International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) has welcomed a new executive pastry chef, Jerry Lagudas.
Bringing more than 20 years’ experience to the table, Lagudas will be leading eight talented pastry chefs and apprentices. He will also be working hand-in-hand with director of culinary services Lynell Peck, and executive chef Tony Panetta.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Lagudas has worked in world renowned kitchens including Harrod’s London, Atlantis The Palm Dubai and most recently, the Alshaya in Kuwait, where he held the position of executive pastry chef.
Centara Hotels & Resorts has recently promoted David Martens to corporate director of operations Hua Hin, Krabi and Samui.
In this new position, Martens will oversee multiple property’s operations in Hua Hin, Krabi and Samui. He will be responsible for the overall performance of multiple hotels and resorts in the chain, and oversee all activities associated with hotel operations.
The Australian will remain based in Hua Hin and continue as general manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin, a role which he assumed in December 2016.
He first joined Centara in March 2012 as general manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort and Villas Krabi. In 2014, he was promoted to area general manager and oversaw the Centra Anda Dhevi Resort and Spa, and the opening of Centra by Centara Phu Pano Resort Krabi.
The industry veteran has over 30 years of experience in the hotel industry in various destinations, including Maldives, Egypt, India, Vanuatu and Fiji.
The show brings fire, light, juggling, acrobatic stunts and dance together on stage for a performance delegates won’t forget.
Luminatrix
What’s unique: Luminatrix is a fusion of contemporary dance and modern circus. Performances can be customised to include corporate branding, and can be delivered indoors or outdoors by two to 10 performers. Great for: Conference opening, gala dinner, annual dinner, company celebration, family day, award ceremony Contact: Psycusix, Malaysia; psycusix@gmail.com
Jeongdong Theater, based in Seoul and Gyeongju, offers for hire a top traditional dance team, a samulnori (traditional percussion) team and an instrumental team. As well, the theatre opens its space for rental, providing technical prerequisites such as lighting equipment and green rooms for performers.
Jeongdong theater
What’s unique:Event planners can bring a traditional Korean performance exclusively to their delegates at Jeongdong Theatre. Furthermore, the theatre is the founder of successful production brand Miso, which lends artistic flavour to the usual traditional performances. Great for: Prelude to a keynote presentation, opening/closing ceremony Contact: Jeongdong Theater, South Korea; jjoonwk@jeongdong.or.kr (Seoul); jys@jeongdong.or.kr (Gyeongju)
Bringing his unique style of close-up magic to events, Magic Howard leaves the audience baffled and thoroughly entertained. As a resident in Thailand, he has performed on British TV and in Las Vegas; he has amazed royalty and Hollywood stars and is now entertaining corporate groups. He can do an hour-long performance or two slots of 30 minutes each, roaming through pre-dinner cocktails or on stage.
Magic Howard
What’s unique: Howard’s light-hearted banter is endearing, and he is one of the most professional and entertaining magicians in town. Great for: Intimate client/partner appreciation dinner, networking party Contact: PIGS Co, Thailand;
david@pigsdmc.com
The Ultimate Champagne Dinner is a gala dinner that features seven rare vintage champagnes paired with a curated musical programme of opera, jazz, classic vinyl pieces, dances, and Michelin-inspired dishes. The event ideally takes 12 to 16 guests, or up to 32 people, and can be executed in other destinations besides Thailand.
What’s unique: The idea, dreamt up by Athikom Jeerapairotekun, managing director of Thailand-based Premier Incoming Group Services – PIGS Co, is designed to be an experience for companies looking to impress the crème de la crème of their business partners.
Regarded as the Rolls Royce of dinners, the experience is best delivered in a fabulous venue, and PIGS Co is able to recommend unique and exclusive options such as Nai Lert Heritage Home in central Bangkok, The Slate in Phuket, 137 Pillars, or Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai. Great for: Intimate client/partner appreciation dinners Contact: PIGS Co, Thailand; david@pigsdmc.com
This visually stunning performance is delivered by female drummers on LED water drums. Water splashes as the energetic routine gains intensity. The performance can feature up to 15 drummers, and the length of the show can vary according to the planner’s requirement.
