2022 9th World Water Forum
2022 9th World Water Forum
by Chris & Partners — Year2022Event categoryForum, exhibitionCountrySenegal, AfricaProject name9th World Water Forum — Korea Pavilion construction and operationHost/OrganizerWorld Water Council / Korea Water ForumEvent datesMarch 21–26, 2022VenueAbdou Diouf International Conference Centre of Diamniadio (CICAD), Diamniadio, SenegalChris & Partners' roleKorea Pavilion exhibition booth construction & operation
Chris & Partners' event-planning highlights
Following the 8th forum held in Brazil in 2018, Chris & Partners again took charge of the World Water Forum Korea Pavilion for this edition. The World Water Forum is a mega-event held every three years since 1997 under the auspices of the World Water Council, where participants from some 200 countries seek solutions to global water issues. Scheduled for last year, the 9th forum was postponed due to COVID-19 and held this year in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
1. Communication and advance preparation
Because the event was held in the unfamiliar setting of Senegal, Africa, it required advance venue surveys and thorough preparation—partners, local conditions, staffing, and more. Also, for overseas events, smooth communication between the host and local construction vendors is very important; due to local circumstances it was hard to get immediate feedback from the host and local vendors, making communication difficult, but Chris & Partners' own know-how, built from many international event-planning experiences, drew it out well.
2. Exhibition booth operation
The Korea Pavilion booth represented the many institutions and companies participating from Korea in their own spaces. Considering participant flow, it was run divided into an institution Zone and a corporate Zone.
We installed and ran a PDP on each institution's graphics, playing videos explaining the institutions' projects to deepen participants' understanding.
Chris & Partners planned various events and, within the limited space, built and ran spaces for side events—seminars, LOIs, business consultations, and more.
Also, outside the scheduled program, we continuously played each company's and institution's promo videos on the multi-vision installed in the booth, boosting promotional effect and providing diverse information to participants visiting the booth.
3. Staffing
As the common local language was French, we selected French-speaking operations staff in advance, enabling smooth participant reception. As needed, we even helped with simple interpretation during business consultations, earning high satisfaction from participating companies and institutions.
For participants attending seminars held at the Korea Pavilion, we provided Korean traditional teas and sweets, plus self-made masks and mask straps as souvenirs, boosting footfall.
Local conditions were somewhat poor, so there was much to attend to from the booth-construction stage, but thanks to Chris & Partners' successful operation built on years of international-event and exhibition experience, many participants visited the Korea Pavilion over the six days of the event, making it an event that satisfied both host and participants.