Following the example of the Japanese Aichi Expo 2005, the Organizer of Shanghai Expo 2010 has decided to plan six sessions of pre-opening just before the official inauguration scheduled on May 1st.
The so-called Soft Opening represents a sort of ‘dress rehearsal’ and will take place from April 20th to 26th, with the aim of verifying that everything on the Site is running and working perfectly.
According to a typical oriental attitude to define every single detail in order to reach perfection – just think about the last Olympic Games – the Organizer of Shanghai Expo 2010 wants to be sure that on the day of the official opening the Site will work smoothly.
Therefore, the six sessions of Soft Opening aim to: strengthen the coordination between the Expo Organizer and the national pavilions; test the feasibility of operation plans and preparations; test the functions of all the on-site facilities and optimize the Expo Site operation command system; enhance the capability of Expo staff; increase the coordination between the Expo Site and authorities at the municipal level; improve the capability to cope with emergencies.
The Soft Opening will involve only part of the visitors expected to come during the next six months. Nevertheless, numbers should be considered in a Chinese context.
In the six sessions about 1,2 million people will come to the Site, among which are representatives of those who have made remarkable contributions to the Shanghai Expo, VIP guests, former leaders, model workers, and representatives of people with disabilities, residents of the Expo Site and the Yangtze River Delta areas as well as representatives from all walks of life in Shanghai, institutions and volunteer representatives.
Media are not invited into the Site during this time.
“I think that this Soft Opening is a very effective decision to achieve the optimum level of quality and professionalism from all people committed to the Project. As far as our activities are concerned, the Soft Opening will give us the chance to test all personnel on-site."
"It will let ega pco make further improvement and changes about positions and duties, collect precious feedback from participants, Organizers and colleagues, anticipate possible issues. This will represent an additional on-site training in a real context”, Emma Aru stated while commenting the Expo Organizer’s decision.
In these days with their colleagues of NEXXI and Congress, ega staff have begun the training programme dedicated to the Chinese students that will form the ancillary personnel for the Italian Pavilion. Lectures will be held during the first days, while the last part of the programme will be made of on-site training sessions.
Image: Geraldine Roccetti of ega pco during the interviews with the students from the Universities of Shanghai
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