No doubt, food binds us all and some of the most memorable gatherings are so because they offer a great dining experience. Culinary-themed activities that bond teammates and break the ice for newbies are not a new concept, but as time goes by, fresh and interesting spins on such programmes have emerged. TTGmice reporters sniff out what’s cooking for corporate groups here in Asia

A pressure cooker

Organiser: Amari Watergate Bangkok

How this is served: Amari Watergate Bangkok’s newest teambuilding activity, the Corporate Cook Up, is one hot hell of a pressure cooker as teams of eight to 10 pax are cajoled by an MC and a chef to prepare six different Thai dishes, each within 12 minutes. While half of the teams cook, the other half work on other challenges such as fruit carving, table setting, place card writing (in Thai) and flower arrangement. The pressure of cooking and presenting a meal is designed to bring them together, stimulate creative thinking and improve leadership skills – not to mention participants learn to cook authentic Thai dishes.

Available for morning or afternoon sessions, the activity can even include scripting and recording a radio ad to promote the food. Prices start from 3,500 baht (US$99) per person. The package includes an English-speaking MC, chef, cotton chef aprons as keepsakes, chef hats, cooking ingredients, utensils, a team cookbook with step by step instructions and recipes, cooking venue and refreshments.

Where: A cooking venue within the hotel

Capacity: 20 to 150 people

Duration: Three hours

Contact: david.barrett@amari.com / (66 02) 653-9000

Celebrity dash

Organiser: Celebrity chef Emmanuel Stroobant

How this is served: For a real taste of what it’s like to work under a celebrity chef, head to Saint Pierre restaurant, where Emmanuel Stroobant – who has multiple awards and books under his belt – puts aside his kitchen tools for a moment and consults with corporates the values they hope to foster. Values can include better planning, communication, crisis management, time management, multitasking and teamwork. He then whips up a specialised cooking programme, conducted in a professional kitchen shift setting at his very own restaurant, Saint Pierre.

Participants are assigned different kitchen tasks where the aim is to prepare a three-course dinner, just as how chefs in a real gourmet restaurant kitchen function.

The cost of S$1,000 (US$720) per person (half-day) and S$1,500 per person full day may sound as fat as foie gras, then again, how often does a star-studded chef open his kitchen to outsiders? Wouldn’t it be exciting to get real tips on gourmet cooking while fostering team bonding?

Where: Saint Pierre restaurant’s kitchen

Capacity: Eight to 14 people; senior management level or heads of department only

Duration: Half-day (four hours including one meal) or full day (eight hours including two meals)

Contact: info@saintpierre.com.sg /(65) 6438-0887

What’s the most memorable food-themed corporate group activity for you?

“ CIBTM 2015’s ice breaker function at the brand new luxurious NUO Hotel, Beijing in early August. In line with NUO’s brand identity, attendees got to taste some of Europe’s finest gourmet ingredients and watched the hotel’s experienced chefs demonstrate their culinary skills with accompanying special effects. 

Some of the creations that are still fresh in my mind were the watermelon cubes and raspberries immersed in dry ice, intricately hand-sliced Spanish and Italian prosciutto, melted Swiss raclette cheese with potato hash, freshly smoked raw salmon paired with lemon bitters shots, and poached salmon with fish roe served in a mini ice-cream cone. Other pricey gourmet heavyweights included foie gras, caviar and assorted fine cheese.

This event was memorable because it was a really expensive experience and attendees waxed lyrical about it for a long time to come. Moreover, the dishes featured were seldom seen and tasted by the predominantly Asian audience.”

Lee Choon Loong
CEO and president
DiscoveryMICE Malaysia

Master the Singapore Sling

Organiser: Raffles Hotel Singapore

How this is served: Celebrate the legendary Singapore Sling originally created at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon – by learning how to create the iconic cocktail. Bartenders from Long Bar will disclose the secrets behind making the perfect tipple with splashes of gin, Dom Benedictine and Cointreau. Food and drinks will be provided.

Where: Long Bar, on at the second storey of Raffles Hotel Singapore

Capacity:
10 to 50 people

Duration:
One hour

Contact:
Jemimah.Apurado@raffles.com

What’s the most memorable food-themed corporate group activity for you?

