ISESHK newsletter came out today … full version here… http://tinyurl.com/iseshkoct

Couple of highlights…. October 27th networking event at M1nT featuring showcases by:

     A pioneer in Hong Kong’s high end catering, Gingers provides all sorts of tasty tidbits  full dining as well as full staffing and chefs etc. Gingers calls themselves ”the caterer for business and pleasure”. Whether it is an intimate dinner party at home for friends or family, an executive luncheon for important clients, a corporate or private cocktail reception, a buffet party, big-scale barbecue, fun food on board a junk, or even a very special Wedding Reception, Gingers will ensure you dine well.
If you are a bit of a chef yourself check out Liz Seton’s cookbooks….

http://www.gingers.com.hk/#
  

We have TWO featured artist this month. Both showcasing their talents at the October Meet-up….
Symone Corby- Burlesque Dancer
Symone has quite a unique background. Born in HK with Polish, Italian & Portuguese heritage, she has spent most of her life in HK but completing her university years in Sydney, Australia. Dancing since she was 8 years old she teaches as well as performs and choreographs for special events. Over the last several years she has been Operations Manager for Pole Divas Hong Kong. During her time with Pole Divas Hong Kong, she gained her pole dance teaching qualifications through the UK based Vertical Dance. Since then Symone has performed at many venues around Hong Kong and also competed in competitions such as the 1st China National Pole Dance Competition in December 2007 and in the International Pole Dance Championships Manila in November 2008. Both times she came in second place. Symone continues to dazzle with her pole dancing skills and stage presence. Besides performing in HK she has also had the opportunity to pole dance in other countries such as Malaysia, Canada, Macau, Philippines, United States and has also performed in 2 Hong Kong made movies: 3 cities and La Lingerie.
Symone will open her own dance studio next month  teaching Pole Dancing, Burlesque Dance and Ariel Hoops watch for the new website coming soon in www.poleparadisestudio.com  
 

DJ Steve Bruce

     Chances are if you are working the luxury brand events you know Steve. ISESHK is proud to have this internationally respected DJ showcasing his talent.

DJ Steve Bruce works as a successful DJ in Hong Kong and Asia region. He is the first Asian Dj to be sponsored by Seamless Recordings out of the UK . 

     Steve Bruce started his DJ career back in the early-80s as a mobile DJ spinning at weddings, bah mitzvahs & 16th birthday parties, trying to get away with spinning, the then underground jazz-funk & rare-groove music he loved, to a mainstream crowd. You can’t keep a good man down though, and Steve rapidly progressed to better things. In London he ran the notorious ‘TOP OF THE POPS’ parties in Mayfair and was a regular DJ at ‘LES TEAROOMS DES ARTISTES’, a popular post MINISTRY OF SOUND after-party club that ran for many years in Clapham, south London. Steve has lived in Hong Kong for over a decade now and during this time he has been a regular at many of Hong Kong’s top venues including, SOLAS, KEE Club, ARMANI/BAR, South Bay Beach Club, 1/5, AQUA Spirit, YUMLA, F.I.N.D.S. & CLUB 97 as well as playing regularly
around the Asia region. His funky eclectic style covers many musical genres from BOSSA NOVA, through RAREGROOVES,
UNDERGROUND DISCO, BROKEN BEATS & OLD-SKOOL HIP-HOP, but he is best known for his SOULFUL HOUSE sets. His sets are noted for their musically-knowledgeable, yet unpretentious content. Steve cites NORMAN JAY, GILLES PETERSON & DIMITRI FROM PARIS as his biggest DJ influences.

