MALAYSIA’S inaugural rAWr Awards, held yesterday evening at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, bestowed honours upon several top achievers in the country’s business events industry.

Jointly organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS), the event covers 27 categories within the four main components of the MICE industry including Best International Conference, Best Trade Exhibition, Best Incentive Programme, Best Event and Best Environmental Initiative.

Winners included Console Communications, which bagged both the International Conference Award for Excellence and Professional Conference Organiser Award for Excellence; Radius Exhibits & Interiors, which received the Event Management Company Award for Excellence, Environmental Initiative Award for Excellence and Business Events Products & Services Award for Excellence; and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which won the Purpose Built Convention & Exhibition Centre Award for Excellence.

According to MyCEB’s general manager sales and marketing, Ho Yoke Ping, the awards drew 85 entries from industry players.

The main award for the night – the Minister’s Award – was given to Muhammad Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah, chairman of the Sarawak Convention Bureau, for his outstanding performance and contribution to the business events industry. He said the award would spur his team further in contributing to the development of Malaysia’s business events industry.

Yap Shook Fung, director of Console Communications, said the company’s two wins were “a very important recognition for our work and contribution towards the business events industry in Malaysia”.

Also elated, Radius Exhibits & Interiors’ executive director, Sean Choo, said the awards would motivate the firm to “become even better”.

Commenting on the event, Zulkefli Sharif, MyCEB CEO, said: “These wins…create a benchmark for business event players to consistently provide the best services and products to event organisers and attendees. MyCEB believes that apart from promoting the country internationally, it is also important to recognise and honour local industry players. These are the people who are creating an impact to attract our global markets.”

“We trust that winners will…leverage this industry recognition for their own sales and marketing efforts,” said Jonathan Kan, president of MACEOS.

A RECORD 5,000 participants attended the 2013 Greater China Nu Skin Academy, an annual event organised by global direct selling company, Nu Skin, earlier this week in Macau.

This is the third Greater China Nu Skin Academy to be hosted in Macau, and the destination has again secured a win for the 2014 edition.

Explaining the company’s preference for Macau, Nu Skin Greater China, regional vice president, leaderships and president, Hong Kong & Macau, Patrick Yeung, said: “Accessibility is key, as the event is attended by business partners from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and China (the latter contributes 80 per cent of the event’s attendees).

“Furthermore, Macau is an excellent conference destination. The event’s venue, Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, provided great support on logistics and accommodation arrangements.”

Yeung revealed that the company had invested over US$10 million to prepare for the gathering a year in advance.

To ensure a “smooth organisation” of the event, a taskforce comprising members of Nu Skin’s internal events team, staff from various departments as well as an external production house and other vendors was formed.

The programme featured seminars, workshops, teambuilding activities and a gala dinner.

Delegates also came together to set a new Guinness World Record for having the most number of people seated on a single chair. Nu Skin’s 1,666 delegates made the successful attempt to break the former record set by 1,311 people in Onojo City, Fukuoka, Japan, in October 2012.

Dubai and Hong Kong will stand to gain from Nu Skin’s lineup of massive events next year through an 8,000-pax incentive in April and the 40,000-pax Nu Skin Greater China Regional Convention in June, respectively.

DAY meeting packages are now on offer at the Oriental Residence Bangkok, a 145-key luxurious property with four function rooms.

Priced from 1,300 baht (US$41), excluding surcharge and taxes, the meeting package includes breakfast for one, two coffee breaks, lunch, use of an LCD projector, Wi-Fi Internet access and shuttle service to BTS Chidlom station.

Event planners who confirm their events can also enjoy one of the following perks: a complimentary one-bedroom suite for two nights during the meeting, two complimentary upgrades to a one-bedroom suite, a one-way airport transfer in a Jaguar, free flow of soft drinks during lunch and welcome morning reception with assorted Danish pastries.

Special accommodation rates are available too. A Grand Deluxe Room goes for 4,100 baht per room per day, excluding surcharge and taxes.

The promotion is valid from now until March 31 next year.

Contact Nannaphat Jiemrugeekul, associate director of sales, at (66-0) 2125-9012 or Nannaphat.j@oriental-residence.com.

JW MARRIOTT Hotel Bangkok is offering a stay-and-meet package that features its Manhattan Studio meeting room and suites.

Priced from 7,500 baht (US$235), the package includes single occupancy in a suite, meeting package for Manhattan Studio, international breakfast and happy hours at the Executive Lounge, and Internet connectivity.

Events must be booked and held by January 31, 2014 to qualify for this offer.

Conditions apply.

Contact on-anong.k@marriott.com for more details.

