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.
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| Robert Burgon, chairman of the
World Plumbing Council, speaking at the World Plumbing Day press conference in Beijing. |
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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.
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| The A.O. Smith booth at ISH China 2010. |
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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!
To read about Kelly's last day at the show, click here.
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