For years now Jyväskylä and its trade fair and congress centre Jyväskylä Paviljonki have provided the venue for large international events. Still, superb facilities alone are not enough, since fair and congress visitors look to experience something unique during their stay. The Jyväskylä Regions trump card in the competition is peaceful, unspoilt nature.
Nowadays correspondence between people takes place via email and other forms of electronic communication. Personal contacts have suffered a decline. According to Leo Potkonen, Managing Director of Jyväskylä Congress Centre Ltd. the need to meet at fairs and congresses, for instance, has not disappeared though; it has simply changed in nature.
Today the theme around which an international congress, for example, is built is not enough. In addition to business the fair and congress visitor looks to experience something special and meet colleagues in an unofficial, perhaps even exotic, setting.
In Finland we often forget that for a foreigner nightless nights on the lake shore or silent, snowy forest constitute in themselves an experience beyond comparison. These kinds of things cannot be experienced in too many places but in Jyväskylä they can, Potkonen points out. When the decision is taken regarding the venue for a congress, the organizer must be able to offer a complete experience. That is made up of transport connections that work, a modern congress centre, accommodation services and a diverse palette of entertainment, excursions and other social activities.
Determined work has been done in Jyväskylä and its surroundings to develop auxiliary services, especially those connected with nature. We are now able to offer even bigger groups with active eco-experiences. For instance in Laukaa we can get 200 people simultaneously into a smoke sauna, says Potkonen by way of illustration.
Jyväskylä is located right in the middle of Finland and enjoys excellent transport connections. From Helsinki Jyväskylä can be reached by plane, train or express bus in just a few hours. A congress trip can start already from Helsinki, since on the way there is a chance to see Finnish lakeland at its most beautiful.
Jyväskylä is Finlands second largest city for fairs and as a venue for congresses, too, it ranks among the top five. From an international perspective the most important fairs are the biennially organised Electricity, Telecommunications, Light and Audio Visual and the Wood and Bioenergy events.
Staged in parallel to the Wood and Bioenergy fair is a Bioenergy congress which is one of the most important gatherings worldwide of specialists in this field. The Bioenergy congress is a good example of a growing trend across the world. Traditionally congresses have been arranged by scientific communities, but congresses organised by companies from a business perspective are on the increase. Were pursuing growth in precisely that sector, Potkonen underlines.
Katri Vähä-Mustajärvi, Marketing Manager of Jyväskylä Convention Bureau, explains that summer is the most popular time of the year for congresses to be organised in Jyväskylä. For example, July 2007 will witness the staging of one of the citys biggest ever international congresses, the 12th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, ECSS 2007.
The University of Jyväskylä is the largest organizer of international congresses and conferences. Another major congress organizer is Jyväskylä Polytechnic, states Vähä-Mustajärvi. Jyväskylä Convention Bureau is a unit that provides free and impartial expert advice. Its task is to assist the organizers of international conferences and congresses with bringing their event to Jyväskylä.
The Master Plan 2015 for Jyväskylä Paviljonki and the conference and event network covers the future of the Paviljonki congress and trade fair centre until the middle of the next decade. The plans aim at significantly boosting the income gained from tourism in the Jyväskylä Region, in which Paviljonki functions as the locomotive of conference and event tourism. The goal is to maintain and further enhance Jyväskyläs position as one of Finlands leading cities for fairs and congresses.
Where Paviljonki is concerned the Master Plan features a congress hotel, a new exhibition hall and a parking facility. The intention is to start construction in the autumn of 2007. In that case the new exhibition and parking halls would be finished in 2008. Completion of the hotel is scheduled for 20092010.
A key element of the Master Plan is the incorporation of squares in the Lutakko area as well as Jyväskylä harbour as a fixed part of the total Paviljonki complex. The squares would serve as a part of Paviljonki, as locations for events by themselves, and as important recreational venues for both residents of Jyväskylä and visitors.
Jyväskylä Paviljonkis facilities can be adapted according to the event in question to suit large or small requirements. Paviljonkis special feature is its 1 200-seat auditorium, which thanks to rotating upper areas of seating can be divided into three separate auditoria during a short break in congress proceedings, for instance. One 600 and two 300-seat auditoria or combinations of these can be in simultaneous use.
Paviljonki also possesses numerous lecture halls and break-out rooms. Also available are six exhibition halls containing two hectares of exhibition space in total. On average two events per day are staged at Paviljonki, with a daily visitor total of roughly one thousand people. When necessary Paviljonkis restaurants can provide catering for thousands of people. In addition to mass events, Paviljonki is also happy to arrange meals on a smaller scale around a particular theme or, for instance, round-table gala dinners for hundreds of participants.
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Photo1 (above): Michal Molcho from Ireland, Candace Currie from Scotland and Will Pickett from Canada took part in the Body, Mind and Physical Activity Symposium arranged at the University of Jyväskylä in June.
Photo3 (below): Katri Vähä-Mustajärvi, Marketing Manager of Jyväskylä Convention Bureau and Leo Potkonen, Managing Director of Jyväskylä Congress Centre Ltd.
Photo4 (below) Paviljonkis special feature is its 1200-seat auditorium, which thanks to rotating upper areas of seating can be divided into three separate auditoria during a short break in congress proceedings, for instance.
By Pasi Rahikainen Photos by Petteri Kivimäki