Coex Newsletter January 2012

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Korea International Medical & Hospital Equipment Show

Korea International Sports & Leisure Industry Show

Korea's largest exhibition organizer Coex will open its oldest and most well-known exhibitions early in 2012.

The Seoul International Sourcing Fair for Premium Gifts & Homeware will be Coex's first exhibition of the year, opening on February 23rd in Hall C. This 22-year-old trade show exhibits high-end sales promotion gifts and homeware. Guests include bulk buyers from corporations, department stores, sales agencies, and more. SIPREMIUM has globalized in the last five years, and expects nearly 350 exhibitors and 1,000 overseas buyers in 2012. The new year will also bring a brand-new English website for the B2B show available at www.sipremium.info.

This year's Living Design Fair will be held from March 3rd – 11th at Coex's Hall C. The popular fair is well-attended by both design industry buyers and end consumers looking for the latest in functional, beautiful furniture and home items. This year will feature expanded seminars on "Living Art" and home design, as well as VIP programs for industry attendees. The fair is owned by DesignHouse, which also organized the winter Coex show Seoul Design Fair. www.livingdesignfair.co.kr

The 23rd Automation World will be held from April 3rd to 6th, 2012. The exhibition, which was one of Asia's first automation trade shows, has reorganized to reflect growing interest in building operations automation and machine vision technology. Three umbrella shows will open under this year's AW umbrella: the 23rd International Factory & Process Automation Exhibition (AIMEX), the 5th International Building Automation Exhibition (IBS), and the 1st Korea Vision Show. Automation World 2012 expects to welcome over 30,000 visitors. www.automationworld.co.kr

In June 2011, Coex launched an innovative online exhibition platform called Cyber Coex. The Korean-language platform offers online marketing consulting, digital ticketing, and exhibitor promotion tools for all 20 of Coex's trade shows. In 2011, Cyber Coex was used to promote 650 exhibiting companies and 5,000 products.

At this year's annual Korea Exhibition Expo held from December 14th – 15th, Cyber Coex received the "Adventure Exhibition" prize from the Korea Exhibition Organizers Association. The prize designated 2011's most innovative effort in exhibition and trade show marketing in the country. It was one of five industry awards presented during the show, and one of only two presented to exhibition organizing companies.

Though business events closed during the December holiday season, Coex remained open – while exhibition halls and meeting rooms were converted into mega-concert venues. This year, Coex welcomed three hugely popular performers: comedic duo Cultwo, rock star Lee Seung-cheol, and R&B superstars Bobby Kim and Gummy.

Cultwo is a classic comedy duo made of comedians Kim Tae-gyun and Jeong Chan-woo. Always irreverent and hilarious, and sometimes controversial, the two veteran gagmen are well-loved by the Korean public and are regular fixtures on monolithic comedy show "Ut-chat-sa", or "People Looking for Laughs". 'Cultwo Christmal Show' was held from December 22nd to 31st in Coex Hall C, which has a capacity of 10,000.

Coex has premiered a new sustainable, charity-themed promotional booth at Korea Exhibition Expo 2011, the nation's premier events industry gathering. Coex's booth was built with the center's signature shell-scheme booth base, and the design was themed around holidays and sharing under the center's slogan, "We Bring People Together".