Northstar

People Interview with David Ong General Manager, China, Off-Site Connections Event Solutions His strong design and events expertise earned him senior positions with international event corporations that brought him to Shanghai, from Singapore. Leading a tight-knit unit at Off-Site Connections Event Solutions (OSC), he runs events from big gala dinners to property launches and even fashion shows. We chat with David Ong, general manager, China, OSC. Q What inspires you to be in the events industry? How did it all start? I have been in the creative industry for the past 19 years and was very passionate about design. I was a designer (Multimedia Design) by training and have always been fascinated by technologies. I started in the event industry when I was running my own design consultancy fi rm and chance upon a few projects where I need to integrate events into them. That was when I realized that I could utilize my creative and designing skills into producing an event to make them more interesting. I then went on to join Pico Art International, a reputable exhibition and event company and the rest is history. I enjoy this industry for the very fact that this industry is driven by passion. Passion is the strongest motivating factor in our industry, without it, you will not be a good event professional. I also love that I have the opportunity to constantly use my creativity to conceptualize interesting, unique and refreshing events ideas. This is like a drug addiction and gives me a great satisfaction and job fulfi lment. Q What made you move from Singapore to Shanghai? I was with Pico Art International for about 3 years before I was head hunted to Shanghai by the company that own Three on The Bund in Shanghai to be their General Manager, Special Events. It came as a surprised for me as I had no intention to leave Singapore at that time. However, I also knew that this would be a great challenge and a big boost to my personal development. I hopped on a plane 3 weeks after I left my Singapore job and the rest is history. Q How is it like planning and managing events in China as compared to the rest of Asia? Asia's events industry varies quite a lot across the region. For example, Singapore and Hong Kong are mature compared to developing destinations like Vietnam and Macau. Even in China, the level of event professionalism varies from fi rst tier cities to second and third tier cities. If possible, we try to work with familiar, experienced vendors but often times that mean higher costs due to fl ying a team in for the event. If we need to work with local vendors who have not worked with OSC before, we will allot more bump-in time to accommodate unforeseen challenges. We will also try to bring in our own technical crew and not use the local ones. This will allow us to have better control on the actual execution and have peace of mind throughout the event. Q What goes into the planning and execution of major corporate events? What are the details required and do you have an "events bible" guide? OSC is very focused on event design and engaging deeply with the client during the pre-event planning stage. We start with a brain-storming phase and work with the client to develop the entire event concept. So, project planning is very important to us and our methodology helped us grow and position ourselves in this competitive market as a creative event agency. OSC's creative capabilities really set us apart. We have full in-house creative team that is capable of a very broad range of execution. From 3D, to multimedia – including a video editing, to graphic designs and displays, we don't outsource any components of the creative execution. We also make use of a broad range of technology in our planning and execution. For example, by using 3D design to create plans and proposals, we are able to match our plans and proposals very close to the actual execution. This allows us to closely meet client expectations. With our heavy focus on pre-planning phases, we work a lot like a design company or ad agency. Our greatest believe in producing an event is to always start from ground zero. This is to ensure that we can always provide our clients unique and interesting ideas for their events. Q How do you measure success for your events? The most important measurement of success is client feedback. We put great care in the pre-planning process in order to fulfi l and exceed client expectations. We also consistently provide post event evaluation to our clients and get them to do the same for us. Our high percentage of referral and repeat business shows that clients are happy with our event solutions. Q Give us an example of an event that you managed, which gives you that sense of satisfaction. The Australian Football League (AFL) exhibition match and VIP event that we produced in 2010. It was a huge event with high visibility put on by the AFL and Yangpu government. We brought in two professional teams to introduce Australian football rules to China. The exhibition match was held at the Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai. In the end, we attracted 7,000 people with very limited pre- event promotion. We also had a VIP luncheon for 400 people. The whole event had a real festival feel – not like typical sports competitions that you see here. And, we were able to pull all of this off with only 6 months of preparation. Q In terms of MICE, do you see any interesting trends that are beginning to take shape for the next year? Beijing and Shanghai are still a popular MICE destination and has defi nitely the infrastructure to grow in this market. Many companies will still consider Beijing and Shanghai as a destination when they are planning David Ong their MICE activities. The ever-growing economy in China has also created a highly potential domestic market for outbound MICE business. Many big MNCs and well-established local companies are organizing more and more MICE events outside of China such as Asia Pacifi c Conferences, meetings, incentive tours, etc. This many generate opportunities for international companies like Off-Site Connections who has a base in China and Australia to effectively secure such events and execute them around the Asia Pacifi c regions. Q How is Asia faring in terms of corporate events – do you see emerging markets and where are they from? Emerging markets for Asia's corporate events include Macau. We see great potential there and have established operations in Macau since 2008. Macau's rapid development of infrastructure and integrated resorts like the Sands Cotai Central will make the destination more appealing to inbound MICE business. The growth will continue for the next 5-8 years as Macau becomes more accessible with the development of projects like the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. Events 7 August 2012

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