   Steve has been behind some of the most successful regular nights in Hong Kong over the years including his long-running ‘SOULUTION’ night, South Bay Beach Club, ‘HARD TIMES – The Recession Sessions’ at METRO bar, ‘Hong Kong Eclectic’ at ELEMENTS bar and ‘Deano Martino’, a weekly jazz/lounge night at the now legendary 1/5 bar (voted one of the top 5 ‘best
bars in the world’ by Conde Nast Traveler magazine). The night was so successful that EMI co-launched a CD under the ‘Deano Martino’ umbrella, featuring a selection of music chosen by Steve and the other members of the Deano Martino DJ
line-up.
     Steve has been invited to DJ at private parties for RONNIE WOOD of the ROLLING STONES, BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB artists RUEBEN GONZALEZ & IBRAHIM FERRER & R&B artist CRAIG DAVID and has played alongside many international DJ’s including Norman Jay, Lisa Loud, BARGROOVES head honcho Ben Sowton, PACHA Ibiza resident Graham Sahara and FIERCE ANGELS Mark Doyle. Steve was the Friday night resident at Hong Kong nightlife institution, CLUB 97 in Hong Kong for over 2 years before moving to SOLAS Bar as Launch Music Director and later Friday night resident, running his
successful ‘SOULUTION’ night. His current project is South Bay Beach Club, a Sunday afternoon beachside venue where he
has worked as Music Director for the past 2 years. He also works regularly with UK-based SEAMLESS RECORDINGS
(www.seamlessrecordings.co.uk) promoting their BAR GROOVES & CITY LIFE compilation series’ in Asia. He is the first DJ in Asia to be sponsored by SEAMLESS. Steve also works closely with LOVE DA RECORDS (www.love-da-records.com) in Hong Kong
and in 2006 released his first commercial CD via Club 97 called ‘SOUNDS OF CLUB 97′ which spent the whole summer of 2006 in the HMV dance chart.
“Steve is an incredibly versatile DJ, with a deep understanding of the roots of dance music. His ability to read a crowd and to direct an atmosphere clearly demonstrates his gift for knowing what to play, and when” -DC Bull – GM 1/5 Bar, Hong Kong
For more info – www.myspace.com/djstevebruce    bookings  -stevebruce@sbconsulting.com.hk

What’s he sound like?

The South Bay Sessions 50 – DJ Steve Bruce
 http://www.sendspace.com/file/j5jk2f
The sound of SOULUTION 198 – DJ Steve Bruce
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dhmq3n  

So it seems free drinks weren’t enough… lord knows you can get drunk for free every night in this town and call it business. In order to make the “Monthly Meetups” more fun they now have more happening and are Bi-monthly… (Is that twice as fun or what?)
Anyhow ISESHK is now only doing the networking events every other month and Education stuff in between.
The Meetups are being upscaled as well to give members a chance to showcase and event folk a chance to see cool stuff.. anyway I”ll be there.

This month food from Gingers, DJ Steve Bruce, pole dancing with Symone and some new weird Wii thing from Jonathon.

If you are not on the mailing list for invatations just go to their website… www.iseshk.org and sign up…
DATE: Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
TIME: 7:00-9:00
Venue: M1NT
108 Hollywood Rd • Central • Hong Kong
Cost: Free
RSVP: rsvp@iseshk.org
Info: Robert 28508531

I am sorry but the Philippines’ brand image just doesn’t really conjure images of a thriving creative service industry. Most of the PR we get in Asia (perhaps the rest of the world too) is; poor country, cheap travel, cheap beer, girls, great beaches, crazy politics and watch your wallet in the markets… Perhaps the brand image problem is at it’s peak in Hong Kong where the largest group of overseas residents are from the Philippines (95% female) and working as domestic helpers. The fact that of those ladies have college degrees and are working here as maids only deepens the suspicion that life in the islands must be years behind the “developed” financial centers like Hong Kong. Until last week my only experience working in Manila was over 10 years ago, (a watch launch at Imelda Marcos’s house, children starving in the street and diamond encrusted tai tais sipping champagne and several rather expensive watches went missing although they had an armed security watching the whole time, nothing to do with me I only did the entertainment)… anyway

So I headed to Manila to lecture on Creative Event Design with a heavy dose of pessimism and a missionary mind ready to liberate the poor souls…

What I found was most impressive. I found a group of organized talented, creative professionals with a desire to elevate their industry and the potential to create a “service revolution” in the Philippines. Many of the things they are already doing we are still just thinking about here. ( check out Advertising Services Assoc Philippines for their vetted membership directory http://www.asapmanila.org.ph/ )