Hyper Light Drum
What’s unique: All aspects of the performance can be customised, from the music (cultural to futuristic sound tracks) to the costumes, to be aligned to the theme of the event. Great for: Gala dinner, accompanying act for an arriving VIP, product launch Contact: Hyperactive Entertainment, Malaysia; info@hyperactiveentertainment.com.my
A comedic operatic performance that keeps revealing surprises, the act begins with two professional wine guides who introduce themselves as sommeliers.
It soon becomes evident that the male guide is clueless about wine and goes on to compare a woman in the audience to a silky smooth Chardonnay, just before bursting into a song about how all women are like wine. The female responds with Carmen’s Habanera, but with a humorous English translation about men. She then bumps into an ex-lover in the audience and the fun continues, including an appearance by “Pavarotti” to inject further frivolity.
Singing Sommeliers
What’s unique: This flexible act combines high brow opera with tongue-in-cheek comedy, a stint of acrobatics and enough twists and turns that gives it a broad appeal, not just for opera lovers.
The show can be modified to suit both high-tech staged environments to more casual settings. This act cannot be duplicated because it is highly dependent on the chemistry of husband and wife duo Jon and Rebecca Bode. Great for: Gala dinner, intimate staff party, ice-breaker, pre-dinner event or just before dessert Contact: Extraordinary Acts, Australia; info@extraordinaryacts.com.au
Joseph Erwin Valerio uses his hands to draw on a flat glass covered with the finest sand imported from the UAE. His sandpaintings always weave stories and are themed, and can be customised to deliver the client’s message. Music can be incorporated to make the performance even more interesting.
What’s unique: Joseph, who has no formal training in painting and drawing but catapulted to fame on a TV reality show for talented Filipinos, realised his talent while sifting through dirt and sand when his home was destroyed by a typhoon in 2009. Great for: Opening/closing ceremony, gala dinner, VIP product launch Contact: josephtheartist@yahoo.com; (63) 09364140025; (63) 09179548275
How did it all begin for you in business events?
My first event was the AMCP (International Conference on Advanced Multimedia Contents Processing) back in 1998, but it was not until the 2003 symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology that I served as the chair of an event.
Ever since, I have tried to organise every event to be better in every way from the last one. It is difficult, but that is always my aim – and an enjoyable challenge.
Yoshifumi Kitamura
What’s keeping you busy now?
The 11th ACM SIGGRAPH Asia Conference, the annual regional meeting of the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, which is scheduled to be held in Tokyo over four days in December.
I served as conference chairman the last time the pan-Asia event was in Japan, in Kobe in 2015.
How will this year’s event differ from the last edition in Kobe, three years ago?
When I organised the event in 2015, it was only the second time it had been held in Japan, but it was a huge success and attracted more than 7,000 professional delegates – the largest number in the history of the event.
I was the conference chairman in 2015, when the conference had the largest-ever amount of content, including presentations, demonstrations and so on.
This time, I am a member of the advisory group. But I am confident that the 2018 convention will be the biggest and best ever. I anticipate at least 10,000 professional delegates.
How will SIGGRAPH Asia Conference 2018 assist researchers in this area in moving forward?
I see my role as being the bridge between the research community in this professional area in Japan, and the wider international community.
Often, the Japanese research community is less vocal in comparison to their international counterparts so I see the event as an opportunity to bring the two together and develop international relationships.
What is the hardest part about convincing organisations to hold their events in Japan?
My priority has to be doing the best for the research communities and providing them with the very best conference experience, and a big part of that lies in convincing both sides that I am reliable and can provide what we promise.
We need high-quality presentations and workshops that are delivered by the best researchers in the best locations and facilities.
