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Peace during troubled times...
As the shock from last month's tragedies in New York and Washington, DC give way to reality, we are all beginning to assess the impact it will have on the travel industry and corporate events worldwide.
The images of destruction that were so vividly beamed into our homes are hard to forget and we all mourn the loss of so many innocent lives. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and injured and we salute the rescuers and volunteers who worked so bravely, tirelessly and without ever giving up hope.
It is too early to say what the long term effect will be but I am confident that the resilient hospitality industry will recover and bounce back from these horrific attacks.
EventClicks is working closely with the meeting and travel departments of our customers as they consider their options to cancel or postpone their events during these times of uncertainty. We have extended our services to include rescheduling or re-booking meetings, liaising with hotels on cancellation and attrition policies, identifying video-conferencing capabilities and identifying other destination options to meet clients' requirements.
It is clearly a time for the hospitality industry as a whole to band together and work for peace during these troubled times.
Tom Murphy
CEO, EventClicks Ltd.
Virtual
Meetings - Improving Business Productivity
Amongst the growing number of technological
tools available to enhance meetings and reach those who are unable to attend,
video-conferencing and web-streaming are being increasingly used by small to
medium enterprises as well as by multinational corporations for smaller meetings.
Although a computer screen will never totally replace face-to-face meetings,
there are many instances where they fit the bill or increase the impact of the
event.
This range of technology applications breaks roughly into three categories, each with benefits and limitations:
1. Web collaboration:
small groups (usually 2 to 5) with high interactivity
2. Web meetings: groups of up to 50 with high interactivity and up to 100 or
more with reduced audience involvement
3. Web casting: up to thousands of people with little or no audience participation
other than watching.
Web collaboration
Web collaboration is the virtual meeting in its simplest and least expensive
form. Designed for one-to-one meetings or small groups (usually less than five
people) it allows for the exchange of messages and data via the Internet to
others in remote locations.
The good news is that these forms are usually free. For example, AOL instant messenger (IM) can be downloaded for no charge at www.aol.com and used by anyone with access to the web. With this installed and running, you will be able to see when co-workers or buddies are online. It is possible to text chat using a pop-up text window. This can be a very efficient form of communication for geographically dispersed offices or simply by anyone that wishes to keep in touch - a "meeting" in its simplest form.
A step up in web collaboration is another free tool called NetMeeting www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting. This will allow you to communicate with one to four others as if all were gathered around watching the same computer screen. It allows participants to share text, voice (lower quality than normal phone lines), pictures, collectively view web sites, white board, and even applications such as Word can be worked on simultaneously. Drawbacks include the low number of people (a maximum of 5) as well as this product is not very firewall friendly, making it difficult to use in many corporate environments.
Other tools allow even greater collaboration. Centra (www.centra.com) is a free service requiring a Pentium computer with Windows 95+, 32 Mb Ram, a fast 56K phone connection, and newer browsers. Presenters can show PowerPoint slides, annotate slides online, perform live software demonstrations (Word, Excel, etc), and pass control to another, while using Internet audio or teleconference phone lines. Attendees can speak (when given the "mic" by the presenter), raise their hand to speak, vote and send text questions to others. Up to five can participate for free using the CentraNow product.
For larger groups, Centra also offers a client/server application (Centra99) with an annual site license for US $25,000 plus US $200 per seat (simultaneous users). A maximum of 250 simultaneous users can be handled but for full interactivity, 25 users is the maximum. This product has been designed with low bandwidth usage and can be used even with a relatively slow 28.8 bps modem.
One of my favourites
is WebEx (www.webex.com),
one of the biggest players in this field. It affords options similar to Centra
(PowerPoint presentations, application
sharing/demonstration, collaborative web browsing) with the ability to comment
(via text) and annotate the slides in real time. There is a polling function
as well. You can even give someone control of you desktop across the web (for
example, a technician trying to troubleshoot a computer problem) as if s/he
were sitting at your desk. Verbal communication is either handled with text
chat or over standard phone lines. Also available for free is the WebEx Office
with an e-mail address, calendar, and other tools. WebEx offers a "Premium
Service" that will add streaming video and is said to handle hundreds of
users, bumping it into the virtual auditorium arena.