Annaliza Laxamana of Next Step Events (http://www.nextstepevents.com )
Vince Reyes from Executive Decisions http://www.execdecisions.com.ph
Dr. Nardis Garcia Jr. CPM, AMEd, a lecturer at LaSalle College (one of the more prestigious private universities) long time marketing professional.
With help from:
Ms. Geramine Salvador also a lecturer at DeSalle University and the program director for the event management program at the The City College continuing education center, who just finished a book on Event Management.
Allen S. Velez from Events Pool – (http://asapmanila.org.ph/2008/05/22/asveventspool/ )

This group are the principal force behind “The Event Train Institute”. An association set up to educate and elevate the event industry in the Philippines. The seminar I was speaking at was very professionally organized, very well attended and left me thinking once again Hong Kong could learn a lot from their selfless dedication to their industry.

The event manager deserves a special notation… Annaliza’s home and factory (big house, two cars, factory with over 100 employees) was totally wiped out just two days before the event in the Manila floods. She bravely put on a professional face and carried on with the show in spite of no sleep and her inner devastation. This sort of professionalism shows the courage and determination the Philippine people have as well as a professionalism hardly seen in the rest of the world.

It is through dedicated professionals like the crew at Event Train Institute that will change the way the Philippines is perceived. Meanwhile Asia watch out a new powerhouse is on the horizon.

Hype for the lecture

It’s been bothering me for a week now… I’ve been polling event people as well as laymen for mixed results.

Here is the case that got me thinking…

It seems one of the banks was recently holding a hospitality event for some the SIBOS delegates (big banking conference). Obviously this event was a chance to make some contacts sell some products, no doubt big money involved. The chance of getting this particular group together again was impossible. The event had obviously been organized a year in advance as they took over the Apex on the 56^th floor of Central Plaza. This perfect space is a luxurious perch directly across from the Convention Center and the two main hotels most of the delegates were staying. Pretty intimate can only fit 60 pax for cocktails, also only has one lift. Guests were invited for 6pm for cocktails.

Enter Typhoon Koppu… Hong Kong Observatory announced it would raise the signal 8 at… 6pm. For those not familiar with Hong Kong Typhoon signals they are based on distances to the territory Signal 1 is a standby signal means one is in the area and be warned it may come this way(weather is hot hot and sticky with a funny haze all around). The next highest is Signal 3 is the strong wind signal means gusts can reach up to 110km/h (generally a bit blustery with rain and a welcome relief after the stifling heat). Then comes Signal 8, during this the stock market closes, transportation shuts down gusts of wind can reach 180km/h. The peak of the Signal 8 is usually around 12 hours after the signal is issued. Most people cheer and head to the video store on their way home (many to the pub for a lock in session). Then comes 9 and 10, means direct hit, both very rare (in my 20 years here only seen a 10 twice (lol, no really)).

So you got 60 VIPs, they got nowhere to go and when it’s finished they just gotta cross the street. You are ready for them, the champagne is cold, besides they will be stuck, they can’t move on to the competition’s party, you can sell em more product!

It is a high end lock in isn’t it? BRING IT ON!!

Well that is obviously what was going through the client’s head…

What was going through the event manager’s head?

What would I have done? Mmmm well here’s a few of the things I would have considered..

The Storm  it doesn’t look that big and this typhoon season has been very calm, heck last several years have been pretty calm.

Venue safety, probably all ok the building used to be the tallest building in Asia (for bout a month) has been around more than 10 years or so has weathered several big storms. Only one lift isn’t good and 56 floors is a long way down.

Timing, the signal 8 is raised at the same time the party starts so when the guests are arriving the storm won’t be too bad yet. It will build during the event making leaving the more dangerous time.

Guests safety, in all likelihood biggest risk is getting blown over as they stumble across the street back to their hotel room, sure something might blow down and land on them but in that area, very unlikely.

Staff Safety, now this is a different story. After clean up and strike staff will be leaving later making the possibility of the storm being stronger. Depending on the size of the set up, lighting décor etc staff could be leaving as the storm gets big. Most of the staff probably live on Kowloon side making the journey quite far, luckily the underground is probably running, so if they live close to an MTR not too bad but not good. The trucks and vans still need to drive through it.

