I've traveled more than 6,000 miles to attend ISH China. The
trade show is being held at the China National Convention Center, located in
the Olympic Park. And yes, I've seen the "Bird's Nest" stadium and
the Water Cube, but that's about it. Driving in from the airport, Beijing looks
like most big cities. And ISH China is like most trade shows I've attended over
the years — it's just that most people are speaking Mandarin Chinese instead of
English (or German, as was the case when I attended ISH Frankfurt a few years
ago). This is a much smaller show than ISH Frankfurt, which my feet will be
grateful for!
After breakfast at the hotel (which is conveniently next to
the convention center), I met with
Penny Troon, senior
public relations officer at
Messe Frankfurt — Hong Kong, and other foreign journalists before heading over
to the show.
As some of you may know,
today
is World Plumbing Day, and it was officially launched with a press conference
at ISH China.
Robert Burgon, chairman of the World Plumbing
Council, opened the briefing. The WPC is joined in this endeavor by
Hua
Mingjiu, chairman of the Plumbing Facilities of China Construction
Metal Structures Association, and Messe Frankfurt.
The theme for this inaugural World Plumbing Day is
"Plumbing — Vital to Global Health." Burgon discussed the
importance of plumbing and good sanitation to the health of the planet.
"We want people all over the world to understand that
plumbing is a major contributor to public health (through its role in relation
to water and sanitation) and to the health of the planet (through the many
environmental initiatives and technologies in which the industry is
involved)," he said.
He added that people all over the world "rarely
understand" that the installation of plumbing systems must be done in a
professional way to protect people's health.
A special Web site has been established —
www.worldplumbingday.org
— which will be the depository for technical and other information to be
accessed by the world's plumbers. Currently, the site has two papers that
detail certain aspects of plumbing: the health side and the environmental side.
Burgon said the intent of the site is to produce short
technical papers that reflect the "best thinking on plumbing
technology." He did admit that most of the information on the site is in
English, but that the hope is to translate these into other languages.
As to future events to commemorate the day, Burgon
said it was "too soon" at this stage to speculate. The WPC board will
be reviewing the publicity and activities of this inaugural event next
week. He did say that a joint event with the World Health Organization
could be possible next year.
After the press conference, I walked around the show
floor and sat in on a few sessions of the Sino European Congress. But the dimly
lit room and jet lag had me heading back to the show floor.
On the schedule tonight is a special Messe Frankfurt dinner
for the media — overlooking Tiananmen Square. I'll let you know how it goes!