“We organised a TIC Kitchen Competition with teams from different departments. Participants were challenged to make dishes with a tight budget. Although cooking wasn’t everyone’s forte, they worked together and came up with fantastic ideas. The activity motivated teamwork and innovation and (fostered a) can-do spirit.”

Quince Chong
Chief corporate
development officer
CLP Power Hong Kong

Creative juices

Organiser: Team Building Asia

How this is served: This is a smoothie making workshop that requires teams to produce 12 new and exciting smoothies supported with marketing campaigns in order to save the company.

Within a tight time frame, teams put their imagination, flexibility, planning and communication skills to the test while having fun. Teams also get to taste their creations during the wrap-up and successful teams will have to blend internal communication, resource management, distribution and marketing skills. They will also quickly discover that they will have to collaborate internationally if they are to achieve their goal.

Where: Any indoor venue across Asia

Capacity: 24 to 200 people

Duration: 150 to 180 minutes

Contact: enquiries@teambuildingasia.com/www.teambuildingasia.com

Pub crawling Japanese-style

Organiser: Fascinating Holidays, Singapore

How this is served: This is an activity that brings teammates together over a tipple or two and local dishes, while giving them a view into the lively izakaya culture. The izakaya is a traditional Japanese bar where food and drinks are served, and is loved by locals for celebrations, friendly get-togethers and quick after-work drinks.

The izakaya tour, run by a Bar Hopping Master who is fluent in English even after consuming a considerable amount of alcohol, visits two or three izakayas, depending on the programme chosen.

Where: Ueno district, Tokyo, Japan

Capacity: One bar master can take a group of up to 10 people

Duration: Two hours

Contact:mice@fascinating.travel/www.fascinating.com.sg

Embark on a dessert safari

Organiser: Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre

How this is served: The concept leverages on the insight that good food is a terrific catalyst for bringing people together. Following a Safari Map which “gamifies” the event, guests are enticed to strategise their routes to sample as many desserts as possible. Dessert Stations offer ready-to-go items as well as chefs preparing treats à la minute, creating an experiential event that engages all five senses.

Where: Any venue within Suntec Singapore

Capacity: Minimum of 100 pax for an optimal number of Safari Stations

Duration: One to two hours

Contact: sales@suntecsingapore.com/(65) 6337-2888

Get behind the bar for a day

Organiser: The Langham Hong Kong

How this is served: Mixologist Rajendra “Rush” Limbu will demonstrate to the group how to create cocktails. Participants work together to decipher the ingredients and attempt to replicate his creations using the same ingredients before conducting a blind taste test to see which is most like the original. Recipes are provided at the end of the class for delegates to make the drink at home.

Where: The Artesian bar, although other venues within the hotel can be offered

Capacity: A minimum group of 10 people

Duration: Flexible, but non-peak hours and weekdays are preferred

Contact: (852) 2378-9324/tlhkg.sales@langhamhotels.com

What’s the most memorable food-themed corporate group activity for you?

“ When I first joined InterContinental Singapore, I was looking for an engaging platform to network with my team. I had to organise a teambuilding session within two weeks. Based on the hotel’s brand positioning around the arts and heritage precinct of Bugis, Food Playground created a menu of locally-inspired dishes like kueh dadar (sweet coconut stuffed pancake roll) which the team had a lot of fun putting together. More importantly, the session allowed me to interact with and get to know my team members better in a relaxed environment.”

Rex Loh
Area director of sales & marketing, Singapore
InterContinental Hotels Group

A royal culinary experience from a bygone era

Organiser: Ping Anchorage Travel & Tours, Malaysia

How this is served: In this teambuilding programme, the kingdom of Langkasuka which once ruled over Malaysia’s Terengganu, is recreated with food from ancient royal cuisine.

Conducted at Terrapuri Resort in Penarik, Terengganu, guests will go around the well-manicured garden where there are more than 100 types of vegetables to identify. Plucking of the necessary ingredients for the cuisine will also be done. They will then be taught to cook a few simple dishes, before dinner is served in the courtyard with Mak Yong, a royal dance performance from the olden days. Guests also have a chance to play musical instruments like the gamelan and learn the dance.

This is an exciting programme as it recreates the royal court in olden days and gives participants an insight of royal life in the past with an English speaking guide sharing stories about court life.

Terrapuri Resort has 22 villas, with architecture resembling old Malay palaces.

