Northstar

INSIGHTS | EVENT PLANNER'S DIARY 50 MAR-APR 2018 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS • MCMAG-ASIA.COM Pushing boundaries brings rewards Words Brooke Thio Embracing and overcoming creative challenges are a necessity for producing memorable events – and passion certainly helps, said Pacific World's Liow Qixin. MEMORABLE MOMENTS Pacic World was tasked to do something out-of-the-box for a high-prole Board of Directors Dinner at Fullerton Bay Hotel's Cliord Pier when it was recently revamped. We requested for the pier's berth to be opened up so that our guests could take the bumboat from Bayfront South jetty there directly, but this was only agreed to after much consideration as it is a heritage venue. We transformed Cliord Pier such that the main entrance was from the jetty; the cocktail reception was held at the outdoor patio while the restaurant's furniture was replaced with banquet tables for the 90 guests. During the dinner, we showcased Singapore's development from shing village to cosmopolitan city through a customised video that included a video-mapping performance. A CREATIVE MINDSET We were tasked to conceptualise eight dierent rooms to exhibit various brands and products from a major FMCG group. We had four rooms with a country- of-origin concept, such as a Thailand- themed room where we built a mock-up of convenience stores in Thailand with Singapore. Turnaround time was insane: we had all of 30 minutes from the time the park closed till the start of our show. At the same time, there was an exhibition being set up for the same event, which required us to hoist 100kg of products on specially-built panels. Fortunately, all ended smoothly but it tested much of our technical know-how, contacts and even muscles. PROBLEM˜SHOOTING TACTICS It was the haze season in Singapore and we were preparing an outdoor event for 1,500 guests. We prepared masks and constantly checked the pollution index so we could do a haze call by a certain time. The nal decision was to go ahead with the event but when guests were arriving at the beach venue, it started to pour! We activated an umbrella party for the guests, which involved transporting the umbrellas between the drop-o point and the marquee. Thankfully, the rain cleared up the haze and we were able to continue the party with a DJ spinning all night and a reworks display with synchronised music. The most important factor that allowed us to pull through was the excellent teamwork and how everyone calmly executed their duties. IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS Clients are important, but just as essential are vendors as they are the ones that give the best support to execute a perfect event. Also, always have passion for what you are doing and don't be afraid to be creative! The craziest ideas often turn out to be 'wow' experiences. NAME: Liow Qixin COMPANY: Pacific World Meetings & Events Singapore NO. OF YEARS' EXPERIENCE: 5 NO OF EVENTS ORGANISED: 70+ CONTACT: liowqixin@ pacificworld.com the brand's products displayed on shelves. We put out Thai lounge music and had Thai-themed décor in the room as well. The other rooms replicated dierent scenes to showcase the brands: like a "Central Park" room where we had benches, articial turf, street lamps, and pop-up stores selling the brand's ice- cream. CHALLENGING SCENARIOS Once, a client requested a Rock-N'-Roll themed event that required us to y in a band and several artistes. We also had to incorporate a theme song that was created specically for the event, get items (wigs, hair spray, accessories) for a rock star impersonation, and source for a Harley Davidson bike with the appropriate licenses to allow the CEO to do a short ride through Universal Studios

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