In August 2018, JTB Communication Design (JCD) entered into a business alliance in Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) with CWT Meetings & Events (CWT M&E), and constructed a SMM program service. Since then, both companies have set up a system to expand the provision of SMM services in Japan, and on February 19, 2019, a seminar for its clients named "The JTB SMM Seminar: Opening the Future of Business with Global SMM" was held in Tokyo to promote and introduce our SMM services.

After a few opening remarks, the seminar started with the keynote speech “SMM Global Trends and the Significance of the CWT / JTB Partnership” by Kari Wendel of CWT M&E. It was followed by a lecture on “SMM localization in the Japanese market” by Ko Yoshitake, director of JCD's SMM promotion department (See his page here). The final keynote speech was presented by Will Kataria of JCD's other new partner, event technology giant Cvent, on "The Future of Event Technology".

The video below recaptures the successful event, showcasing the start of our partnerships with both CWT M&E and Cvent.



There are still many challenges and hurdles when it comes to implementing SMM to the Japanese market. With CWT M&E, who have extensive know-how on SMM practices, the need from many global clients to expand SMM to Japan can be met. But as business practices are different in Japan, JCD can use its strength and knowledge of the local market to approach Japanese companies and work with them on finding the right solutions. With this partnership, CWT M&E and JCD can combine forces and successfully implement SMM practices in Japan for both global as well as Japanese clients.

JCD's partnership with Cvent also brings many possibilities for the Japanese market and events. As of June 1st 2019, JCD will offer local support for Japanese companies. This makes it possible for event planners in Japan to fully utilize Cvent's services as the language barrier and implementation with Japanese systems was making usage a challenge. With a specialized digital team, JCD plans to remove existing barriers.

We at JTB Communication Design are looking forward to have these partnerships enrich the event and SMM experience for our worldwide clients.

For more information on our SMM services, check our SMM page, here, or feel free to contact us!