Students of Poznań University of Economics take the exhibition exam again

For many years now Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry and its members have been supporting education in Poland and cooperating with the academia. Poznań International Fair is very active in this field. One of the forms of cooperation, which has continued for several years, are presentations by the students of Poznań University of Economics. On Thursday, January 15, 2015, the students of International Trade Relations specialising in International Business and of the Economy of Tourism specialising in Management of Tourism Enterprises gave their final graded presentations. The presentations were prepared within the framework of the lecture International Trade Fairs and Exhibition conducted by Prof. Henryk Mruk, PhD, the renowned expert in trade fair marketing. The lecture for 3rd year undergraduate students is enjoying the growing popularity This semester, the classes of Prof. Mruk were attended by 120 students. They independently chose the topics of their presentations. The only criterion was including the issues related to congresses, events, conferences or exhibitions. – We have been cooperating with PIF for four years and each year more and more students are interested in this form of completing the course. Never before have we had so many interesting presentations. They were diversified but generally the level was very high, both in terms of facts and the presentation by the team. This semester I devoted one lecture to public presentations and I am very glad that they learned the lesson and prepared well. – commented satisfied Prof. Mruk. Two examination panels, 21 presentations Due to the tremendous interest in the subject, the students were divided into two groups evaluated by two panels of juries. The panels consisted of the representatives of Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry, Poznań City Authorities, Meliński Minuth company, Poznań University of Economics and Poznań International Fair. – We assessed in particular the factual content of the presentation (topic, content, application of own research, method). We also paid attention to the form and dynamics of the presentation, as well as communicativeness. The best presentations were the result of significant effort made by the students. This work in several cases included their own marketing research and the results were thoroughly analysed so that they gave the foundations for many valuable observations included in the presentations. – Marzenna Łukaszewicz, PCEI Executive Director, comments on the work of the jury. – The most interesting works were characterised by good identification of trends in the evolution of contemporary exhibitions and the development of the sector, as well as by the awareness of various functions of exhibitions in business communication. The students also perceived the role of exhibitions in the social development of the city and the importance of exhibitions as a factor which stimulates local economy. – adds M. Łukaszewicz. Winning presentations The panel awarded the following presentations: In the group International Economic Relations – International Business: 1st place: Concept of new operational directions for PIF: Christmas Fair , 2st place: Jogging fairs in Poland and abroad ‘ 3st place: New operational directions of PIF in the area of CSR . In the group the Economy of Tourism – Management of Tourism Enterprises: 1st place: Tour Salon – need of changes and contemporary challenges in the world of growing opportunities ‘ 2st place: Poznań Fair as a great asset for Poznań hotel and restaurant owners on the example of Budma Exhibition and Expenses, behaviours, activities of visitors and exhibitors in the city of Poznań – what happens outside the exhibition? 3st place: Promotion and advertising of wedding parlours at Poznań Wedding Fair . Presentations at the highest level Janusz Mazurczak, Director of Project Teams Organisation at PIF, before announcing the results, explained the choices made by the Panel: – The level was extremely balanced. We have decided to recognise the presentations which say how and in which direction exhibitions should develop. This assumption was perfectly fulfilled by one of the awarded presentations. – Our project aimed at creating a concept for the development of the Tour Salon exhibition. Firstly we have presented the analysis of the current shape of Tour Salon and then we showed solutions we saw as beneficial for this event. One of the proposed solutions was to rejoin the Tour Salon and the Invest Hotel exhibitions. The next one was the organisation of one large undertaking in the form of an exhibition of the hotel industry and regions accompanied by expositions of niche products and technological innovations in tourism. We believe that such an exhibition organised in Poznań would be able to compete for the title of the best one in Europe. – Jakub Borucki, the co-author of the winning presentation which delighted the jurors, summarises the topic. Business and science The importance of cooperation between the exhibition business and the academia was stressed by Przemysław Trawa, the Chairman of the Board of PIF: – I think that the ideas we have been practising for several years now under the supervision of Prof. Mruk is a kind of a lesson for people who have not entered the job market yet of the reality and the market where we operate. I assume that some of the students attending the lectures of Prof. Mruk, after finishing studies, will start their own business enterprises dealing with events, congresses and maybe even exhibitions, which would be perfect for those young people and for us, the exhibition sector. Source: Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry, photo byMarcin Melanowicz