The benefits for these products are that for small groups they are free and also highly interactive - all can actively participate.
This product, for a fee, can also include more users with the price ranging from US 20 cents to US 35 cents per minute from text-only messaging to using phone teleconferencing with call-out capability. Up to 300 can be handled, but WebEx is clearly going after the small group, high-interactive market. According to a WebEx sales representative, their "sweet spot" is 7 attendees.
Web meetings
- the virtual auditorium
Web meeting products are usually geared for groups of less than 50 with high
interactivity and up to thousands with reduced audience involvement. These attempt
to replicate the interactivity and other features of conferences presentations.
They allow questions to be posed, surveys to be taken, and include slides and
even live video of the presenter.
Contigo (www.contigo.com) specialises in presentations using PowerPoint and voice for up to 2,500 attendees - although whiteboards, annotations, program sharing and the other features are offered. Video is an option but not encouraged. Their selling proposition is that their product requires the least amount of bandwidth (the thinnest client) when compared to most of its competitors. It also will work with older IE3.0 and Netscape 3.0 browsers. The faster the product is and the wider range of acceptable browsers means that larger audiences would be able to use it - this is especially good when you are broadcasting to the public rather than, for example, a corporate intranet.
Pricing is based
on an annual software license of US $2,799 for 10 simultaneous users for the
basic meetings to US $44,999 for 100 simultaneous users with extensive management
tools for an unlimited number of events a year.
NetPodium from InterVU Inc (www.netpodium.com)
handles meeting sizes from 20 to 2,000 persons. The big difference from the
tools mentioned previously is that NetPodium delivers the message live via streaming
video with multimedia content (Power Point slides, etc.). Real-time messaging
and advanced polling capabilities also afford an opportunity to facilitate meaningful
interactions with your audience, beyond what's possible with a traditional conference
call or video conferencing services. Streaming video (a talking head) with slides
and photos can be much more compelling than straight audio with slides alone.
However, this requires a good connection speed and a newer computer and is often
best suited for a corporate Internet environment with high bandwidth.
The price is based on number of simultaneous users and duration of the meeting. For example, 100-user utilising with both picture (steaming video) and audio costs US $6,000. Also, alliances are being made with the telecom players such as AT&T and MCI, which will make this option nearly as easy to book a web conference as it is now to book a conference call.
PlaceWare (www.placeware.com) is a high-end option allowing full audience polling, lots of interactivity and a nice interface. The process is essentially a web-enabled conference call requiring telephone lines for the voice. At a designated time, participants call into a central location, logon to a password-protected area in the PlaceWare site, and wait for the moderator to begin. Questions may be posed via text boxes, and audience polling is easy to run. Up to 2,500 simultaneous users can be handled. Audio is provided through phone lines with a higher quality than web-based voice methods. There can be a large number of users, and the interface is very good. The downside is that it is expensive (US $400 annual hosting per seat). However, this as with many of the net meeting options is just a fraction of what the cost of travel and time to fly everyone to a central location.
PlaceWare is one of the largest players in this field with more than 500 corporate customers and over a million users. It spun out of the think tank and Xerox Park and is said to be highly reliable and easy to use. They have also entered into partnerships with MCI, Sprint and AT&T so this could become a "conference call" alternative.
Web casting
When your potential audience is huge, and you are not as concerned about interactivity,
then web casting may be the option for you to extend the life of your event
to those on the web. Formerly, what could be done only with very expensive satellite
videoconferencing gear is now being replaced with web-based streaming technology.
This allows voice, slides, and video to be broadcast live at a fraction of the
cost of satellite time and can be archived and made available on demand after
the event as well.
There are many players in this arena and the price varies widely based on the need for camera crews, high-speed data lines, etc. Two players in the field warrant a brief mention, however.
