Global Buzz at International Trade Fairs: A Relational Perspective

Abstract

This research on international trade fairs and their role in processes of network generation and knowledge circulation originates from knowledge-based conceptions of industry clusters and open questions identified in this body of work. This chapter investigates the importance of temporary face-to-face contact and the physical co-presence of global communities in establishing a particular information and communication ecology during international trade fairs, referred to as “global buzz”. These events bring together agents from all over the world and create temporary spaces for presentation and interaction. Within a specific institutional setting, participants not only acquire knowledge through face-to-face communication with other agents, they also obtain information by observing and systematically monitoring other participants. The fact that firms do not necessarily have to be in direct contact with a specific source of information to get access to this knowledge makes participation in these events so valuable. This chapter investigates the constituting components of global buzz, and aims to dismantle the complexity of this phenomenon in a multi-dimensional way. It concludes that future research will have to take into account complementarities of trade fair interaction with virtual interaction through Internet platforms, as these are likely to shape existing and new social and spatial divisions of labour.