As many of you will be aware, EAI has been once more asked by TEDA (Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency) to coordinate RENERGY in 2013.
RENERGY 2013 will take place at Chennai Trade Centre, May 9-11, 2013, and is organized by TEDA, part of the State Government of Tamil Nadu.
RENERGY 2012 turned out to be a fine success, and in the process, all of us at EAI learnt a whole lot.
Subsequently, EAI had conducted / coordinated three more large renewable energy events – REaction 2012, Wind Power India 2012 and RENERGY Coimbatore.
We had exceptional learnings from these events, which we are incorporating in RENERGY 2013. The following are some of the key learnings
1. It is critical to look beyond the obvious sectors, such as solar, wind and biomass.
2. Within each sector, it is important to analyse the entire value chain. An exhibition becomes far more useful and productive when representatives from the entire value chain – and not just the prominent constituents – are present.
3. Sponsors need more than “logo visibility”.
4. Public private partnership could be a very powerful combination
5. One way conferences are on their way out.
With the above learnings, we have put together a rather delightful menu at RENERGY 2013, both at the exhibition and the conference.
Exhibition
At the exhibition, we will having a blend of the conventional with some exciting innovations.
- Innovation Pavilion – an exclusive pavilion to showcase innovations and inventions in renewable energy/cleantech
- Solution LaunchPad – A dedicated platform for companies with new products and solutions to promote their solutions to a dedicated audience
- Cool Announcements – A large exhibition with 250 exhibitors will not be easy to navigate. Effective and interesting announcements will ensure that visitors do not miss out on exciting stuff happening anywhere in the exhibition.
- Helpful Kiosks – We will be having automated and human-manned kiosks that will provide continuous directions and guidance to all the exhibitors and visitors.
Conference
I am more excited about what we plan to do for the conference. Having been a speaker at over 50 conferences in the last three years, you could say I have seen my share of the good and the bad. What we have done is to take all the good things we have seen, eliminate inefficiencies, and inject some creative and innovative ideas. The result, in my opinion, will be a truly productive and excitement filled three days for the expected 2000 delegates
Not just speaker sessions alone – the conference will be divided into three parts
1. Expert Panel Discussions & Interactions – Except for a few, we are doing away with presentations and instead having panel discussions and more time for Q&A.
2. Workshops – This, in my opinion, is the killer app. I have heard hundreds of delegates say that they wished to have more practical inputs from conferences. With this in mind, RENERGY 2013 will be the first event in the country that will have five detailed workshops – three on solar, one on biomass/biofuels and one on energy efficiency.
3. Customized Networking Sessions – The other common yearning for many delegates is that they need to have more interactions/networking with others. But conferences filled with speaker sessions can rarely accommodate long networking sessions. RENERGY 2013 has worked deliberately on the schedule with this mind, and we have now allocated three sessions (one each every day) exclusively for networking. We have conveniently scheduled the 2 hour networking sessions right after the lunch sessions, thus paving way for seamless networking during and after lunch. Further, we will have custom built modules during networking sessions to ensure that your networking can meet your needs of focused interactions and open discussions.
4. Research & Innovation – We have also seen significant interest shown by many participants to understand the latest trends and innovations in renewable energy and clean technology. With this in mind, we have designed an exclusive session for R&D and innovation that will showcase some exciting stuff being pioneered in renewable energy.
The three days will be equally split among 1, 2 & 3, and the Research / Innovation theme will form a background during the entire three days, in addition to an exclusive session allotted to it.
I invite you to be an exhibitor, sponsor, delegate or an exhibition visitor. I am confident you will see the difference.