It is also important to ensure that participants are of a high quality in their field, and I think this is another strength of Japan.
We are fortunate because Japan has a good reputation for being able to deliver these sort of events.
Japan is safe, it has established industries and a strong national economy, plus a track record in research and developments and academia. We are also lucky because a lot of people are personally interested in coming to Japan.
What trends are you seeing in the international conferences sector?
I would have to say that there has been a clear turn away from the US as a destination for hosting conferences.
Events like SIGGRAPH Asia and SIGCHI (Special Interest Group Computer Human Interaction’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing System), for example, inherently place importance on diversity in the people who are attending because we have to assume variety in the users of computers and machines.
Ensuring diversity among the delegates has become more difficult in the US now.
But do organisations have concerns about coming to Japan for their events?
Cost is often a concern, but we work closely with the national and local governments to see what subsidies and other forms of support are available. But yes, this can be a challenge when other cities in the region are able to offer more generous support.
The best way to overcome that is to guarantee the quality of the event, the participants, the venues, the accommodation and the entertainment. And I think that the number and scale of events coming to Japan in recent years speaks to our success in that area.
How can Japan continue to grow its events sector?
The most important thing is to always deliver something new and different. It has to be interesting, entertaining and capture the imagination – and we really cannot afford to fail.
If one event is a success, then word-of-mouth recommendations will sell it for the next event.
In December, SIGGRAPH Asia will be the best event in the history of the conference and that naturally raises expectations for the next one, so we have to keep pushing ahead in order for people keep coming back.
The 10-year-old Songdo Convensia in Incheon’s smart city will complete its phase two expansion this July, doubling its size and event capacity.
To come are two new exhibition halls adjoining two current ones, thus allowing Songdo Convensia to accommodate 900 booths, up from the current 450; a Grand Ballroom for up to 3,000 guests; and 12 new conference rooms.
Songdo Convensia will soon have its exhibition space upsized
Jeon Jae Ok, convention team manager with Incheon Tourism Organization and Songdo Convensia, told TTGmice that Songdo Convensia has been in urgent need of more exhibition and meeting spaces as demand expanded beyond the initial core market.
“When Songdo Convensia first opened in 2008, most of the demand for our spaces came from China. We had a lot of tradeshows and conferences from China, hosted by companies keen on penetrating the South Korea market. But we ran out of meeting space quickly and could not contain them all. The 23 meeting rooms we have are just not enough,” said Jeon.
“In recent years, we have also started to see demand from the US and Australia overtaking that of the Chinese, with organisers coming here to conduct trade events that are a mix of exhibitions and meetings. This pushed us towards the expansion of our facility.”
Jeon shared that the space crunch at Songdo Convensia led to “a lot of missed opportunities”, as events that could not be accommodated at the centre had gone to other venues or destinations.
“In Incheon, the other alternative for large-scale events is Paradise City which can take around 2,000 pax in its function rooms,” he said, but added that Paradise City is a high-end resort so not all trade events could afford it.
With the opening of the additional facilities just a month away, Joen said interest among show organisers is high and enquiries for large-scale events are streaming in.
“This expansion will be beneficial for Songdo and Incheon in general,” he remarked, adding that there are more than enough hotel accommodation in Songdo city to support large-scale events.
He said there are 1,800 to 1,900 guestrooms within walking distance of Songdo Convensia, most of which belong to four- and five-star hotels.
One of the newly-renovated spaces on level two of Coex
Coex, the largest convention and exhibition centre in South Korea’s capital city is close to hitting full occupancy, with only one or two free days in between exhibitions.
In an interview with TTGmice, MJ Cho, manager of COEX’s venue sales team, said the venue is “fully booked and cannot grow beyond the 2,500 shows we do here annually”.
One of the newly-renovated spaces on level two of Coex
Coex’s long term solution is its Jamsil expansion which will occupy approximately 720,000m2 of land between Coex and the Jamsil Sports Complex. According to earlier local news reports, the expansion will take over land vacated by the Korea Electric Power Corp and other public organisations.