BroadcastZone (www.broadcastzone.com) specialises in creating live web events. The speaker or celebrity comes to the BroadcastZone studio to participate in an interview format program. The events are specifically designed for the web, heavily advertised, and draw thousands of viewers. The interesting aspect is the ability for interactivity. Through a text-based moderated message board, viewers can ask questions. A staff member views the questions and can reply either privately or publicly using the web with text answers. However, the really good questions can be forward to the interviewer's laptop where s/he can pose the question to the speaker for all to see and hear the reply in the speaker's own words.
Yahoo's Broadcast (www.broadcast.com) is among the many that provides web casting for more traditional meetings. Your event can be videotaped, digitised, and made available on demand after the event to viewers around the world either for free or pay-per-view. This can extend the life of the meeting and can encourage attendees for next year's meeting. The options include slides with audio; video with audio; or video, audio, and high resolution slides together. This last option can provide a viewer experience very similar to sitting in the back of a meeting room watching the program. Examples of these can be found at Yahoo Broadcast web site.
Corbin Ball, CMP,
is a consultant, writer and speaker focusing on events and meetings technology.
With 20 years of experience running international citywide technology meetings,
he now helps clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity.
He can be contacted at his Web site:
www.corbinball.com.
Announcing Our Brand New Feature!
EventClicks is proud to announce the addition of a brand new 'Featured Destination' section on www.eventclicks.com, which aims to educate and inform interested readers on one of the most fascinating and culturally diverse countries in the world - China.
After 15 years of negotiations, China has finally been given formal approval to enter the World Trade Organisation. The world's most populated country is set to open its doors to enhance its trade and economic development with the rest of the world.
Learn more about this captivating country in this constantly updated section. The 'Featured Destination' section comprises of four useful segments:
Destination Orientation is packed with destination information on attractions, new secondary cities, geography and infrastructure as well as cultural customs to educate meeting planners considering China as a potential events destination.
Find a Venue showcases a wide selection of meetings and conference venues and detailed information on venues and their facilities alongside country and location maps, venue photographs and meeting capacity information. Recently updated, 'Find a Venue' in China now features new destinations! For unique sights and sounds, consider Sanya, also known as 'The Oriental Hawaii' and China's European-flaired Qingdao. For golf excursions, Zhuhai and Kunming are ideal and for a taste of culture, visit the infamous TerraCotta Soldiers in Xian. Check out more new and exciting venues on 'Find a Venue' in China on www.eventclicks.com.
Meetings & Events is an indispensable tool which can assist events planners who are planning an event in China. Useful information such as tips, do's and don'ts as well as pointers on how to conduct business on the mainland are also included in this segment.
The
News Updates segment is updated regularly and aims to keep
readers abreast on our latest news and feature stories throughout China. Articles
from this section will also be available to readers via our New Directions e-newsletter
- take a look at our recently introduced 'China Corner' below!
Featured Destination
is written by respected journalist Jane Ram. Based in Hong Kong, she
has been travelling in China on work and pleasure for the past quarter of a
century.
Check out the latest addition to www.eventclicks.com and keep yourself updated on one of the world's most intriguing countries.
Becky Lee
The Art of MICE Solutions, The Real Business of IT
At the recent PATA MICE Seminar held in Bangkok, Thailand in October, EventClicks' CEO Tom Murphy spoke of the importance of embracing technology in the workplace and the wealth of advantages it encompasses.
Below are excerpts of Mr. Murphy's speech:
"Originally information technology within the framework of events meant electronic slides - the precursor to today's PowerPoint presentations. Today there are so many tools and applications and Internet portals in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry that it is hard to keep up.
I will speak about what Roger Cline from Anderson Consulting calls: 'The Knowledge Era', the growth of e-business, the indisputable benefits and the adoption rate within the hospitality industry. This will lead on to a very basic introduction of the type of web sites those in the corporate travel industry should be familiar with, and some specific examples of event-related sites. And finally I will introduce some of the more interesting web-based tools.
I think you will agree that there is hardly anyone today from hotels, to airlines to destination management companies who is not familiar with and in one way or another using information technology and the Internet. Needless to say technology is becoming a part of our everyday lives
In the 10-year period from 1990 to 2000 the number of Internet users has grown from somewhere under a million - to conservatively well over 300 million worldwide - and it continues to grow every day.