CLUB floor guests can now look forward to a different experiential activity daily at the newly renovated The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

A new introduction to the Club Lounge, which is accessible only to club floor guests, the experiential activities include wine tastings with a sommelier, bespoke cocktail mixing, chocolate afternoon tea, live music, caricature paintings by a resident caricaturist, handcrafted a la minute authentic Singaporean cuisine presentations and Sunday champagne brunches.

Furthermore, guests who want to bring home a physical reminder of the splendid view of the Marina Bay and Kallang River offered at the Club Lounge, may retreat to The Drawing Room and sketch away using complimentary easel stands, paper and pencils provided.

These unique experiences are complemented by the refreshed interior of The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge. Designed by Burega Farnell, the venue features luxurious details including custom-tailored furniture, wood feature panels, hand-woven carpets and a floor of Indonesian teak wood and Italian marble.

Peter Mainguy, general manager of the hotel, described the new Club Lounge as a “quintessentially luxurious vantage point for travellers” and explained that it was “tailored to be inspirational and experiential”.

The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge is open from 07.00 to 23.00 daily and seats up to 75 guests. It is also equipped with a boardroom that can seat up to 10 guests.

HRG has promoted Yates Fei to the position of general manager of HRG China, effective October 1.

Fei, currently director of sales and account management, will succeed Harald Weber-Liel who will return to HRG Germany to take up a key position within the senior management team.

He will report to Greg Treasure, managing director of HRG Asia-Pacific and president of HRG North America.

Fei has been with HRG for the past eight years.

Commenting on Fei’s new appointment, Treasure said: “Yates has demonstrated a solid track record of significant achievements including playing a key role in winning a number of lucrative accounts for HRG China. He has also successfully migrated over 60 per cent of HRG China’s clients onto a card platform as well as implementing our online strategy for a number of large accounts.”

SINGAPORE Exhibition Services will debut two trade exhibitions in Yangon, Myanmar next year.

To be held at the Myanmar Convention Centre from October 15 to 17, the biennial Oil & Gas Myanmar 2014 (OGM 2014) will be a comprehensive showcase for petroleum geosciences, exploration and production and refining products and services. The event will bring together industry professionals and experts from independent, international and national oil and gas companies to share with visitors the issues and challenges facing the industry, the latest technologies and solutions available, as well as present opportunities to enhance business networks and collaboration.

Singapore Exhibition Services will also launch the first Manufacturing Myanmar 2014 next year, a trade event dedicated to manufacturing machinery, equipment, materials and services. It will run from October 2 to 4 at the same venue.

SHANGHAI UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co (UBM Sinoexpo) has entered into an agreement yesterday with the Guzhen Town Government of Zhongshan City, Guangdong to establish a joint venture company that will manage the operations of the China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair.

Launched in 1999 and organised by the Government of Zhongshan City, China Association of Lighting Industry and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the exhibition is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the rapid development of the lighting industry in Guzhen, which has come to be known as China’s lighting capital.

To be held from October 18 to 21 at the new Lighting Capital (Guzhen) Conference & Exhibition Center, the event this year is expected to see 1,000 exhibitors.

Last year’s show featured more than 600 exhibiting companies and drew 64,000 professional visitors from 103 countries.

Wei Hongrui, the town’s mayor, said the joint venture would see the creation of “a professional management committee to coordinate the functions of the various government departments, lighting markets and representatives of mainstream companies…to build the fair into a one-million square metre event”.

“Guzhen is the world’s largest lighting market and we hope that by working with UBM Sinoexpo, the fair will become the world’s largest and most influential trade exhibition and Guzhen will become a global lighting industry hub,” added Wei.

Wang Mingliang, founder and director of UBM Sinoexpo, said: “We have successful experience in working with industry associations to take their events to the next level. Take Furniture China as an example. We have been working closely with the China National Furniture Association for over 20 years on Furniture China, and it has grown from a 3,000m² show into a mega exhibition of 350,000m². This model will also work successfully for Guzhen’s lighting fair.”

MALAYSIA Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) has launched the Association Development Programme (ADP) to support the development of the country’s associations and encourage the hosting of international conventions.

Under the new programme, member associations are entitled to a variety of strategic initiatives such as financial and non-financial bid support and international engagements. A series of association management and conference planning seminars will provide training for association officers.

Commenting on MyCEB’s latest initiative, Yap Sook Ling, director of AOS Conventions & Events Malaysia, said: “ADP is good as it will help associations to better understand the bidding process, which in turn will make it easier for PCOs and DMCs to work with them. It will also help associations understand that there are many opportunities available for them to bid for world and regional meetings.

“Many associations still think that the job of DMCs merely involves booking of hotels and ballrooms. ADP will dispel that notion and create a better awareness of what is involved in making an international conference successful and the tools that are available, such as specialised software that can be used for the entire event, from registration to session booking to delegate payment.”