Cho shared that the future Coex Center Jamsil will house a new convention centre, hotels, and shopping and entertainment facilities. The renovated Jamsil Sports Complex will also be able to support large-scale business events.
However, with Coex Center Jamsil expected to only be ready in 2030, Coex’s current solution for the space crunch is to “work with customers to find alternative event dates or to offer a mix of spaces that can fit their needs”.
She shared that occasional events that cannot be accommodated at Coex are directed to aT Center, which is also owned by Coex.
“While it is much smaller than Coex, aT Center can provide some relief for shows that need more space than what is available at Coex,” she explained.
Cho also revealed that her team has devised a ranking system to determine which bookings to accept and reject.
A newly-renovated room sports a square instead of a round format
“We look at the number of times the show has been held in Coex, its size, its history, etc, to make that decision. Simply put, shows loyal to Coex get priority. However, international exhitions and conventions overtake them all, especially if the events are beneficial to the national economy,” she added.
Another immediate solution to the space crunch is the renovation of all its meeting rooms on level two, turning them into a more popular square space from its previous round shape.
“Round rooms are good to look at but difficult to use. Ever since we’ve relaunched the square meeting rooms, demand and bookings have risen,” she said.
Also new to the meeting rooms are fingerprint door locks which let registered organisers in, and in-room cameras that allow people outside to see what’s happening behind closed doors, thereby minimising disruptions.
Following the success of ADEX (Asia Dive Expo) 2017 – which was named the Best Exhibition Organiser at the May 8 Singapore Tourism Awards 2018 – Asian Geographic Magazines continues to raise the bar for the niche event, the largest and longest-running in the region.
Among the innovations introduced in 2017 was the creation of an event app equipped to handle payments, the streamlining of information to enhance convenience for visitors and exhibitors, and offering water sports activities for visitors to try out.
ADEX’s free dive try outs
Karter Lee, Asian Geographic Magazines’ events and marketing manager, said a 10 x 6 x 1.3 metres swimming pool and a 6 x 2.4 metres waist-high diving tank were constructed at the Suntec Singapore venue for visitors to try out activities such as stand-up paddling, kayaking, scuba diving, and underwater rugby and hockey.
Aside from the cost, Lee commented it was a transport, engineering and manpower challenge to set up and maintain the swimming pool, which was a bigger investment compared to developing the event app.
“We talked to the venue operator – whom we have worked with for many years since 1995 – and their engineers, and they were very supportive.
“It took 12 hours to fill the 60m3 swimming pool, or the equivalent of 60,000 one-litre water bottles, and the 10-man team had to work overnight.”
ADEX debuted the Mermaid Festival this year
This year, ADEX decided to introduce the Mermaid Festival, where “mermaid participants” demonstrated acrobatic manoeuvres at its 2018 edition in April, and visitors could sign up for a mermaid swimming course.
Lee noted: “We added 2,000m2 of space in 2018 to become 10,000m2 . There was a 10 per cent increase in visitors and a 20 per cent increase in the number of exhibitors, including new countries and destinations such as Taiwan, Terengganu, Jeju and Fiji.”
From left: Silversea’s Manfredi Lefebvre and Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Richard D. Fain
Royal Caribbean Cruises announced last Thursday that it would buy a 66.7 per cent stake in privately-owned Silversea Cruises for about US$1 billion to add ultra-luxury and expedition cruises to its fleet.
“Silversea is a the acknowledged leader in luxury and expedition cruising, two key markets that are poised for growth. Uniting our two companies presents an extraordinary opportunity to expand vacation options for guests and create revenue in strategic growth areas,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises, in a statement.
From left: Silversea’s Manfredi Lefebvre and Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Richard D. Fain
The strategic rationale for the partnership includes driving long-term capacity growth in the burgeoning luxury and expedition markets at a much larger scale than what Silversea would achieve independently.