The future of e-business is positive for the hospitality industry and increasingly has a strong impact on the bottom line as distribution and communication costs are reduced and productivity is increased.
Clearly there are some very quantifiable benefits for all of us here in the events industry
Further benefits will continue to become apparent as increased broadband and wireless communication drive the knowledge era. It is time for us to stop being intimidated by the Internet and to look beyond the quantity of information available to us and focus on the usefulness of that data.
The newest emerging web trend we see here in Asia-Pacific is on-line registration and on-line housing.
The current generation can handle some of the largest and most complex meetings around. They often include invitation lists, multi-session, multi-day events, variable pricing schemes, housing components for single or multiple hotels, room block management, session capabilities, wait lists, cut off dates, early bird registration benefits, cancellation fees, customisable fields etc. Basically building a single on-line database for everything from registration to housing, tracking, communications, reporting, accounting, follow-ups and surveys to name a few.
The benefits to clients are clear: reduced registration administration costs of US$20 per delegate as well as a high-tech 'cutting edge' impression of the event. Most importantly however is the control corporations gain over their meetings spend and booking patterns, finally understanding where their regional meetings are being held, attended by whom and at what cost. A marked improvement in convenience and efficiency is afforded the intermediary, not to mention greater cost control to keep the event within the designated budget. Feedback to the client is also made that much easier and in addition consolidated financial reports of the clients events can be used by the travel management company to negotiate preferred rates with vendors.
And the suppliers - ie: hotels - what are they to gain from such as system? Accurate, continuously updated data which can be integrated with the property management system. The more sophisticated information they receive on their guests allows the hotel to provide a much higher standard of personalised service and a greater chance of securing the loyalty of the guest.
I would like to provide you with some examples of new technology being introduced into the events industry.
A company in Manchester England has developed a technology whereby life-size images of presenters can be captured and transmitted as digital images. By using specially designed podiums and 3d holographic colour imaging, the "teleported" person can materialise before an audience several miles or several thousands of miles away. Teleconferencing on steroids!
There are numerous other applications of the internet into the meeting arena that are gaining in popularity as bandwidth goes up and costs come down. Things like virtual site inspections, interactive audience response systems, electronic whiteboards, e-mail kiosks, document sharing, message boards and chat rooms.
Let me close by speculating on some wild and futuristic changes ahead and how they may well effect the meetings industry overall as we continue with this digital revolution.
A new protocol called 3g - short for third generation - is about to make today's cell phone seem antiquated. The 3g phone will operate at 20 to 200 times faster than today's personal computer modems. Couple that with the use of miniaturisation technology and a whole new range of options will open up. Think of carrying one device that will serve as your cell phone, wireless palm device, video camera, videophone, walkman, pager, tv radio, gps device, micro payment system for buses, parking meters and soda machines, credit card, wireless web browser… and a lot more.
I hope today to have provided you with some food for thought about the future of e-business and its impact on the hospitality sector. There are many other areas where technology will drive success in the future of our industry such as new and innovative approaches to customer relationship management, changing channels of distribution, and exciting new business models set within the context of web-enabled networks.
There are clearly great opportunities that lie ahead, but only for those who are not resistant to change and can accept and adopt new business paradigms.
E-business and information technology must be viewed as a tremendous tool, it is only a threat to those who are resistant to change."
Thank you.
Tom Murphy
Destination Orientation
The world is viewing China with new interest following the recent decision to stage the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Equally significant, China is on course for full membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although it is likely to be some time before this has a significant impact, it already reinforces China's position as an ever more powerful economic superpower.
China is a land of superlatives with the world's largest population (around 1.3 billion people), the second largest land area (after Canada) and the oldest continuous culture. Diverse and spectacular scenery is matched by such historic architectural wonders as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. These traditional attractions combine with fast-rising levels of technological know-how and international standards of hospitality to make China an increasingly popular destination for international meetings, incentives and conferences.