Insurance? Not a chance, all insurance policies will rule “inclement whether/act of god” anything happens the host/client will be screwed. If an employee is injured and you made them stay after a signal 8, not sure here but besides civil liabilities I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a criminal possibility for the employer (i.e. production company screwed).

Other Risks? Big one for me would be reputation. I would not want to see my client splashed on the headlines for “accident in typhoon party”.

So what would I do? I would advise my client of the risks and recommend cancellation. I would be very thankful my contracts all have reschedule clause in case of typhoons. If the client insisted on going ahead… I’d send the crew that didn’t want to spend the night with me home and roll up my sleeves and jump behind the bar. After all sometime the show must go on…

SIBOS Struck by Lightining

BTW the thing that got me thinking…this picture was the front page on the following day.. not Central Plaza, this is The Centre only about a mile up the road.

An increasing number of articles have been appearing in the papers lately criticizing the Hong Kong Government for their failings when it comes to facilitating special events in the SAR…
First the SCMP had the story of “event entrepreneurs taking their events to other cities” because of red tape and hassle getting liquor licenses and other permits from the police. Then The Standard ran the story of the harbourfestish Summer Splash at Asia World Arena criticizing the low turnout… I myself was asked by a publication what I thought of the idea to solve the al-fresco dining fiasco by setting up a government department to handle “special permission bookings”, to which I recoiled in horror “Oh please don’t get the government involved! It would be a nightmare”…
It seems the general consensus is the Mandarins invented bureaucracy then Hong Kong perfected it…

Yet it seems the government really tries hard to get it right (and sometime actually does, the 8pm “Light up the Harbor” really is pretty cool). They introduced the “Mega Event Fund” for non profits to create events. They set up MEHK (Meetings Events Hong Kong) who so far are really trying hard (OK bit of a honeymoon period still after all they are part of HKTB). The Gov actually put up the money for Harbor Fest and Summer Splash which were both great ideas just badly executed. The more I look at it seems that the guys (ladies, persons policy makers) actually have the right idea and are doing something right. It is when it filters down that something goes awry. Somewhere in the machinery the cogs spin backwards creating an end product that is very often faulty.

So I get to thinking.. (I know ‘dangerous, smell burning’ shut him up quick before he gets us all killed)..
What happens along the way to these great ideas? Why isn’t HK an event capital?
Why is it when Tourist Board or the other defacto government institutions like the Jockey Club or big land owners call up asking for a quote..Why do I cringe and desperately hope I can say I am busy that day?

Here goes.. it is attitude. The attitude is created by the education system.

What? Seriously the Hong Kong education system.. I know WTF?? No really read me out…
Most of the key decision makers in business and government are overseas educated. They have the luxury of small ratio classes plus the experience of broader horizons. Most/ Many of the people directly organizing the events in Hong Kong are Hong Kong people born and raised most gone through the Hong Kong school system. Now, I know they are changing the system and trying to bring in creative thinking etc… I am not attacking just sayin.. – 40 something kids in a class, having to divide classes into morning or afternoon school, the teacher having to use a megaphone to be heard.. All this and worse.
The only way to teach in those circumstances is by rote (1+1 is 2 2+2 is 4, here read this test tomorrow). Also the way the pressure is put on kids to perform well on test (highest suicide rate for students in the world) “no you can’t be an artist be a doctor, make good money”… No wonder the everyday managers and secretaries labored with putting on an event won’t step out of line and constantly worry what they are doing is too extreme. No wonder all they think about is ‘let’s do something safe’ ‘lets do the same as last year’ …

No for Hong Kong to become an event capital the boys upstairs need to get the rest of the crew onboard. Let them know it’s OK to take risks. Give the crew the enthusiasm that they have to take things further. Make it exciting, different is good. When someone has an idea rather than shoot it down with “too difficult” or “somebody might complain” look for options to limit the risk and try to make it easy for the event to grow. Use the “Yes.. And” theory ( yes that’s great you could also..:)

Saying that it doesn’t have to be limited to events…