TFS MACAO 2011 - EVENT SUMMARY


TFS Exhibition Hall

The Freight Summit 2011 successfully concluded its 4th Macao meeting at The Venetian Hotel on October 11-14, 2011. Being the leading open and global networking conference, TFS attracted almost 400 CEO's and decision-makers for networking, cargo development and nominations.

TFS 2011 was supported and attended by several alliances, namely China Logistics Club, Multinational Forwarders Alliance, LFS Global Logistics Group, Combined Logistics Networks, WCA Family of Logistics Networks, Gross + Fuchs Group, Pacific Global Association, Atlas International Network, CLC Projects, American Logistics Club, AirCargo Group and China Cargo Alliance. This is networking at its purest form - all forwarders are able to network across alliances safely with no strings attached. Freight software and solutions providers were also present to serve the needs of the forwarders.

Photo 1 - Kenneth Lee of Armada Internationa Malaysia and Sophie Costa of Africa West Cargo Photo 2 - The Venetian Macao, also known as Asia's Las Vegas Photo 3 - RWSolutions Directors Christian Raeuber and Nils Walle with CLC Chairman Henrik Christensen and WCA Family of Networks President David Yokuem, VPs Andrew Robins and Brian Majerus and Membership Support Grace Liu in full TFS colors

Delegates from around the world started with open networking during the resgitration on October 11. TFS officially opened with a Cocktail Reception on the evening of Registration Day. More than 300 forwarders had a good time meeting their old TFS friends and making new ones.

Photo 1 - Christian Heck and Uwe Schaedler of TSI International Spedition und Handels Gmbh Germany, and Anita Song and Antonis Reveniotis of Global Transportation Management China and Greece Photo 2 - Frans Duwaer of Ahlers NV Hong Kong had his photo taken during the Registration

Photo 1 - Marek Panasewicz, Daryl Hill and Howard Jupp of MarCargo Global Logistics United States and United Kingdom, and Vipin Vohra of Continental Carriers India Photo 2 - Joseph Wang, Ivano Volve, Babara Bi, Ray Sun, Jacky Zhang of Transliquids - TFS Diamond Sponsor, Colin van Roon of VR Freight United Kingdom, and Michael Raeuber of Royal Cargo Philippines

On October 12, Nils Walle and Christian Raeuber, Directors of RWSolutions Limited, were joined by Juan Cruz-Racana of Sky Cargo S.R.L. (Argentina) and Jean-Philippe Huygen of Contralo NV (Belgium) in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which signaled the start of our TFS 2011 exhibition and conference.

Opening Ceremony. TFS Usherette Sheine assisted Juan Cruz-Racana of Sky Cargo Argentina, Nils Walle, Jean-Philippe Huygen of Contralo Belgium and Christian Raeuber in the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

Three days of more than 3,000 face-to-face meetings between delegates for cargo networking were held at The Freight Summit. 24 exhibitors, comprised of international forwarders, freight alliances, software and security payment providers, showcased their products and services in their booths. This year, TFS VIP tables were also introduced. Being a VIP means having a fixed location for the delegates and banner signages with their country of origin, logo and name for recognition. 25 forwarders representing more than 20 countries were selected as VIPs on the basis of company standing and loyalty to TFS.

Photo 1 - Mike Coney of Cargowise Australia entertains a delegate in his booth Photo 2 - Anthony Bugeja of CT Freight Australia and Ben Tull of Executive Freight Services United Kingdom Photo 3 - VIP Table for JCT Japan, represented by Kenji Yamahara and Wee Keong Lee Photo 4 - Harjit Singh of Aero Line India and Bo Drewsen at the CLC Projects booth

While we are happy that the level of attendees have been improving and more quality contacts turn into friends of the TFS, we are of course very much aware that this year we still had some issues with no-shows, which remains to be the most challenging part of networking event organizers. In response to this, TFS came up with a set of Fair Play Rules to guide the delegates and set up a TFS Fair Play Desk where no-shows may be reported, and meeting cancellations and requests be recorded and announced. Fair Play Desk was also strategically located in a social area so forwarders can easily turn downtime to positive time. With the data collected during the event, we will be able to generally identify a pattern, in order for us to make very specific modifications to the scheduler to again be able to further reduce no-shows for next years meetings.

Photo 1 - Steven Forsberg and Flemming Hoff of Marinetrans Singapore report no-shows at the Fair Play Desk Photo 2 - Eileen Bautista of Multifreight Consolidator Philippines, Elma Simbahan of Ultimate Freight Logistics Philippines, and Firat Ince of Ulgen Container Lines Turkey check the latest meeting updates at the Fair Play Desk

On the first day of TFS, the lucky winner of TFS iPad2 Promo, Gordon Bohnen of Calenberg Oversea Logistics - Germany received his prize from Nils and Christian. Winner was drawn last September 15 at the RWSolutions office in Manila. The promotion was open to all international forwaders, and each raffle entry required only the agent's own contact details and that of 2 of his most reliable agents. Congratulations again, Gordon!

Christian and Nils hand out the TFS iPad2 to Gordon Bohnen of Calenberg Oversea Logistics - Germany

Since business is not only found during the formal face-to-face meeting, and forwarders like their beer, the TFS Beer Garden (open daily from 3-6pm) was very popular to the delegates. This section has the happiest atmosphere in the expo hall, where forwarders can grab their beers while catching up with TFS friends and discussing business.

Photo 1 - Chris van Mullem of AAS Logistics Netherlands and Juan Miguel Pertierra of Soriamont Steamship Agencies Philippines had a discussion at the TFS Beer Garden Photo 2 - Delegates from the Indian Sub-Continent relax at the TFS Beer Garden after meetings

The much-awaited TFS VIP Night was held at the Bellini Lounge of Venetian Casino. This event is by invitation only and the the most coveted VIP Night ticktes were handed out by exhibitors and VIPs to their clients and friends. It was a night filled with fun and laughter, highlighted by free-flow of drinks and a great band playing.

Delegates had a fun night, with free drinks and excellent performance by the band at The Bellini Lounge.

Our venue, The Venetian Macao, known as Asia's Las Vegas, provided excellent entertainment facilities and luxurious accomodation making our stay a memorable one! The rich Chinese-Portuguese culture of Macao was also worth exploring to unwind after 4-busy days of networking.

The Venetian Macao - Shopping and Entertainment Area, and the luxurious guest room.

Thank you and congratulations to all the delegates for having another successful TFS event. We hope you have returned home with renewed energy, business and friendship. We are looking forward to seeing you again!

TFS Macao 2011 Event Photos are also available in our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/freightsummit). Please like our page and feel free to tag yourselves and your friends to share your TFS experience.