Where: On the resort’s grounds

Capacity: Maximum 80 people

Duration: Four hours

Contact: sales@pinganchorage.com.my/Pinganchorage.com.my

Island cooking escapade

Organiser: Cookery Magic, Singapore

How this is served: Conducted in a 100-year old kampong on the rustic island of Pulau Ubin, off Singapore’s coast, participants will literally get in touch with the roots of the island by harvesting herbs directly from a garden. Cooking will also be done in the garden, and participants will learn how to make the little known Malay dish, nasi kerabu (herbed rice) as well as sambal belachan (chilli paste) and butter prawns.

Where: Pulau Ubin, which is accessible via a 10-minute boat ride from Changi Jetty

Capacity: 20 to 80 people

Duration: Five hours

Contact: www.cookerymagic.com

What’s the most memorable food-themed corporate group activity for you?

“We recently created a Halloween-themed private event at our centre where we put together the creepiest-looking dishes from Eyeball Cake Pops and Tomb Desserts to Blood Shooters. We had all the equipment and facilities to make the special effects happen. The food was exquisite and innovative. Most of all, we had a lot of fun.”

Arun Madhok
CEO
Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre

When food and art collide to create a masterpiece

Organiser: The Stones – Legian, Bali

How this is served: Meeting delegates will be placed into groups and participants from each team will draw on a large paper canvas while being blindfolded. Participants will draw according to instructions and participants will take turns at completing the artwork. The team that creates the most beautiful piece wils a prize.

Good team work is required to complete this activity as the blindfolded member needs to trust his/her group mates’ instructions while at the same time blocking out voices from competing groups.

The fun part of this activity is that instead of using real paint, participants will use ketchup, mustard sauce or cupcake icing that come in paint tubes.

More than just a refreshing teambuilding activity, this works as a fun alternative to the usual meeting break. The meeting room or coffee break area, will be transformed into an Andy Warhol-esque studio called The Factory. Foods are displayed in containers shaped like paint cans, while sauces are presented in tubes. Ladders and artist palettes are used in serving canapés. Completing the art studio look, banquet staff are dressed in white jackets with paint stains.

Where: Hotel’s function rooms

Capacity: 10 to 30 people

Duration: At least 30 minutes

Contact: sales@stoneshotelbali.com/www.stoneshotelbali.com

Kitchen adventure

Organiser: The Westin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

How this is served: Pots, Pans and Palate is an innovative culinary teambuilding programme that promotes creativity, communication and teamwork by having people working together to create delicious dishes.

Participants will be divided into groups and each team will have to prepare a two- or three-course menu, supervised by a chef.

The kitchen will be set up like a marketplace where participants can grab the necessary ingredients for the recipe, and dash off to their cooking stations. Obstacles and surprises can be introduced into the programme to make it more exciting.

Variations of this programme can also include Superfoods-themed menus and a nutritionist providing a talk on healthy eating.

Where: Pool area

Capacity: 10 to 30 people

Duration: Three hours

Contact: Lenny.tan@westin.com/www.westin.com/kualalumpur

What’s the most memorable food-themed corporate group activity for you?

“ Member chefs had to cook a giant paella for 1,000 people to the beat of the drum while at Madrid Fusion Manila 2015 in April. It was to raise funds for the non-profit Sociedad Espanola de Beneficencia.

I loved it for bringing us chefs together as a team to do something different for a cause, something that we haven’t done before. I love the end result – a giant paella that tasted so good even we ourselves were surprised.”

Jerome Valencia
Member
Les Toques Blanches
Philippine Chefs Association

Carlson Rezidor has finally launched a signature MICE product for its event-friendly Radisson Blu hotels in Asia-Pacific, five years since the brand arrived in this region. The company’s vice president of commercial operations, Asia Pacific tells Karen Yue why the wait is necessary

What drove Carlson Rezidor to come up with this signature MICE product, Experience Meetings?

We have been ramping up Radisson Blu and the new Experience Meetings is unique to the brand. Today, Experience Meetings (see sidebar on facing page for details) is available worldwide.

It took us a while to get Experience Meetings tweaked and set and ready for the market. We took our time (researching Brain Box). We wanted something truly different. Many hotels will just repackage a meeting or menu (to attract meeting planners). Not us. We wanted to impact meeting outcomes in a scientific way.

