is fine, and at least there are rules against smoking inside. In 1999, the last ITU show I attended at Geneva, we were in a glorified tent stuck in a field that was a construction site outside Palexpo. Since there is apparently a law that requires European journalists to be chain-smokers, and because our tent had plenty of ashtrays but poor circulation, by the end of the show it was more comfortable to try to sit on a curb and type.

There is a much heavier police presence at the Asia World Expo than I remember in Geneva, but these are very different times. Our Chinese hosts are also friendlier to visitors like me, who are often clueless about basic things. Certainly us Westerners whose cities host major trade shows, like the upcoming NxtCom, could take a lesson from the residents of Hong Kong.