Hong Kong is by no means the only gateway to China these days as direct flights link many of the world's leading cities with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and even Xiamen. Modern airports make most parts of China readily accessible. Beijing, Shanghai and other hubs have frequent air connections with all parts of the country. China is accessible in other ways as the country has embraced the latest telecommunications technology and the best of her IT professionals are ranked second to none. This means no matter where you are in this vast nation, you are literally only a phone call away from the capital -- or even your home office on the other side of the world.
Easy communication and the improved frequency of international and domestic flights along with competitive costs encourage many international corporations to set up regional offices in China, rather than servicing their China operations from Hong Kong. Many of the world's best-known manufacturers have established joint venture factories producing everything from pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles to building materials and computers for domestic buyers and for export.
A great deal of domestic MICE business is being generated in secondary cities as well as the major gateways. Attendees fly in from all parts of the country to attend training and sales seminars, product up-dates and strategy sessions. Domestic incentives business is growing fast as it is still not easy for ordinary Chinese citizens to travel abroad and companies must find creative ways to motivate and reward employees within the country.
New hotels are designing their ballrooms and meeting suites with MICE business in mind, while the older generation of hotels has responded to the new trend by enhancing existing hardware -- renovating or rethinking their meeting and banquet rooms, and investing in the newest audio-visual equipment. Most hotels have specialist banquet and conference teams, which emphasize creativity, attention to detail and fine-tuned staff training at every level. This high level of expertise remains relatively inexpensive, and makes China a very attractive destination for all kinds of events.
The futuristic
skyscrapers of Shanghai's Pudong are so photogenic that they are familiar around
the world. Less well-known are Beijing's new districts, the future "Silicon
Valley" high-tech area, and the capital's answer to Wall Street, dedicated
to banking and finance. Many secondary cities like Chongqing, Dalian and Chengdu
are fast catching up with the levels of high tech sophistication taken for granted
in primary cities. This means much more than modern airports and city centre
buildings. For event planners it means an increasing reservoir of first class
know-how and facilities coupled with some very competitive prices throughout
this ever more important destination.
Jane
Ram
Jane
Ram is a respected journalist based in Hong Kong, she has been travelling in
China on work and pleasure for the past quarter of a century.
Registration Relief
Web-based registration software, has become rapidly recognised as an efficient and cost-effective tool when organising corporate events. Precious time, resources and money are saved by applying registration software to corporate events enabling event planners to more effectively manage their data.
For corporate events comprising of hundreds perhaps thousands of participants, the registration process can be somewhat chaotic. From flights, accommodation and attendee participation to delegate itineraries, data management is an essential part of effective event co-ordination.
With the help of some useful web-based solutions, corporate event registration can be a simple and organised process.
Below are just some of the ways web-based software can help ease the registration process:
Registration: Web-based registration allows meeting planners and vendors to have a centralised system operating in real-time to access information on attendees for multi-session and multi-day events. It also allows users to create custom registration forms, alert attendees on changes of itineraries and have an up-to-the-minute reports on the event overview.
Housing: Through using web-based meeting management, event planners can effectively manage housing reservations and room block management. Designated vendors may also access this feature to ensure accurate rooming lists and sufficient manpower to handle group check-ins.
Data Management: Multiple and cross-event reporting allows planners to track registration numbers, attendee profiles, travel itineraries, budgeting and improve communication between vendors, clients, attendees and all those involved in the event planning and execution process.
Ms. Annie Fournier, EventClicks' Vice President - Strategic Development, says Asia-Pacific is now ready to embrace this kind of technology and the wealth of conveniences that it entails, "We have recognised that there is a definite need for such tailored registration solutions in this region. This is an indispensable tool for meeting planners or corporations who are looking for a cost-efficient and effective method to monitor and keep track of vital details concerning the event."
Implementation of a web-based registration solution can save companies both valuable time and resources when organising corporate events. Manpower is reduced significantly as administrative procedures are streamlined into one consolidated database. By integrating a centralised system between vendors, clients and meeting planners, the communication process is both simplified and improved.
