Carla Walker likes to dream BIG. As President and CEO of think BIG strategies, llc, she co-created the Economic Development committee for the Cincinnati USA World Choir Games, coming to the Queen City (along with 200,000 expected visitors) in 2012. In this week's blogs, Walker shares her insights from a recent trip to Shaoxing, China, where she attended this year's Choir Games, and brings back some lessons learned for Cincinnati's turn on the big stage in two short years.
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Cincinnati sells in Shanghai
Posted By: Carla Walker
7/28/2010
A lot of people wonder just how much work is done on these trips. Well, in Shanghai, we hit the ground running – we only had 36 hours to make it count and then we would be Changchun selling for another 24 hours.
Shanghai began with a visit to the 2012 Expo. Our delegation was joined by other Cincinnatians in China for the World Choir Games bringing our delegate count to 28 people - a very strong presence.
Visiting the USA Pavilion, we were greeted by Martin Alintuck, the Pavilion President and CEO. He was familiar with the Cincinnati story and was impressed with the number of people we brought with us to sell the city.
We were received by the leadership of and in the same manner at each of the four other Pavilions for the seven hours we were on the grounds. The USA Pavilion, however, holds special significance because their corporate sponsors include Procter & Gamble as well as General Electric. Yes, a hometown connection but they are also sponsors of our delegation activities. Five Pavilions may not seem like a lot but for most attendees they see maybe one or two in a day.
That evening, we hosted eighty guests - from throughout the Province - at our Shanghai-Cincinnati Business Reception. We were joined by Mr. Wang Lie, the Vice President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The program was brief but included comments from Mayor Mallory, Vice President Lie; both P&G and GE spoke about their connections to China and Cincinnati; and the Convention and Visitors Bureau touched on the 2012 World Choir Games and invited guests to visit Cincinnati for the Games in 2012.
Day two of our itinerary included a half day in Shanghai. Our morning was filled with meetings. First with Mr. Zhou Muyao, former Deputy General Director of Shanghai People's Congress and former Deputy Mayor if Shanghai. He and his staff spoke of the opportunity Cincinnati has in hosting the games in 2012. Following our banquet luncheon, we visited the Zhangjiang Hi-tech Industrial Park where we learned of the Park's climate of innovation from the Director, Mr. Ping Li. The Park is home to more than 5,000 businesses and has a focus on international businesses. Li is interested in developing relationships with businesses in Cincinnati so we look forward to continuing that conversation when he sends staff to the GE Aviation Learning Center in Evandale later this Fall.
Shanghai in 36 hours. 5 Pavilions, 1 reception, 80 guests, 9 meetings. We have lots to follow up on. That's a lot of work selling our region.
Go Team Cincinnati!