Exhibition World | News"We've got green lights for therecording," she said at a pressconference, "we answered allthe questions and made a verydetailed presentation." After formal registration, theMilan council presidency willsend invitation letters to BIE'scountries and beginnegotiations with thoseinterested in participating inMilan Expo.Expo 2015 chief executiveGiuseppe Sala said theimportant thing now "is to agreeon those contractualrelationships that we built on aninformal basis," adding the roadto making an innovative expo,from the construction ofbuildings to technology andcontent, was a difficult one.The event follows this year'sWorld Expo in Shanghai.ITALY- The Milan Expo 2015has a green light to register atthe upcoming general assemblyof the Bureau of InternationalExpositions (BIE), afterresolving a land dispute.Milan authorities haveconfirmed that the concernsraised by six of the 155 BIEmember states on theavailability of the Expo areashave been assuaged after twomajor landowners reached anagreement with the Milanmunicipality.France, Germany, Denmark,Finland, Canada and Japan allsubmitted requests forclarification, but specialcommissioner for the Expo andmayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti,said the city had won BIE's officialrecommendation for registrationas the next World Expo.RUSSIA - The worst of therecession is over and theinternational exhibition market isregaining strength, says ITEGroup CEO Russell Taylor."We feel we are out of therecession," Taylor told EW. "Ourbusinesses in Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan and St Petersburghave been slightly slow torespond, but are beginning toturn and are now running aboutnine months behind Moscow."The big picture is, exhibitionsare late cycle so they tend toreact a little bit late in theeconomic trend."ITE's Russian events includethe Moscow InternationalMotor Show and WorldfoodMoscow, which both grew byaround a quarter last year,while its UK fashion eventModa increased its space by21 per cent year-on-year.Taylor's only concern for theRussian market is the economy'sdependence on oil prices. Ifprices drop in the fossil-fuelenergy sector, then the effectswould likely be felt throughoutthe region. ITE runs several shows in theoil and gas sector.WORLD - Virtual eventsprovide middling effectiveness,and are best used tocomplement rather thanreplace face-to-face events,according to a survey ofexhibition organisers andpromoters.The findings by the Centre forExhibition Industry Research(CEIR) and George P JohnsonExperience Marketing (GJP),published in Digital andExhibiting Marketing Insights2010, suggests exhibitionorganisers are also using abroader array of digital media toadd value to their exhibitionmarketing investments andenrich audience experience.Of all the exhibitionmanagement and productionrespondents, 70 per cent usevirtual events to complementface-to-face events, while onlyfive per cent replace face-to-faceevents with virtual versions.Seventy-five per cent said virtualevents were "somewhateffective" at engagingaudiences, while only 14 per centsaid they are "very effective".Of all respondents, 72 percent expect to have digitalevent strategies in place by theend of the year.KUWAIT- The KuwaitInternational Fair Company(KIF) has been named the goldpartner of internationalexhibition association UFI.UFI MD Paul Woodward andAbdul Rahman Al Nassar, KIFvice-chairman and executivedirector, last month signed thegold partnership, which will lastfrom January 2011 toDecember 2012."As an UFI member for almostthree decades, KIF appreciatesthe value and exposure UFIKuwait signs UFIgold partnershipprovides to its members, andwe therefore commit ourselvesto sparing no effort insupporting the UFI MEA office,"said Al Nassar.Woodward said the UFI/KIFgold partnership represents "theoutstanding level of cooperationand support provided by ourmembers in the region. Togetherwe are making significantprogress in the professionaldevelopment of the exhibitionindustry in the Middle East/Africaregion."ITE head claims Russiamoving out of recessionTHE MAGAZINE FOR THE GLOBAL EXHIBITION COMMUNITY WWW.EXHIBITION-WORLD.NET| Nov/Dec 2010|5CEIR releases research ondigital marketing Russell TaylorPaul Woodward and Abdul Rahman Al NassarMilan Expo 2015 registers withinternational expo body