The role of international expositions in an environment in which electronic media and information technology have significantly influenced the means and quality of communications has been the subject of much debate in recent years. It has highlighted the importance to the BIE of communicating more broadly the objectives of these events and of Expo host countries in raising the profile of specific Expos.

The goal of the Colloquium was to explore, though structured discussions, means to improve media awareness in order to achieve broader, more constructive and balanced media coverage of international expositions. The objective for the Colloquium was to arrive at concrete proposals which future Expo host nations could implement to improve the quality and scope of media coverage of these events.

The format of the Colloquium included presentations by guest speakers with experience, knowledge and expertise in issues specifically related to international expositions and the media, and working group discussions around for themes:

In order to ensure an informed discussion, participants in the Colloquium included representatives of the confirmed and potential future exposition host countries and of their bid or expo organising committees, media/communications specialists, BIE officials and experts in the fields of international expositions.

The report presenting an overview of the Colloquium, including presentation highlights and the key findings and recommendations of the discussion groups is available at the Communication and Press Department of the BIE