And we wanted to make sure we were in good shape before launching Experience Meetings (in 2013 in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa; in August in Asia).

Did the gap between 2013 and 2015 give Carlson Rezidor a chance to see how Experience Meetings could be adapted for the Asian market? 

We typically like to jump right in and swim, but for this product we wanted to see how it fared so we sat back and watched. So yes, we did tweak it to make it perfect for the Asia-Pacific customer.

For Brain Food, for instance, we went back to the masterchef team and asked them to adapt it for Asians. For some of these delegates, you really need to provide noodles and rice – foods that don’t fall into the Brain Food bucket (they contain carbohydrates that raise blood sugar levels and bring on food coma).

We didn’t have to adapt Brain Box for the Asian market though.

Other hotel chains are also offering creative meeting solutions. What is Carlson Rezidor doing to get planners’ attention?

We have been around the globe and across this region to shout the message and to get people to touch it, taste it, experience it. We’ve done several fun launches in various Asian cities for the media and the trade.

And did these roadshows generate good business leads? 

Oh yes. We had something like 13 or 14 meetings. This is very early stages now, and not everybody has a meeting to plan right away but they will keep us in mind. It is difficult to track (the business generated directly from roadshows). Getting business is a wonderful thing, and it is the name of the game, but it wasn’t the main objective of our promotional exercise. It was all about creating awareness for Experience Meetings and planting the seed in customers’ minds.

Why is Experience Meetings limited to Radisson Blu hotels?

Radisson Blu is very forward thinking, very iconic, it is sophisticated, it is stylish, and we think that it is the right fit for the differentiated product that is Experience Meetings.

All Radisson Blu hotels have meeting facilities, some more extensive than others. An example of a Radisson Blu property in this region with extensive, convention centre-type facility is the Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai Hong Quan in China.

Radisson Blu hotels are a good place to start off for now. We will continue to evolve because the MICE sector is important to us. It touches every aspect of the hotel’s revenue. Planners and attendees spend money on rooms, meeting venues and food. They are the kind of customers we love.

And there are more Radisson Blu hotels coming into Asia, yes?

We have 44 Radisson Blu properties in Asia-Pacific and more than 280 globally in 62 countries. Those 44 were launched within the past five years that we’ve entered this region. And we have 90 hotels (across all brands) in the pipeline for Asia-Pacific, in exciting destinations like Vietnam and Cambodia.

Asia-Pacific is the focus of our company. Like most hotel companies, we’ve figured out that the opportunities for exponential growth lies here. Our plan is to double in size in Asia-Pacific – to hit 200 hotels in 2020. Focus areas are China, Indonesia and India. We are the number one hotel company in India now – 70 per cent of our footprint is in India – and India will continue to be a key area for us.

Some markets are more conservative than others when it comes to adopting funky, new ideas for solemn meetings. Which ones do you think will readily embrace Experience Meetings?

I suspect that in some areas in China we will have customers who will find our meeting concept risky.

The great thing is, there is no price difference – the customer pays the same for a traditional meeting setup and an Experience Meetings setup. There’s minimal risk for the customer, so why not give it a try?

Say your meeting is going to be held across two or three days. We can give you an Experience Meetings on day one and if your delegates are uncomfortable and things aren’t working out – I’d be surprised if that happens though! – we will just flip things around and get you back your traditional arrangements. We will get rid of all the funky, crazy stuff and furniture, no problem at all.

Experience Meetings is a concept, so how do you ensure your salespeople rightly identify an event that is suitable for it?

Interestingly, most meeting planners do
not actually know what their meeting objectives are. They know they are bringing people together, but to do what?

So we talk with our customers to find out what are they hoping to get out of their meeting and then help them get there with the varied Brain Box setup and Brain Food support.

I think it is common sense (driving salespeople’s understanding of customer’s needs), but common sense is not as common as we like it to be. That’s where our education comes in. This is also why we didn’t want to roll out Experience Meetings before everyone is ready.

We have a strong communications system in place to ensure that everybody understands the concept.

Supporting all that is the Radisson’s Yes, I Can service culture training that was created 25 years ago. Every employee, from the dishwasher to the general manager, are mandated to go through this training before they hit the floor. It is an extensive training, and it isn’t just about taking care of the guest. We want our people to think, “this may not be my area (of responsibility) but I will make sure I take care of your needs and I will get you to somebody who can fix that”.