It also allows Royal Caribbean to diversify its portfolio and increase its expedition offerings. The partnership will also leverage on the global footprint of both companies to generate demand and increase vacation and destination options for guests.
Fain added: “We are proud to welcome aboard Manfredi Lefebvre, a visionary leader whose high standards and history of innovation we deeply respect. Manfredi will remain executive chairman of Silversea, continuing to lead its strategy long term.”
In addition, Lefebvre and Fain have also confirmed that Silversea’s CEO Roberto Martinoli will continue in his role, working with the existing Silversea management team.
Including debt, the deal is valued at US$2 billion. Royal Caribbean said it plans to finance the purchase through debt.
The closing is expected to be completed later in the year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Rooms The intimate property houses 49 rooms, each uniquely designed due to the layout of the building. This makes for interiors that pay true homage to the heritage of its location, which dates back to the 1860s.
The Skylight Suite, in which I stayed, features a lounge flooded with natural daylight that mimics the open-air courtyard of traditional shophouses. The 41m2 room exuded a lush and calming vibe with its black wood furnishings and brown parchment-like wallpaper.
Skylight Suite’s Bedroom
On the top level, the Duxton Duplex Suite incorporates a spacious loft concept with spiral banister stairs reminiscent of olden houses, and looks out to a striking view of neighbouring shophouses and buildings.
All suites house one double bed, making a truly luxurious reward for top earners.
MICE facilities The Duxton property is the smaller of Six Senses’ two projects here. The humble space occupies just eight shophouse lots, and its elongated lobby features a host of lounging and working spaces, whether communal or private.
Yellow Pot, a 50-seater restaurant and 20-seater bar, is an ideal spot to treat corporates to a high-quality meal. My dinner here was extremely sumptuous, with modern Chinese offerings that contain neither MSG nor GMO.
Yellow Pot Restaurant
Companies with sustainability in mind will be pleased to know that all ingredients are personally sourced from local and regional suppliers by the chefs, and the hotel bans single-use plastics and excessive waste in its supply chain.
Service The hotel provides a number of wellness experiences, including a visit to a nearby family-owned tea house, an outdoor yoga session on Duxton Hill, as well as a calming and immersive singing bowl experience.
Murray Aitken, general manager of Six Senses Singapore, shared that a lounge will soon be converted into a traditional Chinese medicine consultation room, where one physician will be stationed to provide guests with a basic diagnosis.
Outdoor yoga
Staff members are warm and attentive, especially in Yellow Pot where they would be happy to describe the dishes and even chat with guests about their day.
I was also offered turndown service that included treats like a jar of soothing Tiger Balm and an adult colouring page, which made for a therapeutic stay.
Hyatt Hotels has expanded its Hyatt Regency brand in China with the opening of its first property in Beijing.
Designed by award-winning architect Kengo Kuma, all 348 rooms in Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing feature an oriental aesthetic and biophilic design boasting natural materials such as oak wood, beige and green marble, and a wood-grain patterned carpet.
Deluxe Suite King room
Rooms range from 30m2 to 290m2, and offer a separate workspace, flatscreen TV, standalone bathtub with Portico and Comfort Zone toiletries, high-speed Wi-Fi, and Bose and JBL Bluetooth sound system.
Amenities on-site include five F&B options, a 25m-long heated indoor pool, hydrotherapy areas with saunas and whirlpools, and a 24-hour fitness centre. Event planners can avail the 5,600m2 of function space which includes the 1,370m2 pillarfree Regency Ballroom.
Regency Ballroom
Located in the heart of the Wangjing Central Business District, the hotel can be conveniently accessed via the Airport Express and is a short stroll from the Futong subway station on Line14 and the 798 Art District.
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
The five-star property excels in backing its expansive facilities with seamless service and personalised attention, setting the benchmark for luxury in Bangkok.