Registration solutions can also provide planners and clients with consolidated customer data, ideal for post-event follow-up and evaluation as well as delegate feedback.
Becky Lee
For further information on EventClicks' on-line registration service please contact Ted Suen - Director of Strategic Development Tel.: (852) 2911 7900; E-mail: teds@eventclicks.com
Cost-effective Consolidation
The 'buzz-word' of the moment in the corporate travel industry these days is 'savings' - from money and resources to ever-precious time.
Many companies in Asia-Pacific have been forced to tighten their belts during these increasingly competitive times and are seeking ways to implement more cost-effective options whilst running their businesses.
In today's existing corporate travel landscape in Asia-Pacific, travel and entertainment (T&E) expenditure is one of the largest controllable costs next to salary and benefits and corporate group meetings are estimated to represent around 30% of all corporate travel spending. However, keeping track of meeting and conference (M&C) spend can often be complex: as companies' corporate policies can often be ambiguous and M&C travel may be handled separately from individual travel.
Research reveals that corporate groups spend 10% less on airfare and ground transportation, but 15% more on lodging, meals and entertainment compared to individual (FIT) business travellers. Furthermore, research conducted by American Express Corporate Services, hotel accommodation expenses are overall the second largest T&E spend for Asia-Pacific companies; and since group travel tends to spend more on accommodation, it is an area well worth investigating.
A Closer Look
Small meetings are usually handled by several administrative staff working in their respective departments and these departments do not necessarily communicate or share travel information. If the corporation has an in-house conference organiser or event planner, they would most likely focus more on large-scale events. Independent corporate travel however is usually handled by the business travel agency who may not have the dedicated resources to effectively handle and track M&C travel.
In other words, different types of travel are being handled by different people, who may not be communicating it to each other. Therefore a consolidated view of a companies expenditures on travel and accommodation is not fully visible.
As Ms. Merryellen Blette, General Manager of Rosenbluth International Meetings Division once said, "Meetings are the final frontier of Travel and Entertainment Expenses Management. To get a total picture of travel spending, corporations know that tracking meetings data is absolutely essential."
So what can companies do to capture the elusive meetings management savings?
First of all, streamline your vendor selection. To achieve this, you must establish both guidelines and a comprehensive regional travel policy based on existing travelling and spending patterns. In addition, consider using on-line tools to empower your employees to consolidate spending in this specific area. Armed with your consolidated reports, you have increased bargaining power with vendors. It is common for vendors to exclude M&C production from total statistics during rate negotiation. With this centralised and consolidated information, you can now provide them with real facts, which will enable them to review your status. In addition by consolidating your volume with selected vendors, you can strengthen your relationship with them which in return will be reflected in the service that they deliver.
So Now It's Time To Do The Math!
Consider Company A who spends US $25 million a year on corporate travel: however, their tracked FIT travel only amounts to US $17.5 million meaning US $7.5 million worth of group travel has gone untracked. Company A has therefore missed a prime opportunity to negotiate a better rate with vendors.
Now let's take Company B who, if they were to track both their FIT travel (75,000 room nights) and M&C travel (25,000 room nights) we would see they have produced 100,000 room nights for the previous year. In this case, a hotel may offer the company a favourable rate of US $100 per room, per night, rather than the US $110 rate offered before based on room night production of 75,000 over the previous year's spend. That's a total saving from one vendor only of US$ 1 million dollars a year!
Start Saving
The following step-by-step
RESCUE guide can give you some pointers on
how to cut costs and begin consolidating for long-term savings.
REVIEW
your
current travel policy
ESTABLISH M&C guidelines
SECURE senior management support
COMMUNICATE policy to personnel and vendors
UTLISE on- and off-line resources to convert policy
into practise
ENSURE continued monitoring
Becky Lee
The above article is compiled from excerpts from a recent presentation by EventClicks' Regional Director of Sales, Ms. Kitty Sum, at Corporate Travel World 2001 in Singapore.