It is also about anticipating needs. We have an element called Surprise and Delight which is about finding ways to really wow the guest. It could be something you’ve heard or picked up – it is about being a little sneaky, if you will – that would make the guest’s experience memorable.

We hire for that and we train our employees to have this mindset and attitude. I call that the heart of hospitality. This heart isn’t in everybody. There are people who are suited to our business, who like to take care of guests, and there are people who genuinely don’t like people.

You hire for that, but isn’t it tough to recruit people with the heart of hospitality here in Asia, where the service line isn’t seen as a real career?

This isn’t a problem unique to Asia. Finding good people is hard as there is a shortage, whether it is a result of culture or the impact of (higher) education that has led people to think that this isn’t the most desirable of careers.

Personally this has been a very rewarding career for the past 15 years!

But we are fortunate to have been able to attract the right people. We have different sources – we go to hospitality schools and partner with training programmes.

Radical meeting experiences

Radisson Blu’s Experience Meetings concept is a departure from traditional meeting arrangements, focusing instead on solutions that encourage creative thinking and interaction among delegates. It comprises two elements – Brain Box and Brain Food.

Brain Box was created following extensive research and relies on the room setup to support the four styles of learning: Auditory – meeting rooms are fitted with top quality sound system and planners are offered a playlist of specific sounds and tunes that create a conducive learning environment; Tactile – colourful pens and glass panels or wall canvases are provided to facilitate creative ways of illustrating the discussion; Kinesthetic – old fashioned swings and large, colourful balls provide unusual seating for attendees, which encourage them to move about during meetings; Visual – colourful setups and top quality of visual equipment are provided.

Explaining the practical purpose of the swings, Russell said: “If you are in a meeting where there are people not agreeing on a particular point, put them in the swings. We have been able to prove that when people start swinging in sync with each other while talking and negotiating, they actually come to a resolution.”

Brain Food is a culinary concept developed in consultation with nutrition experts and masterchefs to emphasise the use of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients while maintaining great taste, low fat content and reduced sugar. The result is food that helps delegates experience optimal concentration and minimal fatigue during meetings.

Experience Meetings is additionally supported by complimentary Wi-Fi, a loyalty programme for meeting planners, and a carbon offset programme.

According to Russell, the Experience Meetings concept is ideal for small-sized groups of no more than 30 pax.

How did you land this position?

Having started out as a Sales Manager (MICE) at a previous five-star hotel, I was at the right place at the right time as the Shangri-La, Hotel Singapore had newly created the role of events revenue manager and was looking for someone with experience in both MICE and revenue management. I was lucky enough to have completed my internship as a revenue management intern at Shangri-La, Pudong back in 2010 and this was the perfect opportunity for me expand my business acumen by taking on a more strategic role as it deals with forecasting, pricing and demand analysis, among the other things that I do.

What do you do on a daily basis?

My main role is to maximise the hotel’s events revenue, both in the short- and long-run. I ensure that our products are priced appropriately in relation to the demand, and how I determine the latter is via extrapolation of past data and combining it with what we have on the books. Daily, I work very closely with my director of events to ensure that she has good data to make decisions on how the department will be able to achieve its targets, and drive revenue generation the extra mile.

What do you find most exciting in this role?

The most exciting aspect is that it is still in its early stages of development, unlike revenue management for rooms. Unlike in Northern America or Europe, not many hotels here in Asia have a dedicated events revenue nanager to assist the MICE and events department so I have free-reign to apply what I have learnt in my previous positions.

What’s even more exciting is seeing the fruition of your efforts at the end of the month when the figures are extra robust and healthy. At the same time, it is also a challenge for me as I will have to set the standard and benchmarks for all of our other properties to follow.

What advice would you give to someone looking to specialise in MICE revenue management

Be meticulous with the details. The MICE specialist must be able to cover all bases and bring up points which even the organiser themselves may have overlooked. In my line of work, information is power and with it, you will be able to provide the operations team with a seamless handover to prevent mistakes. Most importantly, have fun while you’re at it. This will naturally translate to you being a happier person and being able to give your all, which in turn converts to guest satisfaction.