Sources: Air &
Travel: Consolidating Spending, www.mpoint.com
ICCA Global
Report - 2000
The American Express Guide to Corporate Travel Management
- Jeffrey B Lang
M&C Magazine - January 2001
Business Travel News - Asia-Pacific - June 2001
National Tourism Offices - Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia & Thailand
Ms. Maryellen Blette, General Manager of Rosenbluth International Meetings Division
For more information on Meetings Consolidation, please e-mail info@eventclicks.com.
INTRODUCING OUR BRAND NEW 'FEATURED DESTINATION'!
Check out our new 'Featured Destination' section, written by respected journalist Jane Ram. Based in Hong Kong, she has been travelling in China on work and pleasure for the past quarter of a century.
This section includes feature stories, news and tools to help meeting planners organise events in China.
In this month's ' Featured Destination' look out for:
For more information
please read 'SITE NEWS' in the October 2001 issue of New Directions.
back
to newsletter
Beijing's Winning Streak
Beijing's successful bid to host the 2008 Olympics created almost palpable excitement in the Chinese capital. Preparations for the July vote also proved the truth of the old adage, "Where there's a will, there's a way," as the city was systematically spruced up to look worthy of such a prestigious event. Even bare winter verges were covered with artificial grass to make the city seem cleaner and greener when the selectors made their visit to Beijing. By no means all preparations were cosmetic: to ensure completion before the vote, construction of the Fourth Ring Road moved at a pace that would be incredible elsewhere.
As the cheering died away following the announcement of the voting results, Beijing announced a US$21-billion budget and set out major priorities in preparation for the Olympics. Eight new stadia, a fifth ring road, and an altogether cleaner and greener city are among the plans.
Only a month after the vote, Beijing was hosting the Universiade. And there will doubtless be many similar events in preparation for the Olympics as China's capital prepares to show itself to the world.
It is too soon for details of the new stadia (and the renovated existing facilities), but it is generally expected that at least some will be multi-purpose. And possibly one or more will be converted into a full-fledged convention and exhibition centre after the Olympics. By 2008 Beijing will have gained all possible experience in staging and managing large-scale international events and it will surely capitalise on those newly acquired skills by reinventing itself as a major convention city.
If you are organising something smaller than a convention, Beijing already offers many excellent options. During 2001 a number of superb new venues opened and a total rethink accompanied renovation of many existing hotel ballrooms and associated meeting suites, most notably the ballroom and function rooms at the Kempinski and Swissotel.
Finally Beijing has top-end of the market venues worthy of a capital city. The 1,560-square-metre pillarless ballroom at the Kerry Centre made its debut in May as the city's largest such facility. A smaller ballroom and 11 meeting rooms in conjunction with a large outdoor landscaped terrace make this one of the most versatile venues anywhere. The newly completed phase 2 of the St Regis includes a new 410 square-metre ballroom and 15 meeting rooms, all designed and decorated in keeping with the hotel's grand luxe ambiance.
The Grand Hyatt at the heart of Oriental Plaza is targeting a mid-October soft opening. It is such a prestigious development that the 800 square-metre grand ballroom, crescent-shaped exhibition space of 700 square metres and nine other function rooms will surely set new standards.
Looking further ahead, it seems that work has started again at the site for the new Opera House complex. Long stalled in controversy, this promises to outshine even Shanghai's magnificent Grand Theatre when it opens.
In and around Beijing a number of previously closed historic sites are to be renovated and opened in the near future, while facilities will be upgraded at some existing ones. Restoration of the "old" Summer Palace (the Yuan Ming Yuan) is once again being seriously discussed.
Taxi challenges may soon be history as Beijing's promised English-language campaign is having a noticeable impact. However, many drivers are newcomers with a sketchy knowledge of the city and no idea how to use the ring roads. Help is at hand, as a Singapore company has recently bought into the city's largest taxi fleet and promises to apply Global Positioning Satellite technology to solve at least some of the recurring problems.
You can rely on EventClicks to keep you up to date on all these developments and bring you the latest news relating to your industry.
Jane
Ram
Jane
Ram is a respected journalist based in Hong Kong, she has been travelling in
China on work and pleasure for the past quarter of a century.
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